Why you need to use vacation days from your job to focus on your small business
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I recently took a week-long vacation from my job.
I drove 3 hours to visit my grandparents to work on a t-shirt quilt I had been putting off since I graduated from college. I finally had time to put some of my time into the project, and my grandma loves to sew, when not on a deadline. It was the perfect reasoning for me to take some much-needed vacation days from my job.
Most people would disagree and wonder why I didn’t plan something more exotic or culturally enlightening.
COVID-19. I still have to quarantine after leaving the state.
Finances. I can visit my grandparents for a reasonably small investment, even with project costs of making a quilt.
Grandparents. I enjoy spending time with my grandparents and love learning new things from them and what they have gone through.
It was a relatively easy decision on my part of when, where, and why I would choose to go to my grandparents. The most natural part of that decision-making process was because I knew I needed to take a vacation from my job and small business.
Why I took an extended vacation
There are so many reasons I needed to take a vacation from my job.
Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy my job. The people I work with are great, and I get to do new creative projects regularly.
That said, I’d been doing it for one or two years with only a few days of sick leave, appointments, or holidays to account for my ‘vacation’ days. It was well past time to plan a long vacation away from work.
At this rate, my small creative business would flounder, and I would become more stressed than I currently was.
I found a few reasons why I needed to take an extended vacation away from my job and small business.
Find your Motivation
Before I went on a vacation, I was dragging along. I knew I had things in my small business that needed attention, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do or what I could do about the things that I had piled on in my to-do list.
My motivation to complete things for my small creative business was at an all-time low.
I didn’t know what to do. I had a coach and so many plans to push through, but I didn’t feel confident in my skills or processes.
I finally found my motivation by focusing on what I enjoyed doing and appreciated in my small business when I took a few vacation days from my regular job. I focused on what I enjoyed talking about with others about my industry and what I wanted to help other small business owners with my own graphic design business.
It wasn’t life-altering. Finding my motivation required that I ask myself what I enjoyed and wanted to pass along to other small business owners.
Create New Ideas
I’m used to having a plan when tackling a project. It doesn’t have to be ironclad, but an idea does have to be in place.
No matter what happens, we usually have to adjust our plans when we take a vacation. Some have been unfortunate, like going early for funeral arrangements, while others have been great, like getting an upgraded seat on an airplane. Everyone must remain flexible as plans develop.
I love taking vacation days from my job because all the plans help me create new ideas and processes for things.
For this vacation, my grandma and I had a to-do list each day about what we would accomplish. Most of the time, it would complete our list, while other days, we couldn’t finish everything. We were able to adapt the plan that we had made and make the most of our time together.
Creating this new idea helped me reframe some of my approaches to my small business processes. I was able to look at how I did things from an alternative perspective and adapt as needed.
Try Different Creative Outlets
I planned my vacation around a creative project. My goal was to start a large t-shirt quilt with my grandmother. I expected the process to take about a week, and I knew I would leave with it unfinished.
It took us days to get all of the t-shirts cut, placed, and somewhat resemble the shape of a quilt.
A younger version of myself would love this challenge. I still love it today, but I forgot how much time it takes to make a quilt, especially over a week. Thankfully, I have no real timeline for this project since we only got about halfway done.
It helped to focus on another creative outlet rather than all my energy on graphic design. I would still fiddle and create new things in the evening, but I was able to relax and work on things at my own pace rather than having to rush getting everything done.
Decompress
Running a small business and going to a full-time job is stressful. Add in any other commitments you might have: mom, wife, sibling, child, finances, hobbies, sleep, exercise, and others. It can seem almost impossible that you accomplish everything throughout the week, much less a day.
Burnout is very real for small business owners. I’ve been working from multiple ends for a few months to about a year. Taking a vacation was needed to rejuvenate some of my purpose and reasoning to keep going with my new creative business.
It has done wonders, and I’ve only been back at work for a day.
I love visiting with my family. My immediate family visits each other about once a month, and my extended family call about every week to keep tabs on everyone. It’s a great way to unwind or seek advice from others who know you best.
Taking a vacation to visit with my grandma for an extended amount of time allowed me to focus my undivided attention on her and our project rather than focus on the new week or things that were troubling me.
I know it can be difficult for some business owners and young professionals to leave work at the office, but it will help more than hurt to take vacation days from your job.
