I got back last night from a week’s vacation in Ottawa, Gatineau and Montreal. While I did bring my laptop with me, for the most part I just had fun. You can check out the photos I’ve published on Facebook if you want to see how much fun I had.
However, just because I was away doesn’t mean my business ground to a halt. Things continued to move forward and I don’t feel I’ve lost any momentum by taking eight days off work. In fact, I think the vacation has helped my business. Here’s how:
1. The most obvious reason for going on vacation is to recharge your batteries. And that’s exactly what I did. I feel completely rested and rejuvenated. I’m ready and eager to get back to work.
Not only am I rested, but by having a few days off has given me some perspective. There are some ideas I had floating around my brain before I left that needed some time to simmer. Now that I’ve taken some time away, these ideas have become clearer. I am ready to create a plan to implement them. If I hadn’t gone away, it would have taken me longer to get this clarity.
2. Before I left I created a series of audios to replace my regular blog posts so I wouldn’t need to write while I was away but my blog wouldn’t be sitting empty. As a result I had 560 new visitors to my site during the 8 days I was gone.
3. I met a Facebook friend in person while in Montreal. Since I was Twittering about my trip while I was away (and I’ve set up Twitter to update Facebook) Gillian Pritchett saw that I was in her hometown. She emailed me, suggesting we meet. I agreed and we arranged a time.
The result – we spent a lovely couple of hours in Pub Saint Paul in a window seat overlooking the marina. We got to know each other, shared some resources and generally had a great time. I can easily see us doing a joint venture some time down the road.
4. On the train from Montreal to Toronto I listened to a teleseminar recording I’d been wanting to get to. I took lots of notes, including several ideas of actions I can take for my own business.
5. I got tons of ideas for blog posts. Because I wasn’t working all day, my subconscious seemed to be working overtime. I had countless ideas just pop into my head. I managed to write most of them down and I’ll be able to use them over the coming weeks and months.
With a little planning, a laptop and an internet connection, your vacation doesn’t have to bring your business to a standstill. Nor do you have to spend your entire time thinking about business. Except for my meeting with Gillian, I never spent more than 30 minutes a day on my business, and most days less. And I don’t feel that I’ve lost ground.
Andrea J. Stenberg
