Small business owners don’t often have the luxury of taking a vacation that doesn’t include a little bit of work. Nevertheless, it is important to enjoy some rest and relaxation so enthusiasm and energy can be regained. A person who works most days, including while on vacation, will soon become burned out and unable to perform to the usual standards.
Although it’s understandable that there are times when it’s impossible to avoid working on vacation, there are ways to balance work and play while on vacation. The following tips can help the business owner relax and enjoy their vacation with family and friends, while also accomplishing any necessary work.
- Work a Compressed Schedule. Rather than working a normal 8-10-hour day, the business owner on vacation can get enough work completed with a compressed work schedule. A compressed work schedule involves focused, productive work that’s finished in a shorter amount of time. Most family members will understand working for three to four hours while on vacation.
- Set Your Priorities. To stay within a compressed schedule, the business owner has to determine what’s most important and do only that. Everything else must wait until the vacation is over.
- Cut Out Time-Wasters. Time-wasting habits are notorious for leading businesspeople to take much longer than necessary to complete tasks and projects. Even those who believe they manage time wisely are prone to checking email or Facebook, or sending text messages and taking phone calls from friends. While on vacation, cut out all of these time-wasting activities so the focus can remain on work.
- Ask for Uninterrupted Work Time. Family members and friends must cooperate with the compressed schedule for the businessperson to finish their work quickly. Create a work schedule with family members, and ask for uninterrupted time so everyone can get started on vacation plans as soon as possible.
- Plan for Work, Plan for Fun. It’s important for waiting family members to know that once work time is over, there are plans for relaxation and enjoyment. Work together with your spouse and children to make daily plans so everyone knows there’s a commitment to spend time together.
Stick to Balance-Achieving Guidelines
As a small business owner who’s driven to achieve success, it can be easy to let time get away while focusing on work. This might be okay during other times during the year, but would be a mistake while on vacation. More than likely, the business owner on vacation has gone away with his or her family or partner. Placing the focus on work during vacation can cause relationship and family stress, and is seldom worth getting a little extra work done.
The above work-vacation balance tips can help business owners who feel they must bring work along with them on vacation. By cutting work time down to a minimum, everyone will be happy and the business owner will have ample time to rest up and become re-energized for when the vacation is over.
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