Wow, these past two weeks have been my busiest work weeks yet! Our awesome Business Changing clients are coming back to work, refreshed after a break and some sunshine, and ready to rock into 2014. I love it! In each meeting, clients are focused, energized and brimming with ideas for the new year. It really goes to show that a little bit of time away from the business can have a big effect on your attitude and your thinking.
It’s tricky to remember in the depths of the year (or even in March, ha!) when your to-do list has grown out of proportion, your tail is refusing to be caught and you have more people asking you for answers than you have energy for – but it is important to remember: you need to take time out. To revitalise, reenergize and refocus. To provide you with clarity. This year, make “time out” one of your KPIs.
How long you’ll allow yourself is up to you, but the more regularly you do it, the better. Get out your work diary now and start marking some days off – can you do an afternoon a fortnight? A day a month? A few days every quarter? A week every few months? Add them to your diary now and make them NON NEGOTIABLE. It’s up to you how you enforce them. Some people head home for the afternoon, some go away for the weekend, some sun it up in Fiji for a week. I’ve even had one client hire out a local hotel room for a day, so that he couldn’t be reached or distracted.
The point is to step away from your day-to-day duties every once in a while; to stop working IN the business and start working ON the business and on YOU. Burnout and stress are two serious enemies for a business-person. They rob you of energy, of tolerance and of clarity. If you work hard, you need to play hard too – well, play at least! Step away from the business every once in a while to recharge your batteries and you’ll find all those decisions and challenges a lot easier to face.
What you do in this time off is up to you. You may do nothing, you may play golf, you may head away with the family, you may lie on the couch and watch Coro Street reruns. The point is to do whatever it is that makes you relaxed and happy, so that at work you’re invigorated and inspired and motivated. Only then will the best big-picture thinking and strategy-making come. Only then will you be able to bring your best to the table.
And when you are relaxed and thinking clearly and strategically, give Business Changing a call – with our business coaching, we can help you move forward and create action from your new clarity of thinking! zac@businesschanging.com
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