I’ll be the first to admit that taking time off in order to come back stronger is a tough pill to swallow.
This is especially true when I have a to-do list to work through and series of projects or tasks I’m excited about completing.
Often the last thing I want to do is step away for a bit, whether it’s an hour, a day, a week, or even a month. And the more exciting the project the harder it is for me to take time off.
Sometimes however, this is exactly what’s needed.
If you ever find yourself stuck then a break may be just what you need too.
The Benefits of Recharge Time
Our mind is like a muscle. You can’t train a muscle all day everyday with no rest or recovery time, and the same goes for our minds.
We all have a limited amount of time, energy, and mental resources to draw from. If we constantly use them up and never let them recharge our performance quickly starts to suffer.
As entrepreneurs and high achievers we’re rewarded and compensated through our ability to solve problems, and come up with creative solutions.
Taking regular recharge time helps replenish the creative stores and lets you come back stronger, fresher, and with new perspectives.
Over time continued mental exertion with no breaks leads to burnout and a sharp decline in creativity and productivity.
Schedule Downtime
The best way to ensure you’re getting an adequate amount of rest and downtime is to schedule it. Don’t leave your rest time to chance as there are simply too many things that can get in the way causing you to postpone or forego it completely.
The following is a downtime schedule that I try to follow even in my busiest times. Fortunately over the years I’ve managed to increase these numbers even more but if you’re just getting started this is a great place to start.
- 5 minute breaks every hour
I use these to stand up, walk around, get a drink of water, stretch, and move.
- 8 hours of work a day
If you’re in the middle of a big project or are just getting started building a new business you’re going to need to put in a few longer days, but be careful how long those drag out for or your health, relationships, creativity, and productivity will suffer. Studies have shown the 40 hour workweek is a good benchmark for consistent and maintainable productivity. Sweden is even moving to a 6 hour workday (Fortune)
- 2 to 3 days off each week
I know that 3 days off a week sounds like a stretch for many who are still working traditional jobs, but if you focus on tasks accomplished opposed to just hours spent working you may be able to plead a case for either an extra day off, or the ability to telecommute for a couple days each week.
- 1 week off each quarter
Taking a week off every 2 to 3 months is another great way to fully recharge and give your mind, and body a rest. The longer time period of a week allows you to rest and also refocus on your goals, your priorities, and how you’re going to achieve them. This kind of clarity is a lot easier to obtain when you take a step back and look at your life from the outside opposed to when you’re running from meeting to meeting or task to task.
- 2 to 6 weeks off each year
Even highly trained Olympic athletes can benefit from taking 2 to 6 weeks off each year. Many of the billionaires I used to work for made a point of taking a month or two off each summer to spend time with their friends and families. Sure they may have been spending it jet setting and yachting but the principles are still the same. Even the highest performing and most successful people in the world still recognized and understood the importance of time off.
Productive Time Off
Time off doesn’t need to be spent vegging out in front of a TV however. In fact, doing that would be somewhat counterproductive.
If you want to maximize your downtime you need to try to do things that enhance your creativity, enjoyment of life, and life experiences.
The more experiences, conversations, and new surroundings you take in the greater your ability to come up with creative and out-of-the-box solutions.
Productive time off includes things like spending time with family and friends, travelling, reading, working on a new hobby, meeting new people, trying new food, learning a new language, playing an instrument, and the list goes on.
Time off doesn’t mean time doing nothing, instead time off is time away from your current project, task, or whatever you’re working on.
Time off is a chance to gain a new perspective, and to let your mind work on things behind the scenes while you focus on recharging.
Keep Them Separate
Work time is for work, and rest time is for rest. If you spend your play time thinking about work then you’ll be more inclined to spend your work time thinking about play.
When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all. -Theodore Roosevelt
For time off to be truly effective it needs to be just that, time off. For some (myself included) this can be a bit of a challenge to completely unplug but with the right systems in place over time it get’s easier.
If you can’t completely unplug then you can at least limit your interaction with work during your time off to an hour or two a day.
An hour or two a day is more than enough time to check and respond to emails, do or delegate a few simple tasks, and schedule anything else for when you return to work, rested, charged, and ready to take on the world!
