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Why Your Business Should Plan for Vacation Season Now

By Jon Bradshaw | Business Tips | No Comments

Summer — and vacation season — will be here faster than you know it. With it comes sandy beaches, tan lines, snow cones, and grilling on the patio. School is out for most kids, and weather conditions are ideal for taking trips and spending money on souvenirs and other pleasures.

If you run an appointment-based business, you may also experience an upswing in summer business. For some, going barefoot on the beach requires regular pedicures. Dental appointments for the kids and physicals for fall sports are easier to squeeze in when school is out of session. Whatever the nature of your business, summer may mean an increase in activity, not a series of lazy, hazy days.

If you’re prepared for it, summer business can result in exciting growth and earning potential. It could even take your small business to the next level. The trick is planning for vacation season now instead of waiting until the first day of summer break officially begins. These are just some of the reasons why your business should be preparing right now for the upcoming summer vacation season:

1. Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail

This old adage holds a lot of truth in it. While no one is actively planning to fail, you’re essentially setting yourself up for disaster — or at least missed opportunities — by failing to plan for a seasonal uptick. Not only could you face overburdened staff, you could also leave current and potential customers dissatisfied.

Review your game plan from the year before so you have an idea of what worked and what didn’t last season. Consider hiring some seasonal employees to take on the additional workload or prepare self-service resources to take the weight off of your team when there’s a full house. Anything you can do to plan and prepare for the influx of business will help you delight more customers.

2. Employees Also Want Vacation Time

Customers aren’t the only people who are wanting to make the most of popular vacation times. At least one of your employees will be making plans for that same time period. If you’re not planning employee schedules in advance, you might find yourself short-handed during a busy time of the year.

You and your team need to touch base well before vacation season picks up. Right now is a good time to talk about summer plans with your employees as the weather continues to get warmer. Coordinating PTO and making sure schedules are covered before planes take off will help ensure that everyone gets their deserved vacation without leaving the rest of the team high and dry.

3. You Can Boost Your Sales With Prepared Content

Any time consumers are primed to spend is a good time to prepare some promotional content. For example, the right marketing campaign for the Christmas season can make an instant impact on your sales numbers for the final quarter of the year. Without posting any content, your business may get drowned out by the many other brands and competitors clamoring for attention. The same goes for snagging consumer attention during the summer months.

Your content and promotional deals will reap far more benefits if they are prepared well in advance. For example, your mother-daughter mani-pedi deal will flop if you don’t have enough staff scheduled to apply the required polish. Throwing together a promotion on the fly will not be nearly as effective as a well-thought-out and carefully executed plan. You should be conceiving and fine-tuning your promotional content weeks before it is set to go live.

4. Things Can, and Will, Go Wrong

Your normal business operations are probably doing fine at the moment. However, the vacation season can add a lot of strain on your normal workflows and daily operations. This added strain can make a lot of new and unexpected problems show up at the most inopportune times. It’s always a good idea to prepare for the worst.

What happens if your star stylist comes down with a case of post-picnic food poisoning and has to cancel days’ worth of appointments? This isn’t something you can predict, but it’s one of those scenarios you should be prepared for regardless. Having other staff ready to pitch in can make sure his clients don’t have to head to the beach without their highlights. The better your backup plan, the fewer annoyed customers you’ll have.

5. You’ll Only Reach the Goals You Set

You can accomplish a lot of things with your business this summer, but only if you start your planning now. Let’s say you’ve started a new business, and you want to use this busy season to pay off one of your business loans. Getting rid of those monthly payments would sure be helpful, but you need an actual plan in order to achieve that.

With a goal in mind, what can you do in the prep phase to make things happen? Perhaps it’s by designing and running a killer digital promotion that will bring in new revenue. Maybe your plan is to set up an information tent at ball games, concerts, and other busy public summer events to get the word out about your new business. Plan these efforts now, and you might actually meet the goals you set.

So much can go right, or wrong, depending on the amount of planning you put into your business. With appropriate preparation, you increase the likelihood that summer vacation season will make — not break — your business.

Image Credit: Oleksandr Pidvalnyi; Pexels; Thanks!

Should You Bring Work On Your Vacation?

