Your Business Will Benefit
When I meet with owners of printing businesses and tour their printing facilities, sometimes I’ll casually ask when they took their last vacation. I usually get one of three replies:
- No vacation in years.
- Lots of trips, especially to work-related destinations, often with a spouse, but no specific vacations with family.
- Family vacations when the kids were little, but no reason to take them anymore.
Working the grind until you are a zombie was cool in the 1980s and 1990s. Everyone bragged about how many weekends they had spent at the shop. When the 21st century clocked in, things changed. Achieving work-life balance became a real goal, not a fantasy.
Being a workaholic is no longer admirable. If you work all the time, people may assume either something is wrong with your home life or you do not know how to manage your time.
So why do so many business owners still put in long hours at work and even more mental hours at home?
One or more of these six issues is likely to blame:
- Habit. You have become used to it.
- Ego. You think no one can get things done without you.
- Disorganization. You haven’t taken the time to improve your processes.
- Competition. You think the only way to beat your competitors is to work relentlessly.
- Boredom. Your spouse pursues hobbies and activities when you’re not together, but you fill your leisure time with work.
- Anxiety. You fear what you can’t directly control and worry about the unknown.
Many of these issues get resolved when business owners take their rightful place, working on the company (e.g. strategy, initiatives, big picture plans) and not in it (e.g. day-to-day task management.)
3 Excellent Reasons to Take That Vacation
Owners who step away from their business from time to time bring real benefits to their companies.
You Can De-Stress. When you take a break from the stress of daily routines, your body will thank you. You can catch up on sleep and feel what it’s like to actually relax. You will return to work refreshed.
You Will Clear Your Mind. Stepping away from your business to immerse yourself in new environments and activities can help you be more creative. If you take a real vacation (unplugged from day-to-day problems), you may come up with all sorts of ideas for improving your business. Brain imaging studies have shown that being idle can create brain waves conducive to creative insights and innovations.
You Gain New Perspectives. Meeting new people and exploring new places can help you see the future of your business from a different angle. Your thinking can become stagnant when you always interact with the same groups of people and perform the same tasks.
If you are not taking a regular vacation, please look at your schedule and figure out a way to make it happen. It’s not too late to plan something for Labor Day weekend or to take advantage of September “shoulder season” when the weather is still great, kids are back to school, and prices at popular locations are typically reduced. Or, make your own 3-day-weekend; you are the boss, after all! Just take some R&R; you can thank me when you get back.
If you are thinking of selling your business or buying a business in the next few years, give us a me a call and I can tell you why taking some time away to clear your mind now can prepare you for the journey ahead.