The Power of Time Off
Filed under: Small Business Owners - Running the Show
The winter holidays provide us time off from work to celebrate our faith and enjoy our families. We relax. Okay, maybe we don’t fully relax. We relax in our freedom from work deadlines. Holiday stress — generally self-imposed — is anything but relaxing, and a subject for another time.
As we move through the remaining days of the year, media is replete with new year predictions and end of year reflections. The top 10 this and the top 10 that. I can’t even predict what I’m going to wear tomorrow, so I leave predictions of trends for others to write. I’m good at taking time off.
The Power of Time Off
I’m fortunate to own several time-share weeks on Hilton Head Island, a 5-hour drive from my home. For the price of 2 tanks of gas and some groceries, I can retreat from the daily routine of work for a week or two.
Sleep late.
Read Stephen King novels.
Sun on the beach.
In other words, a vacation.
Other trips are planned sabbaticals.
I pack mounds of unread magazines, books and business notes with the sole purpose of business planning and goal setting. Creative ideas are sparked. Plans are made. Sleeping late is the by-product of creative thinking into the wee hours of the morning. (Not terribly unlike my current routine of working in the wee hours, and yet those wee hours are project focused.)
This year, 2009, marked a strategic and focused change in the direction of my business. Time off from work was work in a different setting.
Barcamps.
Tweetups.
Meetups.
Conferences.
Valuable, yes. Relaxing, no.
Networking and learning are neither a vacation or a sabbatical.
Stefan Sagmeister closes his business for a year every seven years. He splices the learn-work-retire time line to include a retirement year for every seven work years. Watch the video below and discover the creative power he unveils.
My week-long sabbaticals to focus on implementing new strategies for business growth are booked for each quarter in 2010.
Do you take sabbaticals? How do you carve time for strategic and creative thinking? If you scheduled focused time off, how might your business change? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.
Stefan Sagmeister TED Video on YouTube
Photo credit: Terry Wha via Flicker
The Cobbler’s Kids Have New Shoes
We’ve all heard the tired phrase, “The cobbler’s children have no shoe’s.” I’ve said it myself a hundred times while working on a client’s website.
Today, I practiced what I preach, “Just get it done.”
It seems to capture my personality, and I’m thrilled to use my logo again. (I tossed the logo aside years ago thinking it was too personal for my real estate firm. A story for another day.)
What do you think? How do the colors look on your screen? The textured background is my favorite touch.
If your kids are running around barefoot, let me know. I’ll just get it done for you, too.
Posted via email from Bits of Orange
Committee Comfort
INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
The Valiant in spirit glory in fighting alone.”
COMMITTEE COMFORT!
It has been said that “a camel is a horse created by a committee.” You’ve probably witnessed the process yourself. You put any twelve decision-makers in a room together, and they can’t seem to make a decision at all. Worse yet, they create something that is comfortable to all members – a camel of their own making.
Ghandi says numbers are the “delight of the timid.” At some time or another, we all want the comfort of being surrounded by others with interests common to us. Maybe it’s on sales meeting day when the discussion turns into a gripe session. Maybe it’s in the break room, around the proverbial “water cooler,” or in a training class we’ve just taken. Wherever the group meets, the results are often the same – a lack of action backed up by all the reasons that justify the inaction.
Ghandi also says the glory is “in fighting alone.” Look around. Do you see one or two individuals who spend little of their time with the group? Sometimes called “loners,” these are usually also the over-achievers, the top producers in life and business. They know where they’re going and they don’t need your approval to do it. The committee says they aren’t “team players.”
Being human, it is certainly normal to seek the comfort of others. In the case of those few individuals described as “the Valiant in spirit,” however, their strength comes from their accomplishments. In each of us, there is also that “Valiant” spirit – the part of us that wants to strike out on our own. You can do that by resigning from the committees of your life. Elect yourself President and Chairman of the Board of your own future – and make it unanimous!
Make this a great week!
