As much as I love my work, I’m also a firm believer in the necessity of taking time out from it.
In some ways, it’s even more vital to schedule and enact time out from a passion-based business… because when you’re enjoying your work, it’s easy to get sucked in and spend all your free waking hours on it.
This, however, isn’t healthy in the long term, as I learnt the hard way.
So, this month we’re going to think and talk about ways to take time out.
Both mentally and physically, it’s important to take time out. Time to rest, time to rejuvenate, time to switch focus, time to move your body.
Time out can be something as simple as closing your eyes, right now, and taking 5 slow, deep breaths. Or, it can mean taking a year-long sabbatical from your work and life and travelling somewhere new.
There is no right and wrong here. There is only what works for you – for your lifestyle – and what you enjoy. What challenges and captivates your mind enough to distract it from work and other worries? What makes your body feel good? What relaxes you?
I personally take time out in all sorts of ways. I use the 45/15 time management technique when I have a lot to power through. I read a novel for a while in the evening to fully rest my brain (immersing myself in a novel is one of very few ways I can totally forget about work), I go for a walk, I do yoga. I aim to take most of 2 days off per week (no, this doesn’t always happen!). After my first digital sabbatical last year, I plan on taking at least one – preferably two – of these each year. I travel regularly – having at least one big ‘trip away’ each year.
Speaking of which… I’m heading off to Cambodia this month for 2 weeks. Most of the time I’m away, I’ll be offline, especially 5 days where I’ll have no internet access at all (hello forced digital sabbatical!).
Happily, of course, Megan E will be keeping C&T rolling along smoothly while I’m gone! I can’t wait to check out the temples at Angkor Wat, the museums in Phnom Penh, chill out on the beach on a remote island for 5 days, and eat SO MUCH delicious food. I have no doubt I’ll fill up my camera and my notebook, and come back refreshed, re-energised, and ready to tackle the rest of 2014 with gusto.