By Hunter Meine | Time Management | No Comments

Summertime is a popular time for vacation-goers. Sometimes when I’m headed on vacation with friends, it’s easier to get off work at other times during the year. But when you want to head out of town with the kids, summer is the best time because they are out of school for the next few months.

Parents still have to take time off work, which can be a bit of a logistical problem at times. For this reason, many working parents debate on whether or not they should take some work with them on vacation.

The obvious answer to some might be no, that ruins the point of a vacation. However, there is some merit to taking a little work with you on a trip if you play your cards right. This article will dissect both the pros and cons of such a decision for your upcoming family trip:

Why You Should Take Work on Vacation

There are some scenarios when bringing work on vacation with you can actually be a good idea. For those who really struggle with the stress of taking off work, bringing a few assignments along may provide an ideal balance:

Take More Time Off

When you take work on the road, you might be able to squeeze in some more time off. In addition, the ability to take on a few tasks and assignments even when you’re out of the office means that you’re not needed back as quickly, buying you some more vacation time.

Let’s say there’s a simple project that you need to get done by the end of the week. By picking up that task and taking it with you, you can fulfill an obligation with work without the need to show up at the office. In addition, with this project getting done, you can feel better about the time you’re spending away from the company.

Keep Up With Deadlines

What happens when you want to take a vacation, but you have some deadlines coming up? Trying to jam them all into your online calendar before your trip is extremely stressful and can really damage the quality of your work. On the other end of the spectrum, pushing all of your deadlines back until you get home from your trip can fill your entire vacation with dread.

Instead of trying to alter your schedule too much, just plan around your vacation to include a few deadlines throughout the duration of your trip. A deadline or two sprinkled into your online calendar won’t take up too much time and will help ease your concerns about missing work for an extended period.

Stay Fulfilled

There are a lot of people in the world that work hard every day. Sometimes people do extra work because they crave the sense of fulfillment they get from a job well done. Taking a week off to relax, however beneficial for them, can be a challenge when they’re not checking off boxes or turning in assignments.

If you’re one of these people that gets a little antsy without your work — taking a bit of work with you on vacation can provide the relief you want. Whether it’s the fulfillment you need, or something else, you don’t need to feel guilty about bringing along your diversion. You also don’t need to worry about kicking back.

This concept also applies to anyone trying to pursue some lofty goals this summer that are work-related. Completing some tasks even while on vacation helps ensure you stay on the right track toward completing the goals you set for yourself, like qualifying for a promotion or a pay raise.

Why You Shouldn’t Bring Your Work Along

While we applaud productivity here, oftentimes, a vacation needs to be just that. Trips are to explore the world, experience new things, and take a break from your daily stress and responsibilities. Bringing work along can end up being counterproductive in that sense. But you can slowly work toward the goal of working less and less on vacations until you hit your best compromise.

Lose Time With Family

When you’re on a family vacation, your highest priority should be spending quality time with your loved ones. Nothing should get in the way of that, especially not work. So what’s the point of even taking a trip with your family if you’re not going to be participating in the trip with them?

If you plan to bring work with you on a trip, use your online Calendar to make sure it doesn’t get in the way of quality time with family. Block off time, specifically very early morning or later at night when vacation activities aren’t scheduled, and people are in bed. In this way, you’re not missing out on the family fun. Correct scheduling is the way you can have the best of both worlds.

Builds Up Stress

Vacations are meant for relaxing. It’s a chance to forget about work and relish in a life free of worries. So why bring work into the mix when it can easily mess up that chemistry?

Of course, not bringing work with you might be the source of your stress. Stress can eat away at you, especially if you have just started your business or are a true entrepreneur.

Until things are set up in certain ways, maybe with a few more employees, it may only be you who can make the business running smoothly when while. You’re on vacation.

Whatever the case is for you — if you have a team, just make sure you set your team up right and only respond to emergencies as needed. Then, they’ll be able to do the heavy lifting while you take a much-needed break away from it all.

Increases Burnout

Taking a break from work is meant to reduce the risk of burnout. However, when burnout strikes, it strips you of motivation and drive, leading to a sharp decline in productivity and quality of work. This can be costly when it comes to staying in good standing with your current job.

