5 Tips to Take a Vacation from Your Side Hustle

Summer vacation is about to kick off for the year and the feedback I keep hearing is "I am so overwhelmed." Not to mention the anxiety that comes from schedules changing and trying to work when your kids are home. Trust me, I feel you. Here in Ohio when the temperature hits 80 degrees or so, I feel like I just want to ditch my to-do list and do nothing except sip margaritas by the pool. 

Guess what? It is OK to take a vacation from your business. Back when I was running my network marketing business, I am pretty sure I didn’t step away from my phone or business once in almost 5 years. What came after that was a ton of burnout and anxiety. Not to mention my family hated my laptop as much as I did. I vowed when I started my coaching business that I was going to do things differently if I wanted to make this last long term. So today we are going to chat about how to actually take a vacation. And enjoy it! Plus keep your business going. 

This lack of time away leads to a variety of anxiety symptoms and can hinder your ability to think clearly and grow your business. 

So how many vacations should you take? 4. Yep. One per quarter. And if you are really going to prioritize work-life balance, it should be 4 full weeks. Why is this important? 

• It gives your brain a chance to rest. 
• When you take time away it allows you to think about and plan for the future
• Your body gets a rest (which for me is when I feel the best) 
• If you have a team, it gives them the opportunity to step up and shine (and even take on new responsibilities when you get back!)

If you aren’t convinced yet, just think about how amazing it would feel to have 4 weeks vacation where your business could run itself? Sounds awesome right? 

Here is how to do it. (And p.s. This is a real-life scenario. We are planning a two-week vacation this summer, a week in the fall and a week over the holidays). 

Step #1: Map it out. If I haven’t convinced you to buy a big wall calendar from Amazon yet, (I talk about it all the time). Do it. Every few months our family and I map out our big dates. Vacation, school dates, launch dates, etc. It all gets put in one place. But from a business perspective, it allows me to plan launches and deadlines around our family vacations and goals. Not the other way around. Which automatically sets this process in motion. 

Step #2. Block out time to get ahead. I have talked about this a lot lately, but most days in my business (especially during the week) I have about 90 minutes of dedicated time. Sometimes it is 30 minutes, sometimes an hour. In order to truly get ahead and strategize, you need bigger blocks. So in the weeks leading up to a vacation or a break, I schedule larger blocks of time so that I can slow down and focus which allows me to get ahead and not worry about work when the vacation actually comes. 

Step #3. Plan content ahead of time. Typically when I am on vacation I don’t post or share as much. But there are a few things I can automate like FB posts, blog posts, etc. I will also usually write a few ‘vacation-themed' posts ahead of time so that when I get that fun family picture, I can share it with the appropriate message and be done. 

Step #4. Check your automation and systems. If anything, vacation planning should help your business because it is a good time to check your automation and systems. Ask yourself this, is there anything in your business that you need to do immediately when you receive it? If so, what is it? And how can you incorporate a system to automate it? Planning for time off can help you get more organized in your business. Double bonus. 

Step #5. Protect your boundaries. I try hard not to work on vacation, but sometimes I do enjoy the creative work. Like writing or planning. If I do, I communicate it with my family. I also communicate it with my clients. I let them know ahead of time our schedule will be different and what to expect. 

So, your action item from this post: Plan a vacation. If you can, an entire week. And then work to make it happen. You will be amazed at how much it will help your business and better yet you and your family!

Looking for more details on this topic?! Check out the Strategy Lab in the Crush the Rush Club!