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Why You Should Ignore Your Cell Phone and Laptop: Six Keys to a Great Vacation

Why You Should Ignore Your Cell Phone and Laptop: Six Keys to a Great Vacation

It’s a gorgeous, warm day and you’re loading your black SUV with a beach blanket, cooler, sunscreen, a sun umbrella, your family and …your cell phone and laptop. As a small business owner and entrepreneur, you’ve worked hard all year and look forward to a vacation. Or do you?

Statistics show that over 25% of small business owners take their Blackberrys, Palm Pilots, cell phones or laptops on vacation in the hopes of combining work and play.

While this may sound like a reasonable idea, this isn’t always the best solution to trying to ‘stay on top of things.’ In fact, many business people may be shortchanging themselves and their families when they engage in this behavior.

A vacation is meant to be a change of scenery from work – a time to connect with family, friends and hobbies and oneself. The importance of a vacation is often underrated in today’s busy society. People feel the urge to be productive all the time and many don’t even know how to slow down and relax.

When a busy person takes time to slow down, relax and take a vacation, they often discover innovative new business ideas or are able to see their company with a fresh perspective because they’re away from it. They also avoid burnout – a major pitfall for new or established business owners and entrepreneurs.

It’s important for business owners to vacation and turn off their cell phones and laptops for their holidays. Time away from something gives a person a new perspective and they may come up with new ideas.

Ever notice how your best ideas come to you while driving, showering, golfing, exercising or drifting off to sleep? It’s because we’re more relaxed and zoned out from stress. Our brain goes into a deeper, almost hypnotic state that allows for a free-flowing exchange of ideas while our analytical side of the brain is not involved. Therefore, we can’t dismiss some of our greatest innovations.

It’s a challenge to ‘escape’ when you’re the key player in a business. Sometimes you can’t just ‘take off’ because you’ve got staffing challenges, money problems and overwhelming projects that need to be completed.

The top business concern among business owners with vacation plans is that an important client or customer won’t receive proper service followed by worries over who will run the company while they’re away and missed opportunities for new business. Other concerns include: technological problems, security and sick staff.

Since time and money play a large role in the life of an entrepreneur or small business owner, you’ll need to plan your holidays and enlist help to be sure you have the best vacation. If you must bring projects with you, limit how much time you spend; get up earlier to complete your work so the rest of your day is dedicated to having fun and relaxing.

How to make a vacation better:

1. Plan a vacation well in advance.
Many business owners don’t think there’s ever a good time to vacation, but putting a date to vacation on the calendar early will enable you to prepare for it by having adequate staff, etc. when you’re gone.

2. Use a travel agent for longer trips.
If you’re planning a trip out of the country, consider working with a travel agent as they’ll help you save time and money so you can get to the business of enjoying your vacation.

3. Put a deposit down on a trip or cabin to commit yourself.
Sometimes it’s just too easy to cancel trips. Work piles up, staff quit, the computer dies… the list is endless. If you commit to a trip and put money down, set it up where you won’t cancel or you’ll be penalized. This way you will take that vacation.

4. Schedule escapes during business down times.
If you can't take a trip of a week or longer, plan short weekend excursions or mid-week trips during your slowest business times.

5. Tackle major projects before the trip.
When you know how long your vacation will be, plan to complete major projects (if possible), write notes for staff and prepare for your trip with a clear head. It’s more pleasant to take a trip when you know your important work is done.

6. Limit your work on vacation (if you must work).
It’s ideal if you don’t take work with you on holidays, but working on a vacation is better than no vacation. If you must work, do a small portion early in the morning so you can enjoy the rest of your day.

If you follow these six key steps, you’ll be on your way to actually enjoying your vacation.





Why You Should Ignore Your Cell Phone and Laptop Six Keys to a Great Vacation - To learn more about this author, visit Lisa Rickwood's Website.

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Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website

David Acheson
David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

Linda Richardson
Linda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website


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Lisa Rickwood
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Lisa Rickwood, BFA, CPCC, is an author, speaker, coach, and visual artist who helps busy and stressed entrepreneurs gain two hours a day, eliminate clutter and minimize stress and overwhelm. She is the author of Escape the Pace and co-author of Power & Soul by Alexandria Brown. You will find her articles online and she also writes for such magazines as: Woman's World. Lisa also offers creative virtual assistant services to busy business owners. To receive her FREE Instant Stress Relief Kit visit: www.escapethepace.com or get her full secrets at: www.stressbusterprogram.com



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