If you truly feel like you need to take some time off to forget about work, make your number one priority. Let your company know that you need this time so you can return an invigorated and energized employee. If they start sending you calendar notifications for meetings and assignments, let it be known that you plan to decline every single one of them until you return.

In the end, it’s up to you whether or not you bring work with you on vacation. Consider what you hope to accomplish and let the pros and cons help you make the right decision.

Should You Offer Unlimited Vacation Time?

By Jason Barnes | Business Tips | No Comments

To employees, unlimited vacation time is a dream come true. But the question isn’t how to sell the perk to your employees; it’s whether or not offering it is a smart business decision.

Giving unlimited vacation time to workers comes with obvious concerns. How do you ensure no one abuses this benefit? How much will it cost the company? Will it inconvenience the team?

Unlimited vacation time has its benefits, but it’s not without drawbacks. Before you roll out this benefit, think through them carefully.

Why You Should Offer Unlimited Vacation Time

Just ask your team: There are plenty of reasons to make vacation time an unlimited affair. With the policy in place, you’ll:

Attract and Retain Top Talent

If you want to hire the best talent, you need to give them benefits they won’t find elsewhere. Top candidates will have several options available, and they’ll look beyond salary numbers to make their decision.

Offering unlimited vacation time is a perk that stands out. Only a handful of companies, like HubSpot and Sony, currently offer it. Make sure you can compete.

Increase Employee Happiness

Everyone wants work-life balance. Both new hires and tenured workers will be happy to see this perk added to your benefits package.

Taking breaks frequently helps to cut down on the stress and burnout of a 40-hour work week. While you can’t afford for employees to take time off every week, they’ll appreciate simply knowing they can step away when they need to.

Promote Ownership and Accountability

Employees who take control of their time are more effective than those who don’t. They’re more willing to think outside the box and need less hand-holding for everyday tasks. An unlimited time off policy can instill that sense of ownership in your team.

The good news is, this policy can also promote accountability. No matter how many days team members take off, they still need to fulfill their responsibilities. Learning to balance their obligations and free time will help everyone grow.

Save Money

Did you think you could cut costs by offering unlimited vacation time? The truth is, you can. As long as employees aren’t abusing the system, this policy has lower overhead costs than a traditional vacation plan.

With traditional vacation plans, employees accrue sick and vacation time based on hours worked. Companies were expected to pay this time out, even if employees left before taking their allotted hours off. With unlimited paid time off, employers only incur costs when workers actually take time off.

Why You Shouldn’t Offer Unlimited Vacation Time

Not all organizations offer unlimited vacation time, and for good reason. Weigh these concerns against the positives:

Abuse of Privilege

While management always has the final say on whether workers can take time off, employees may still try to abuse the privilege. A worker who takes months off at a time with no thought as to his or her duties is not an asset to the company.

With unlimited paid time off, you have to be careful about how long of a leash you give. Allowing one employee to take a ton of time off for no other reason than because they want to can cause other workers to do the same.

Underuse of Vacation Time

As strange as it sounds, some employees with unlimited vacation time actually take less time off than they otherwise would have. In fact, researchers suggest underuse of the policy is a bigger problem than overuse.

Why? Because the policy can promote a competitive culture, in which employees take fewer days off to keep pace with their coworkers. They may fear taking too many days off will disqualify them from promotions or pay raises.

One solution is to set a minimum. Perhaps employees must take at least one week off per year, but they’re welcome to take more if they wish.

If you go that route, establish a norm. Do most workers at your company take between four and six weeks off per year? Then say so when explaining your unlimited vacation time policy.

Misuse of Vacation Time

With an unlimited-paid-time-off plan, setting expectations is key. If this allowance involves trade-offs, make sure employees understand them.

For example, must employees on the plan take calls and emails from work while out of the office? If employees are expected to be available for work every time they want a day off, they may not be so keen on the policy after all.

Every business owner will weigh these factors differently, and that’s OK. Do what makes sense for your team; if it doesn’t work, try something else. Experimentation, including with employee benefits, is how great companies are built.

