Have you been having trouble putting your thoughts together and getting projects going for your business? Are you just feeling drained and dead in the water?
Let me ask you something — when is the last time you took a vacation? I don’t mean some big ordeal like a trip to Disney or a cruise around the Caribbean (although those obviously rock). But when is the last time you just let yourself step away from all the deadlines, emails, half-written blog posts and huge to do lists….and just took some time to enjoy your family and your life?
Our Hiatus for Brilliance
A few weeks ago, a friend of ours from college was in Munich. It didn’t really fit into our plans to drive down to see him for a couple of days, but it had been 4 years since our last time spent together — and we weren’t going to let this opportunity pass by.
While we were down there for 4 days, we were only able to spend a limited amount of time working on our businesses and blogging. So our brains were able to rest a bit and recoup — which was really needed. We were starting to feel a bit stuck in a rut and not really pushing forward with our projects as we had been just a few short weeks before.
And then, on our way back in the car — the most amazing thing happened. We had a great new brainstorm, were able to take notes in Evernote on the iPad as we drove home, and essentially started a new push forward with our consulting business based on those ideas. The concepts were simple and easy to implement — but somehow we’d not yet arrived at those ideas as we just kept plugging along. Don’t get me wrong — we’d been having some amazing progress in December and early January…but you really can’t expect to be able to go full steam all the time without consequences.
Rest or Expect A Break Down
That’s a major hurdle when you work at home and are a parent. Your time is so precious to begin with, and you’re constantly juggling multiple tasks to try to keep the house clean, the dog fed, the kids up to date with school and your business making money. It’s like working 3 full time jobs at once — and it’s enough to make anyone crumble after extended exposure. You simply cannot expect to run an engine at full speed 24/7 and never experience a breakdown. And that’s exactly what will happen to us as well.
If you’ve been feeling overly anxious, have a lot of guilt about not spending enough time with your family, just feel like giving up or otherwise feel like you’re at the end of your rope, it’s time to step back for a day or two. Go get a massage, have a movie night with your family, take a hike into the woods (or do some Geocaching), go rock climbing, book a quick cheap holiday that you can escape to over the weekend — do whatever it is that helps you unplug and unwind so that your brain has to focus on something other than work. And when you head back to your desk a few days later, I bet you’ll find your mind overflowing with new ideas and inspiration, be able to focus better on your tasks and feel pumped up from the wonderful time off you’ve allowed yourself.
What’s your favorite way to unplug and relax?
