Take A Break
Running your own business is very rewarding and enjoyable but it can also be very tiring, stressful and challenging. It is easy to get drawn into working very long hours and not taking any time off. However, spending all of your time at work will reduce your personal effectiveness, productivity, energy and motivation levels and negatively impact your business and other areas of your life. It can also lead to high levels of stress and having to take time off through ill health.
There are many ways of taking a break including working less hours each day, not working at weekends, having a morning off work, attending some training or a seminar, taking a holiday, making time for your interests and pastimes, exercising, having a weekend away, reading a good book, going for a walk, doing some voluntary work and spending time with your friends and family.
Here are some of the benefits of taking a break from your business:
Recharge your batteries. Taking a break will help you to rest, relax, recharge your batteries and feel refreshed. This will enable you to come back to your business raring to go and re-energised.
Time to think. Spending time away from your business doing something completely different will give your mind the space to be creative. Often the best ideas for your business occur when you are away from your business and have the time to think.
Rejuvenate your passion. When you are working too much you can lose your passion for the business because you forget what is important to you. Taking a break will enable you to refocus on why you are running your business and to rejuvenate your passion.
Increase productivity and effectiveness. Taking regular breaks from work will increase your productivity and effectiveness when you are working. You will find that you manage your time better and make better use of your time in your business.
Reduce stress levels. Spending all your time at work is very stressful so reducing your hours at work and doing something different will help with your stress management and enable you to better cope with stressful situations.
Better health and well being. Getting balance in your life by working less and taking regular breaks will help improve your general health and well being.
Improve communication. When you are working too much your communication with others can suffer and you may upset your staff, customers and contacts. Working less will enable you to focus on good communication in your business.
Increase resilience and ability to cope. It is very easy to get things out of perspective when you are working too much. Building in regular breaks from your business will improve your resilience and ability to cope when you are at work.
Improve decision making. When you are working long hours and are tired your decision making can suffer. Taking breaks to make sure you are refreshed and not tired will improve your decision making ability.
Consider your business strategy. Having some time away from your business enables you to step back and have a fresh look at your business strategy and what you want to achieve for your business.
There are many benefits of taking a break from your business and getting the right balance in your life. When are you going to take the next break from your business?
Author: Liz Makin
Published: September 2009
Makin It Happen has a range of personal development online courses to purchase, created by Liz Makin, including anxiety management, communication, resilience, soft skills, stress management, time management and coaching. Liz Makin also provides personalised business coaching, business mentoring and stress management services to business owners, directors, managers and professionals.
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