6 Best Vacations for Boosting Productivity

By Jon Bradshaw | Time Management | No Comments

People take vacations for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it’s to spend more time with friends and family. At other times, it might be to fulfill an obligation. Some vacations, however, are specifically meant to help you return to work stronger.

There are times when things aren’t quite clicking at work. You start expending more energy to accomplish the same tasks as before. And while some would recommend pushing through, be warned that this approach can backfire.

Whether you’re a business owner or employee, overworking will actually ruin your productivity and your personal life. So when you feel overworked, it’s best to step away before burning yourself out.

Unfortunately, not every vacation will give you the desired result. Some vacations can actually leave you feeling more drained. To make sure to get the most out of your vacations, check out the following kinds of vacations proven to boost productivity:

1. Wilderness Adventure

One of the best ways to get more done is to spend more time outdoors. Spending a few days in nature is a great way to relieve stress and come back refreshed.

Going backpacking or camping is calming while building resilience. Why not schedule a visit to a nearby national park? National forests are also good options: They tend to be cheaper and less crowded but every bit as beautiful as America’s national parks.

What should you do on your wilderness adventure? Favorites include:

Hiking
Nature photography
Fishing
Hunting
Kayaking or canoeing
Mountaineering

Whether you are renting a cabin or roughing it completely, you’ll come back feeling stronger and less stressed. If you’re looking to make it more social, bring your outdoorsy friends along.

2. Beach Trip

If camping isn’t your cup of tea, you can still enjoy the outdoors with a beach vacation. Here, you can soak up the sun and relax by a body of water.

With this vacation, consider an all-inclusive resort. It saves the hassle of having to plan every little detail beforehand. And because food and drinks are typically included, it may not be as expensive as you might think.

3. Wellness Retreat

Maybe you’re interested in a vacation that emphasizes wellness practices. Especially during a time like this, taking care of your mind and body is critical.

Wellness practices can help you be more focused, stay healthy, and grow in your personal life. Choose your retreat based on the specific area of wellness you want to focus on. Consider the following:

Intensive exercise
Yoga
Meditation
Spa relaxation
Diet transformation

4. Road Trip

Driving may not sound like a relaxing activity. But when you focus on the journey rather than the destination, it becomes a lot more fun. Think of the stops you make on the way as part of the experience rather than a nuisance.

Being out on the road is a great opportunity to think and process life. The scenery moves around you in a way that can help you feel less stuck in your life.

Again, bring friends. Discover new music, enjoy deep conversation, and share plenty of roadside meals together.

5. International Vacation

The Harvard Business Review reports that many of the most memorable vacations people take are to locations outside their home country. International trips are so fulfilling because everything about them feels new. They’re opportunities to both have fun and learn about new people and cultures.

With that said, these vacations can be the most stressful if you don’t plan well beforehand. Start planning this type of trip at least a month in advance. Think through everything from how you’ll get around to where you’ll exchange your currency, but also leave some room for spontaneity.

Another key to an international trip is a local guide. Find someone to host your stay and tell you what to look out for. They can give you the knowledge you need to quell your fears of uncertainty.

6. Activity-Focused Vacation

Everyone has a favorite hobby. This type of vacation is all about catering to it. Wine tastings, cooking trips, and artistic getaways are examples of activity-focused vacations.

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, people get so busy that they neglect their hobbies and interests. They also don’t have the time to explore new things they might be interested in.

On an activity-based vacation, you can explore a favorite hobby or establish a new one. You can also interact with other people who are interested in the same thing, helping you build new relationships.

You have so many options when it comes to vacationing. The last thing you want to do is waste your time and come back even more stressed out than you were. With the right planning, these vacations can breathe new life into your work.

Don’t Let Vacation Season Dampen Team Productivity

By Gunjan Saini | Time Management | No Comments

With summer on its way, you’re likely receiving more requests for time off. While you want your team to enjoy the season, you’re also worried: How will all the vacations affect productivity?

Even with a strong PTO policy, this can be difficult to manage. And as workers will point out, vacations can boost individual productivity. The wrinkle is, missing hands can slow down the rest of the team.

But before you deny those requests, beware: You don’t want to create a company culture in which people are afraid to take time off. Workers are already taking fewer days off out of fear of appearing “replaceable.”

