So I didn’t post here on Friday, as you may or may not have noticed. It’s the first time since the start of the year that I haven’t posted three times in a week. And that might not seem like a huge deal, but it’s been a big goal of mine this year to stay really consistent, since I’ve fallen down the super-irregular-posting-schedule rabbit hole so many times before.
But! I really felt like I needed a break. I had quite a few other things on my schedule for the end of the week and I wanted to get ahead of schedule for this week too. So I weighed the pros and cons and decided that I had deserved a small, one-time reprieve from this one particular activity. So I gave myself a break.
Taking breaks can be a super tricky thing for bloggers and creative biz owners. If you’re the one in charge, there aren’t necessarily immediate and tangible consequences if you decide not to do something. But you have to find that balance between working hard to achieve your goals and taking care of yourself.
I’m a firm believer that self-care is a big part of running a successful business. If you neglect your own health and happiness, you’re going to get burnt out on the whole thing and either give up or face any number of other setbacks. “Balance” is one of those words that’s super overused in these circumstances, but it’s so true – you have to find a good balance that works for you!
Some reasons you might be really in need of a break from your business/certain tasks include:
- you’re constantly tired
- you’re feeling really uninspired with your business
- you’ve had a busier-than-usual week/month and you deserve a reward
- you simply don’t have time for all the things you want to do, so you need to scale back
- you’re considering taking a new direction for a project or your business as a whole
But you shouldn’t necessarily just decide to take a break out of nowhere. To do it in a way that won’t negatively impact your plans or your business, consider the following:
- What do you want to accomplish on your break? This might seem counterintuitive since you shouldn’t necessarily be “working” while you’re taking a break. But you still need to have at least a general goal – do you want to catch up on sleep? Do you want to brainstorm new ideas without having to worry about your to-do list? Take a look at the reason(s) you feel you need a break and then develop your goal based on that.
- How long does your break need to be? Yes, you should have a defined timeline for your break, lest you decide to let it go on forever. This can be just a day, a weekend, or longer (especially if you’re going on vacation or something). You can even take a lengthier break just for very specific tasks if that’s what has you feeling the most burnt out/uninspired.
- What do you need to do beforehand to prepare? You should also consider what needs to be done beforehand so that your business won’t suffer due to your break. This might mean that you need to do a little bit of extra work leading up to that break or vacation. For example, you might need to write a few extra blog posts, line up some help to run your day-to-day tasks to reach out to people who you regularly communicate with to let them know you’ll be out for a few days. But if it’s going to get you back to feeling confident and inspired, it’s totally worth it!
Overall, breaks can be a great thing for your business, and truly necessary for your sanity. But they might take some planning and consideration for you to really reap the benefits. In fact, I’m thinking about actually working break time into my regular schedule (regular breaks, who would have thought?!) I have to work on getting ahead of some of my regular tasks first, but I think it’s going to be really beneficial to not just be working/thinking about work 24/7.
So I also want to encourage all of you creative entrepreneurs to take breaks when you feel like they’re needed! Have a plan, sure. But take care of yourselves! It’s so important.
Do you have any other tips for taking breaks from your biz? Do any of you take breaks regularly?
