Learn how a Productivity tip and improve your vacation

Learn how a Productivity tip and improve your vacation.

How getting the most out of your vacation benefits your work.

t’s no secret: in America, we have created a culture of workaholics.

Many home business owners might not see any problem in not taking a break thinking, “I’m doing whatever it takes to get my business off the ground!” What many don’t realize, though, is that overworking can often lead to lower quality of work, slower output, and diminished long-term returns, not to mention the potential health risks and strains on one’s personal life workaholism can cause. Indeed, there are so many benefits to being pro-vacation, but many business owners seem to ignore the long-term advantages and listen to short-term fears instead.

Why not think of these philosophies on a broader scale and apply them to one’s vacation time? Your vacation and work times are more intertwined than you might think, so it’s crucial to consider how to balance the two.

Take Shorter, More Frequent Vacations.

Home business owners have a lot of freedom. They can set their own schedules, work from their ideal environments, and in the end, the only person a home business owner must answer to is herself. However, these freedoms also come with additional pressure to succeed, since almost half of small businesses fail in the first four or five years.

Consider this analogy regarding your vacation time. Likening time off to a regular sleep schedule, Dr. Jessica de Bloom advocates regular recovery in the form of shorter, more frequent vacations for employees. If you’ve had a long week and are looking forward to a nice, restful weekend, one of the worst things you can do for yourself is get too much sleep.

Sleeping in too late can make you more tired than you were during the busy week. Instead, try to establish a regular pattern of consistent eight-hour sleep.

Cut Off from the Office Completely.

Whether you are taking a long weekend or an entire week off, you will not reap the benefits of vacation time if you are constantly checking in on your shipping orders, emailing investors, or calling clients.

Plan activities that force you to cut off from work completely, such as spending time outside. Besides the tranquility of surrounding yourself with nature, studies show that time outside boosts creative reasoning skills. So take a hike, go camping, or try white water rafting - just leave your phone behind.

Plan ahead by talking with a colleague or partner you trust to make decisions while you are away. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, reach out to a trusted family member or friend, or hire virtual support to maintain your business while you’re away. By having a contingency plan, you can enjoy a stress-free vacation.

Get Sunburnt, Not Burnt Out, on a Beach.

A crucial aspect of the Pomodoro Technique is the notion that work and leisure are closely intertwined: how you spend your work time affects how you enjoy your vacation and vice versa. The key is to get the most out of both. Don’t look at work as the way you earn your vacation and don’t look at your vacation as time away from your job. Do your job well while you’re working so that worries and anxieties from the job don’t bleed into your leisure time. Likewise, put away your phone and close your email while you’re on vacation, so you can come back to work fully refreshed, even excited, to get back to work.

The Pomodoro Technique is a proven strategy for improving one’s productivity. Short breaks will keep you focused on your tasks at hand and will prevent burnout from overworking. Why not apply this same strategy to your vacation time? Maximize both work and leisure and you’ll find yourself more productive on the job and feel more relaxed while on vacation.