You need to strike the right balance. Here’s how to keep your team strong while ensuring everyone gets a taste of summer:

1. Preview the season’s work.

Setting expectations before summer takes off is a great way to get team members to think about timing. If they know a major project will be due in early July, then you shouldn’t see a flood of PTO requests for the week before.

This is the kind of discussion to have at a team meeting. Plot out upcoming campaigns and talk through how much work each will take. Revisit the company’s mission, and explain how each campaign connects to it.

If employees know what’s coming and why, they’ll plan ahead. There may be phases of a project that involve them less than others, during which workers can squeeze in a summer camping trip.

2. Review your PTO policy.

During the same meeting when you preview the summer, bring up your company’s PTO policy. Often, violations occur when workers simply forget the rules.

Explain how many consecutive days they can request off. Also, discuss how much prior notice employees must provide beforehand in order to get approval.

Be transparent about the approval process. There are a number of ways to decide who gets to take time off if requests conflict:

On a first-come, first-serve basis
A rotating vacation schedule
Based on seniority
Based on who took time off least recently

If you do have to deny someone’s request, work with them. Perhaps they get first dibs over another desirable slot, such as Labor Day weekend.

3. Create a company vacation calendar.

A calendar that shows who’s taking time off when is an important organization tool. This can help cut down on overlapping vacations.

Make sure you have a system to separate pending from approved requests. Consider color-coding them, or perhaps you simply reply “Maybe” to requests you’ve seen but have yet to approve. That way, workers can be courteous of others’ vacations and rearrange their own schedules to stay productive.

4. Ask people to work ahead.

There’s no substitute for working ahead. Not only does it help the team member on vacation keep their mind off work, but it also minimizes dependencies. Otherwise, the rest of the team may have to wait for the worker to return.

Before they go on vacation, help employees outline what they’ll accomplish before they leave. Encourage them to get a jump start on a project they’ll be expected to contribute to when they return.

Remember, this applies to leaders as well: If you were expecting their help on a project during their week off, you may have to put together the brief ahead of schedule. Model the behavior you want to see from your team.

5. Over-communicate.

It’s critical that nobody on the team is caught off guard by a vacation. A vacation calendar identifies who’ll be out when, but it’s not enough.

Before someone’s time off begins, initiate a conversation: What’s been done, and what’s left to do on projects that span the out-of-office period? That way, team members can plan to work around the missing person’s portion or pick up the slack when necessary.

If you need to cross-train an employee to handle the work, touch base with them before the other worker leaves. Encourage them to shadow the vacationer for a day to see how he or she works.

6. Promote working at peak vacation times.

If you get an overwhelming number of requests at similar times — say, around the Fourth of July — consider rewarding employees who hold down the fort. Doing so can give those who really need a vacation more space while showing appreciation to the rest of the team.

Great ways to incentive working at peak times include:

Bonus pay
Gift cards
Additional time off to be used later
Free snacks or meals

Don’t buy them a yacht, but don’t worry too much about how much those incentives cost. A fully functional team is more than worth a catered lunch or a few Starbucks gift cards.

Vacation season doesn’t have to mean making new hires or sacrificing productivity. If you plan ahead and prepare your team, everyone can enjoy the summer. You might even be able to take a vacation of your own.

How to Take Time Off Without Inconveniencing Your Team

By Jon Bradshaw | Knowledge Base | No Comments

old-fashioned alarm clock sitting on desk.

Everyone needs a break from work sometimes. Time away improves team morale, de-stresses the mind, and boosts productivity.

If you aren’t planning appropriately or considering your team, though, your relaxing getaway may turn sour when returning to the workplace. No one wants to work with a team member who unapologetically prioritizes his or her time over everyone else’s.

Here’s how to take the time off you need without making life hard for those around you:

1. Work ahead.

The most important step to making sure your colleagues aren’t adversely affected by your time away is simple: get ahead of your work. Don’t just complete your pre-vacation projects; get a jump on those you know will be happening while you’re out.

There is no way to avoid some future work pileup, but you can prepare for it. Write down all your outstanding deliverables and deadlines before you leave so you don’t feel swamped when you return. Delegate smaller tasks that others can handle in your absence. For unknowns that may come up, designate someone to make decisions in your absence.

