How To Take Time Away From Your Business During The Holidays

The other day I was taking a shower and had the thought that I should take the month of January off. In all honesty, I didn’t really take a maternity leave and I’m starting to feel the effects of that. My husband split his paternity leave in half and will be taking three weeks off in January, and I thought “maybe I should too.” But then I convinced myself that taking time off would surely lead to my business starting off too slow at the beginning of the year.

I think this is pretty common for entrepreneurs. We are scared to take time off and we talk ourselves out of vacation. We think our businesses or fall apart or maybe our identity is too tied up in our business that we don’t know who we are without the computer screen. Or maybe you’ve said “yes” to too many projects and you can’t complete any of them with the attention to detail they deserve because you are too tired.

I am just going to say this: You have permission to take time off.

Everything is going to be okay.

Your business will not die.

You will not lose focus.

In fact, I believe that taking time off will actually give you a refresh so that when you do go back to work, you are refreshed and energized and ready to get to work!

Now that we see the value and importance of taking time off, let’s talk about how you can plan for this.

If you want to be intentional about taking time off, you have to make a plan. Just like when you have an employer, you need to request time off. You can’t do this the day you decide you want to be off work. You have to request it weeks in advance! So, take some time and sit down to look at your calendar. When you do you want to be off work? What days does your family need you? When do you want to go back to work? Pick the dates.

Now you need to make a list of everything that needs to get done leading up to your time off. You can make the list by category or just one big master list of things that need to be accomplished. Whatever you choose to do, make sure it’s written down. This is a way to keep you accountable.

When creating your to-do list, make sure you are thinking about all content that needs to be written, posts that need to be scheduled, pictures you need for social media, emails that need to be written, mail that needs to be sent, etc. Write down EVERYTHING.

If you’re reading this and you’re motivated to take time off for the holidays, I encourage you to stop right now and make the list. It might not get done otherwise. Take 10 minutes and do it now! I promise you’ll thank me later.

Now it’s time to set deadlines.

For every item on your list, pick a date that it needs to be completed by. Be realistic, but be willing to push yourself to set hard deadlines. Make sure you’re able to meet these deadlines. Pick dates that you know will work.

If there is anything on your list that isn’t 100% vital, don’t set a hard deadline.

Now it’s time to put your head down and get to work! Set time aside every week to meet these deadlines. Maybe you want to set time aside daily or maybe work on Saturday mornings until the deadline is met. I know for me, I would be willing to work a little on the weekends (who’s kidding, I already do) in order to take three weeks off in January.

It’s all about what is important to YOU and what you’re willing to let go of in order to say “yes” to vacation, time off, and intentional family time.

I am already working ahead now so I can take time off for the Holidays and I am so excited about it!