Until last week, I hadn’t taken a proper, no laptops, no work holiday is about 3 years. Although I’d been saying I needed a proper holiday for about a year, it still almost didn’t happen either. The ONLY reason my laptop didn’t make it into my suitcase was because it wouldn’t fit!

We’re all guilty of it though, I see my clients experiencing burn out all the time and they won’t acknowledge it and take a holiday.

So, long story short, I had 5 days of no work, no laptop, no client calls, just sitting around doing not a lot and fully relaxing. I even had not one, but TWO massages on the beach. Here is what happened.

1. I was less stressed.
No rocket science. My brain cleared out, I slept well, ate well, felt good in my mental health, allowed myself to fully enjoy my time off and enjoy the bliss.

2. I was able to think straight.
When I’m in the day-to-day swing of life, it’s easy to sometimes get overwhelmed, and then it’s hard to see the wood through the trees. Taking time to fully switch off enabled me to think straight and come back refreshed and very clear about what to do next.

3. I enjoyed the holiday.
I had no time constraints, in fact no constraints at all. When I’m on holiday but working I often find myself getting into a trap of booking client calls or making promises that I can’t not keep, so I end up in a position of sacrificing going to see something or doing an activity so that I can keep the promise I’ve made. Without these constraints I was able to fully enjoy the time I had and do what I wanted when I wanted with no sacrifices.

4. I came back raring to go.
Before I went away, I was slogging. I was getting up late, being unproductive, feeling tired all the time, staying up late watching TV, drinking too much and just generally not being a good business owner. When I came back I felt ready to take on the world. I’ve got all my client projects done so I’m in a position to take on more work, I’ve got my email inbox to the lowest outstanding emails it’s been in years, I’m finding time to work on my own business as well as my clients, I’ve streamlined my workload where possible to enable me more time to focus on how to move my own business and my client’s businesses forward. I’m raring to go, and I’m feeling great for it!

So, I’m taking a vow to now follow my own advice going forwards and to take a bloody holiday more often! A proper, no laptop, no work holiday, for the greater good!

If any of these points resonate with you I’d love to see your comments below, or if you want to find out more, click the link below.