Give your wellbeing and resilience a much-needed boost by making the most of the long weekend and discover why a reset and refresh is good for you and your business for the rest of the year. This is an update to a previous blog from 2020.
Research from software provider Redbooth indicates that January is our least productive month – ‘We complete just 7.2% of our yearly tasks and February is negligibly better at 7.6%.
So with Waitangi Day on the horizon, the question is, should I just go with it or try to make up for lost time?
Run the business by not being there
It’s okay to keep the new year goodness going and put work on the back burner for three days to truly switch off and get some critical headspace. More, it should be encouraged and celebrated. The chances are that you haven’t totally got back into the swing of things quite yet.
Taking time off doesn’t mean you’re neglecting your business or be viewed as a barrier to efficiency. Integrating and preparing for any time away can be managed just like any of next week’s sales meetings or client visits.
‘But if I take Monday off, it just means I’ll have to do more work later that week to catch up.’ It doesn’t have to be this way.
What did you do at Christmas? You probably created urgent and non-urgent deadlines and reprioritised your to-do list. You worked out which orders or tasks needed to be fulfilled and which could wait, and notified your top-tier clients of your movements with pre-holiday communications and by setting up website, social media and email messaging.
By making sure all your systems are running and processes in place, you can switch off your laptop on Friday knowing that the business will operate just perfectly until Tuesday morning.
Extend your run-up
Use the long weekend as a rehearsal for the rest of the year – a short practice-run for the next, longer break. On Tuesday ask yourself if there were any gaps. What didn’t quite work and, what went right?
In a previous blog, we explained how by being process-ready you can continue to grow revenue and engage your customer base while you’re away from work.
‘Separate what has to be done… You’ll be surprised at what can wait. This isn’t about putting things off – it’s about being realistic in what you can achieve over the next few days. And if you can get maximum relaxation time away from work, you’ll come back super-efficient and ready for anything.’ And so will your team.
The entrepreneurial journey is lonely, arduous and brutal at times. Did you know:
- 2% of entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues
- 47% of non-entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues
- 23% of entrepreneurs have family members who face mental health issues
- 16% of non-entrepreneurs have family members who face mental health issues
(US National Institute of Mental Health, 2020)
Happy people generate growth
Recapturing whatever little bits of ‘sanity’ you can over the long weekend, be it a swim in the sea, throwing a ball around with your children, or a short walk in the park, can do so much for your mind and body.
‘Growth ultimately begins with you and your people and is measured by wellbeing and happiness. Happy people generate growth. Satisfied customers are more frequent return customers, and return customers who fall in love with your product become raving fans which, in turn, attracts more of the same customers.’ (Entrepreneur.com)
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