Holiday Time

But are you capable of switching off?

Most people will take their annual two or three week holiday over the coming months. For some, this is the only time of the year when they feel truly alive. For others they take time off, but can’t actually switch off. And some don’t take a holiday at all.
Into which category do you fall?

How can you leave work behind (even if you are the boss or self-employed) and perhaps even live everyday in the holiday spirit?

If you are like me, a week away is too short; half the week will be gone before I have mentally left work behind. Two or even three weeks away means no diary, no pressure to pack everything in, plenty of sleep and long lazy lunches.

What stops you from taking a real holiday? A few weeks out of the normal routine where you can truly recharge the batteries.

"I can’t afford it."

"There will be a mountain of work to face when I return, not to mention emails."

"The business will collapse without me."

"Who will run the show when I’m gone?"

"What if a crisis arises?"

Planning ahead is the key.

In recent years I didn’t schedule a holiday into my diary and before I knew it, eighteen months had past without a few consecutive days off, let alone weeks. So think ahead and get the dates into your diary. Everything else can be scheduled around it and you can make contingency plans if you need to.
Brody Sweeney the founder of O’Brien’s Sandwich Bars takes every August off. And by ‘off’ he means no work calls or emails. His business seems to survive!

Are you a blackberry or mobile phone junkie?

Some of my clients tell me that they cannot leave their blackberries at home. That they could not switch off, if their blackberries were permanently switched off. They’re junkies in other words. If you fall into this category I recommend checking messages a few times a week for a finite time period. If this approach puts your mind at ease without sucking you into a days work, then do it.

If you run your own business, would I be right in saying that wasn't having control over your own diary one of the reasons why you wanted to run your own business? Now of course you feel that you are indispensable and you cannot take a break because if you did the show would come to a halt.
Again it is back to planning. If you plan ahead, arrange for cover if you have to, and let your customers know with plenty of notice, you can get away. If you are not earning an income when you are on holiday, as well as planning your time away you will also have to budget ahead.

If money is an issue remember you don’t have to spend a fortune to get away. It is not where you are, but who you are, during holiday time that will ensure you relax and recharge the batteries. Sure, it is easier to unwind, lying on a sandy beach with a turquoise sea lapping at your toes, but if your intention is to relax and unwind it doesn’t matter where you are.

Are you capable of relaxing?

Some people cannot relax. Some people feel they have to be stimulated all the time. They are afraid of what would happen if they simply stop. They are afraid of thinking. They are afraid of simply being, rather than doing. Yet these are the same people who dream of the day when they can do nothing, but fear what it would mean to their identity if they had no achievements to point to.

The true value of a real holiday is what you will find in the stillness, in the nothingness, in having your mind disengage from work and your daily routine. What you find in the stillness may surprise you, or it may be something that you already knew needed attention, but were too busy to attend to.

What might the stillness show you? You don’t have to wait until you are on holiday, make some quiet time for yourself now. By 'being' rather than 'doing' you will be living each day in the holiday spirit, and not waiting to start living for just two weeks of the year.

Is it time to make the reservation?

 

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