Clear Your Head With Regular Down Time

Down Time Isn’t Optional

Stars burn out. Cars run out of gas. Machines wear out, and need to be repaired. The same is true for you. You do not have an endless store of energy so you can go on forever without taking time to rest and recharge. If you don’t schedule some down time on a regular basis, you will grow sluggish, be more error- and accident-prone, and your body parts will wear out faster than they should.

Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. But it’s not for the stupid either. Smart money knows when it’s time to put down the tools, and take a break because you’ve reached the point where it takes significantly more effort to complete even the simplest tasks than it would if you allowed time to rest. The trouble is, there’s always one more task to complete, one more question to answer, and one more brick to lay.

The reality is, very seldom will any of those things suffer if they’re put off for a few hours. In fact, in all likelihood, they’ll get more of your attention, and you’ll execute them more efficiently by giving yourself a break. Chances are, by letting yourself rest, or do something other than work, you’ll achieve the same, if not better results, and be around a lot longer to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

Maybe you left your last job because you got tired of a boss who expected you to live and breathe the job, be available outside of business hours, and who pocketed the fruits of your labors without so much as a “thank you”, or “good job”, much less a share of those fruits. You figured if you were going to work that hard, you should reap the rewards yourself.

You probably didn’t take into consideration the time you’d spend on tasks that didn’t bring in any money, but were necessary parts of running a successful business; many tasks you weren’t even aware of because companies that have been around for awhile already learned to hire staff members to handle all the pesky details. Even if you’ve reached the point where you can outsource, or hire staff to perform those tasks, you still have the job of oversight. After all, it’s your neck on the line if something important is overlooked, right?

You might be spending your evenings and weekends handling the mountain of tasks, or overseeing what’s being done by others. Either way, your work-life balance may even be worse than it was when you simply showed up, did your job, and collected a paycheck. Wasn’t part of the reason you set out on your own to find that balance?

Honoring Your Most Important Client

When you’re working on something for a client, you probably prioritize tasks, and even estimate how much time you need for each part of the process. Rarely, if ever do you charge in, willy-nilly, and knock things out randomly. Yet all too often, you do things for yourself haphazardly, whenever you allow yourself to grab a minute to knock something off your never-ending list.

You are your most important customer. As such, you deserve to have your work done with the same care and planning as any of your other customers or clients. You know what needs to be done, and how often you need to do it. So put those things on your calendar. Allow time for them in your day, week, or month. Above all, make sure one of those things is down time.

Whether you go out with family or friends, stay in and watch a movie, or put in an hour at the gym, you need to step away from your workspace, and clear your head on a regular basis. If not, your mind will become cluttered, and like a car in need of maintenance, it will work less efficiently, and consume more resources.

Make Regular Down Time Non-Negotiable

It took me a long time to understand this concept, but once I did, I began adding non-negotiable things to my own schedule. Things like:

• Meditation
• Dancing
• Household chores
• Time away with family or friends
• Ballet classes

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As a result, when I sit down to write, I am more focused, and infinitely more creative than if I forced myself to sit at the computer all day, pounding away at the keyboard. A combination of poor eating habits, and a sedentary lifestyle were also wreaking havoc with my health.

Even though there are times I feel like I’m simply spewing words onto the page, the balance I’ve created in my life allows those words to be more coherent in the first place so I spend far less time editing what I’ve written. I put that limited resource called “time” to much better use.

Recognize Overwhelm

When it comes to the accounting side of my business, I know it’s time to take a break when I make mistakes on simple things, or get frustrated when I can’t find the solution I know is there. Continuing to plow through when my brain is firing on only 3 of 8 cylinders is a recipe for disaster, and means I’ll be going back to correct mistakes at a later date. Why make extra work for myself when I can avoid it by the simple expedient of honoring my need for down time?

It’s important to build things into your schedule such that some happen on a specific day and time, while others can be fit into smaller gaps in your day. For me, ballet classes, and dance nights are the regularly scheduled attractions. I know when it’s time to get ready for one of them, and that work has to stop so I can get there without scrambling around like a headless chicken.

Though I’ve resumed the less-than-stellar habit of eating lunch and breakfast at my desk, I try to do something non-work related for a few minutes while I refuel. Admittedly, I’m not always successful, but at least I make the effort. I justify it because I have enough activities on my schedule which require leaving work at my desk, and walking away.

Whatever makes you happy, allows you to rest and refresh, and clears your head is as important to have on your schedule as client meetings, uninterrupted work periods, and business development. Without those essential breaks in your outward flow of energy, you will run out. I suspect it will be sooner, rather than later.

 

About the Author

Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income.

If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author.

Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.