As a small business owner, you may need to make a lot of personal sacrifices to ensure a successful business, particularly during your first year. Although there are a lot of benefits to being a small business owner, from having complete control to fulfilling a personal dream, you probably feel like you’re always “on” and that you must be available 24/7.
Here’s something to consider: if you want to continue to be successful, take a vacation. Here are some reasons why you should and some tips for taking some time off without worrying about work (too much):
Why Taking a Break is OK
In the working world, taking a few days off is important. If you’re a good business owner, you wouldn’t prohibit your employees from taking days off from work and you shouldn’t prohibit yourself either. Breaks, regardless of the length can be rejuvenating, they can keep productivity alive and well, and they can prevent you from losing your passion for what you are doing.
As a small business owner, it’s likely that you’ll have to work a little bit harder than everyone else and you might not have the luxury of taking the afternoon off whenever you feel like it, but ignoring your need for a few hours away or even a mini-vacation is not proving anything and can actually affect your business as a whole (including your employees). Who wants to work for an over-stressed and over-worked boss? No one. Avoid taking a break and you might see a plummet in workplace morale.
Tips for Taking Time Off
Now that you’ve been convinced that taking time off will actually benefit the business you love so much, here are some ways to get you started. Do what’s realistic for you:
- Stop Making Excuses: It’s not uncommon to hear a string of excuses as to why a vacation isn’t possible. Assess your excuses and find a solution. For example, if you don’t trust someone to run the business while you’re away, make sure you’ve hired someone who is competent and trustworthy? Don’t think you can afford it? Start saving a little bit of money as you would with any other personal vacation.
- Start Off Small: The thought of taking a week off may seem like too much time. Rather than saying “never”, start small and work up to it. For instance, have relatives coming to town? Instead of making dinner plans after your work day is over, schedule a long lunch or take the afternoon off.
- Plan to Do Things You Love: While it’s admirable to love what you do for work, it’s important love other things outside of work. Is your favorite band coming to town? Enjoy your night out and take the next day off. Want to get caught up on housework? While cleaning out the gutters and repainting the living room isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it might be something you’ve been dying to do. Rather than reserving time on the weekend, extend your weekend by a day or two so that you’ll have more than enough time to get it done.
- Stop Feel Guilty for Doing “Nothing”: Having you finally convinced yourself to take a day or two off, but feel guilty for just relaxing? Stop. Think of it as refueling your productivity and passion. Go ahead, lounge on the couch, read those casino game tutorials before playing online poker for the afternoon or binge watch your favorite show on Netflix. No one is judging you.
