Taking time off
When you’re starting out, work can become your main goal. When you don’t invest yourself into the work, it can have mild outcomes. Maybe you’re not successful or maybe you don’t build enough momentum to reach the tipping point. That’s not to say that overinvesting yourself will cause success, but it needs drive to start turning the flywheel.
The clichéd issue with this, is that it will impact the relationships and the people closest to you. It’s easier to do it whilst you’re younger for that reason.
From reflection, I could have handled this more successfully, it was only after the 5th year I really found a balance. I hope these tips help.
- Take all the holidays you need to
- Communicate and hold strict working hours
- Focus and hold a strong routine
There’s an argument to be said that a longer 4 day work week would be more productive than a 5 day work week. I believe that to be true. There’s always something to do and there’s always something high priority on your plate. Take time off. We force 1 day off per cycle. If you don’t need holidays but you live with someone, take days off when they have their holidays scheduled. This has helped massively with my focus and productivity. Last year I took X days off. This year I’m taking X. In the first 5 years it was probably that number in total for all 5 years. Yes, I’m speaking in hindsight, but I do believe having that time off would have helped prioritise and execute.
If you’re holding strict working hours you know will produce the results, then the holidays take care of themselves. It means you can schedule in life events around these. You’ll miss out on a lot of things your friends and family are doing, especially in the first 5 years. You may not have time for the occasions that happen at short notice, you’ll want to be invested in your work. But if you’re holding yourself to strict hours, anything that falls outside of that should be a ‘yes’.
Every 6 months I refine my schedule. Whether it be sleep, diet, workouts, supplements, work hours, hobbies, I’ll try to refine my Mon-Fri week to fit with my body’s energy and focus cycles. This is one of the best things you can do to ensure you’re delivering on what you set out to do. For me, if everything is laid out, I can generate momentum.
Even though those 3 things worked for me, it’s not to say it will work for everyone but you should definitely focus on scheduling in down-time, especially in the first 5 years so that you can spend time outside of the work to engage with family & friends. It’s important for your health and important for your company.
A book you might find interesting on this topic is ‘It doesn’t have to be crazy at work‘ by Jason Fried.