Tweet

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

Written by: Lisa Rickwood

Article Overview: You work hard, long for a vacation and when the time comes, you drag along your laptop, cell phone,iPod, portable DVD player and other tech gadgets so you can play 'catch up' while you're 'enjoying' your vacation. But wait, isn't a holiday supposed to 'free you' from these obsessions. Discover the six key secrets to having a vacation worth taking.

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.

Related Articles
  Sales Training Ideas on Mobile Cell Phone Use
  No Shoes - No Wi-Fi – No Cell service
  Business from Anywhere in 5 Steps
  Running Your Home Business While Traveling
  Mobile Small Biz Opportunities

Article Tags: beach blanket, best solution, burnout, cell phone, change of scenery, entrepreneur, family friends, hypnotic state, innovations, laptop, laptops, new business ideas, new perspective, palm pilots, pitfall, small business owner, small business owners, sun umbrella, urge, work and play



Related Forum Posts
How do i answer the phone? - I learned this technique from a successful businessman who earns over a million dollars a year. He just uses his name like this... Phone rings... " This is Dwayne..." It kind of throws people off who have a preplanned script and gets right into it. Phone rings... " This is Dwayne..." No Hello, no good morning/afternoon/evening Phone rings... "This is Dwayne..."
Re: How do you back up your computer? - I am a backup-olic. I use several Disk-On-Keys and I also back up on a DVD.
Re: Spellcheck? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":2f894q6j]When discussing the majority of people I would definitely say that most people hit the "Change" or "Ignore" button without thinking too much about the correct spelling of a word. All bosses are concerned about is getting the report to the Directors meeting on time.[/quote:2f894q6j] That probably depends on what the "majority" are trying to accomplish. I have word set to alert me about misspellings and grammatical problems, so I fix most as I go. But I also add names etc to the dictionary because I get tired of seeing the red and green squiggles when I know the info is right. If you're only going to click "Change" or "Ignore" then why bother to take the time to use spell check????? Business people that I work for want the info compiled in a timely manner and they want it right - which is fine because that's the way I strive to do any project. Sending out a memo, letter, report etc with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes makes the person and the company look bad as far as I'm concerned. Shri
Re: Can you read body language and convert it into a sale? - I can definitely read their mood by how they speak on the phone. You can usually also tell by the way they respond to the things you are saying. Phone sales aren't as easy as when you see them in person, but I still believe their tone can tell a lot.
laptop vs. Desktop - I'm not a heavy gamer or graphics person so a Laptop is ideal for me for all the obvious reasons (portability, wireless, work on the go, etc etc) Major downside is the battery power and the cost to replace it - half as much as the cost of the laptop on my current IBM.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Common Sense Stress Management

Promoting your company and self with verve

THE “SECRET RECIPES” OF LEADERSHIP

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.