Did you take a vacation this year? The busier we get in our businesses the more important taking a break becomes. Especially if you’re the type of business owner that works nights, weekends and holidays! The end of the year is a great time to fit a little down time. Often everything seems to slow down a bit and as the meme goes, we’ve lost track of the day of the week and we’re full of cheese. Personally, years ago I worked for a corporation that implemented a shut-down between Christmas and New Year’s. I liked it, got used to it, and still do it now.

You’ve put in some long hours during the year, so reward yourself by taking a day or two (or more) to yourself to take a physical and mental break.

The Survey Says….

According to the Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey (Q1 14), the average U.S. employee only takes half (51%) of his or her eligible vacation time. Of those employees that did take time off, 61% reported working while on vacation. Those statistics are for employees, who have someone pay them to take time off! What do you think the statistics would look like for business owners?! It’s common for business owners not to take time off or not as much as they should. Could your vacation also benefit everyone that works with you?

Vacations Are Good For Your Health

When I first met one of my Connecticut clients, her main complaint about the business was that she hadn’t taken vacation in 5 years (since the start of the business), hadn’t gone to visit her kids, and didn’t feel that she could take time away without things falling apart.

Terry Hartig, an environmental psychologist at Uppsala University in Sweden told the Washington Post that when people go on vacation, they’re happier and more relaxed. In his published study, Hartig notes that in meeting work demands adults “deplete resources such as physical energy and the capacity to concentrate. Without sufficient time for recovery of depleted resources, workers may eventually suffer impaired cognitive function, emotional distress, accidents, illness, and other adverse outcomes.”

Here are five reasons why take a break or vacation is good for your health and your business:

  • You’ll return refreshed and re-energized
  • You are giving yourself time to think
  • What’s the impact to your business if you fall ill? Taking a break can reduce that risk
  • Your family needs you too!
  • Happier people tend to be more productive

Do these arguments against taking some time off sound familiar? “I don’t have the time.” “Things will fall apart while I’m gone.” “I’ll be so far behind when I get back that it’s not worth it.” Take a lesson from my client and take a good look at your processes and employees. Everything should be in place that things can run smoothly, even when you’re not there. In her case, it required cross-training so that everyone knew how to do everything in a pinch. Also, delegation. She had employees who were ready for more responsibility, she just needed to release some of the control!

As a business coach I work to help business owners identify inefficiencies and challenge them to make things better in their business and for themselves. If you didn’t take a break in 2019, see if you can find 90 minutes a complimentary business review and strategy session to find out how coaching could help you and your business.