2. Avoid overlap.

When other members of your team are out of the office, it might be best to postpone your vacation. Treat busy periods the same way: You don’t want to be the person who takes off when everyone else is swamped with work.

Respect your team’s time so they can respect yours. It’s hard to expect a co-worker to adjust his or her schedule for your vacation when you won’t do the same. A great workplace environment is built by team members who have each other’s backs.

When in doubt, consult your company’s online calendar. Encourage co-workers to place major projects and upcoming vacations on it for all to see.

3. Keep in touch.

Unless you will be going somewhere on your vacation with no Wi-Fi or cell service, stay in touch. You never know when there might be an emergency at work. Because of this, make sure you are never “off the grid” for too long.

You don’t need to be glued to your phone — it is time off, after all — but being part of a team means being accessible. If you use collaboration software, such as Slack or Basecamp, to stay in touch with a remote team, make sure you also announce your break there. Email clients, even those that are not responsive, with the dates you’ll be out. Don’t leave anywhere unchecked.

Finally, before you leave, set up an email auto-responder. That way, people who email you expecting a fast reply aren’t caught off guard when you do not respond for a week. This is especially important if you’re in a customer-facing or sales role.

4. Use time off wisely.

Vacation time is a tool to use when needed and not too often. Make sure you are utilizing your time away by resting, clearing your head of stresses that may have piled up, and satisfying any other needs you may have.

You aren’t doing anyone any favors if you come back exhausted from working while away or overextending yourself. Remember, your other team members may need a break just as much as you do.

Even if you’re taking time off for a not-so-fun reason, such as a family member’s death, make time for mindfulness. A meta-study published in the Journal of American Medicine found meditation to be an effective tactic for easing anxiety and reducing stress.

Time off is a gift. Use it sparingly, prepare well, and make sure you get the relaxation you deserve. Your team members want you to take care of yourself, but they don’t want to be left behind in the process. Keep them in mind, and they’ll extend the same courtesy to you when it’s their time to take a break.

Why Small Business Owners Deserve Vacation Days + How To Take Them

By John Rampton | Time Management | No Comments

Should You Offer Unlimited Vacation Time?

Small business owners deserve vacation days. There I said it. It’s essential to take time off no matter what type of work you do, but when you run a business, this can be extremely challenging.

When you work for yourself, you can enjoy individual freedoms and flexibility, but you also don’t have anyone around to recommend you take a break. Kids have winter and spring break, and employees get around 2-4 weeks of paid time off each year.

Entrepreneurs need to plan to take time off on their own somehow. Check out these three compelling reasons why small business owners deserve vacation days, along with some key tips and strategies to help you take time off.

3 Reasons Why You Should Take Time Off When You Run a Small Business

It’s no secret that everyone needs a break from time to time, but this is a crucial step for business owners to take. According to a Gallup Poll, 39% of business owners say they work over 60 hours per week. That many work hours is way more than the average 40-hour workweek that most employees have. Working more likely requires more rest time to recover.

Another reason why is that small business owners don’t seem to have a reasonable level of work-life balance. Sure, you can set your own hours and choose who you work with, but running a business puts an insane amount of pressure on an individual. If you are in the beginning stages and don’t have much of a team, this can leave you carrying most of the burden.

According to a Bank West Small Business Growth survey, at least 50% of business owners live with considerable uncertainty about the future; nearly 40% struggle to balance work and leisure time, and 43% admit always being on the job.

The third reason why you should take time off is pretty apparent. With you working all the time and handling most of the pressure of running the entire business, you are merely not scheduling enough vacation time into your budget. But this can change if you’re willing to make an effort. Here are a few key strategies to implement when you want to start taking more time off because let’s face it – you deserve it.

Budget In Your Own PTO

Aside from time, one of the most significant factors that stop small business owners from taking some much needed time off is money. You may not feel like you can afford to take a few unpaid days off from work, or you may fear that your business will stop making money while you’re gone.

The best way to combat these doubts is to budget in your own PTO. Since you won’t get paid for vacation time, start saving up for it in advance. Realize that you may need to take time off for health reasons or take a few personal days. Calculate how much you typically earn during a workday and start stashing some funds away so you won’t have to deal with any financial blowback when you take time off.

