Recently, I’ve been called out by people I trust and respect for not being willing to slow down and take breaks often enough. I understand their concerns and they are correct. In the last few years, I’ve come to realize that I’ve missed my biggest opportunities by not pushing hard for just a little longer than I did.
Finding balance
This week I managed to travel through nine states while visiting three different customers in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Arizona. These meetings all needed to happen to keep key projects moving forward. Even in the midst of that whirlwind trip, I managed to make time for dinner with my wife, who was also traveling on her own business trip.
It’s not always about the day off, the weekend off or the two-week vacation. Sometimes it’s about carving out a few hours of calm and quiet time in the middle of a maelstrom of activity. That being said, my partner in crime on this week’s trip mentioned on yesterday’s flight home that she would be taking today off. Within a short period of time, I turned to her and said I’d be taking a three-day weekend too.
Pushing hard provides for time off
If I hadn’t crammed three customer visits into five chaotic days, I’d be planning for another business trip next week. But by pushing hard and putting them all together back to back, I now have two weeks with no overnight business travel plans. Everything I have before me will keep until Monday morning. On Monday morning, my body and mind will be rested, relaxed and ready to tackle my to-do list and projects.
Perhaps it seems counterintuitive that by pushing hard now you will be able to take guilt-free time off down the road. Maybe it’s something you’ve already figured out. Either way, I’d love to hear if you plan for days off or just take them when you feel you can.
I so get and understand this. Many folks still live byt he traditional work week though and I do not live that timeline.
I take Sat off to spend with my Mother and go to farmers market and weekly shopping. We have added washing clothes and handling them out to dry, then making nice lunch and sitting outside and talking for a couple of hours.
Do I do this every Sat?, nope, sometimes I am needed to travel or appear at a conference etc…yet we still enjoy our own version of consistency. Today’s life is about being more fluid. So there are things I do when many are working in middle of day because o f how I push myself other times.
Where do you carve out your “own time”?