Work Ahead on Projects

In addition to budgeting in your own PTO, you may want to work ahead on projects regularly. I like to work ahead on projects often because it provides peace of mind to know that if I have to change my schedule, my deadlines for the following few days are met.

Whether you’re planning a week-long getaway or want to take the week of Christmas off to relax with family, make it a habit to get your work finished ahead of time. Working ahead may mean you are stuck working on projects one Saturday out of the month or have to pull a few late nights.

Planning ahead is not just perfectly normal — it’s a way to help yourself and your productivity. Above and beyond that — nothing beats knowing that your work is completed a week or two in advance so you can get paid even if you take time off.

Delegate Tasks

Stop trying to be a one-person show and start delegating to team members and contractors. You can work fewer hours and have more time for vacations and personal days when you delegate tasks.

Start by outsourcing a single task that is time-consuming or that you’d rather not do. For there, you can hire a virtual assistant or a part-time team member to help regularly with specific responsibilities.

Delegating tasks or asking for help can ensure you have more work done in less time. Once you train the right people, you can rely on them to hold down the fort while you take some time away from your business.

Put Things on Autopilot

Work smarter and not more laborious by putting more things on autopilot so you can take time off when it’s necessary. Start with your most tedious tasks then look into free and affordable ways to automate them.

You can set up an email auto-responder to help you filter through messages and prompt leads to schedule calls and meetings with you. You can schedule out content on your website along with social media posts and email newsletters.

Use a combination of working ahead, delegating, and automating your business to free up more time and energy so you can have the freedom to step away from your business if you feel you need to.

How do you plan for more vacation time as a small business owner? Which one of these strategies is your favorite, or do you prefer a combination of all of them?

How Time Away from Work Increases Productivity

By Kayla Sloan | Business Tips, Scheduling, Time Management | No Comments

Many people feel you need to be a workaholic if you are going to be a success. That is not necessarily true. Of course, hard work often goes hand in hand with success and meeting our goals. But that doesn’t mean we need to kill ourselves doing it. Often when we work hard, to the point of keeling over, it’s as if we have something to prove either to ourselves or everyone else around us. It’s like we are saying, “Yes, I really can do it all.” But after a while it begins to take a toll on us. Working constantly with no break doesn’t make us more productive. In fact, time away from work actually increases productivity.

Do More in Less Time

Lack of sleep, fatigue, and stress all have effects on us. They cause a drain on our energy levels and make problem solving much more difficult. It’s hard to stay on task when we are running out of mental fuel. When rested, everything we do can be done in less time. That allows us to do more in a shorter time span.

Prevents Burn Out

Time away from work increases productivity by preventing burn out. Vacations, morning and afternoon breaks, and lunch periods are all opportunities to shut our minds off. Allowing ourselves to disconnect gives our brains a chance to rest. Think of it like plugging in a cell phone to recharge either at night or during the day. It isn’t going to continue running if we don’t charge it up now and again.

Boosts Creativity

Many people get in a slump in the middle of the afternoon. That is the perfect time to take a fast paced, 5 to 10 minute walk. Cardio activity can actually boost our productivity for up to about two hours after exercise. This allows us to do what we do best but faster. Not only that, but it can spur our creativity and problem solving abilities as well. When we get up, even for a little while, it gets us moving and makes our heart start pumping. This increases our blood flow to every part of our bodies, including our brains. We see things differently. As we form new perspectives on issue or problems we become more innovative and creative at solving them.

Learn More

Grade school aged children get recess time at school. As it turns out, there may be a good reason for that. There is a big benefit to giving ourselves some recess time in a similar way. Once we get up and away from everything even for a little while we can come back to work and direct our focus on learning new tasks or taking on different problems.

Get Sick Less

There are health benefits to taking time away from work. Many people need fewer sick days when they are less stressed. Less stress equals better health equals greater productivity. Obviously working hard is a key part of being successful. But time away from work increases productivity too. To be the best we can, therefore, we should all take breaks periodically and work hard the rest of the time. Do you regularly take time away from work?

Originally published here.