Have you got a holiday booked?
And if you have, are you planning on taking your laptop?
And if you are taking a laptop, is this through choice or do you feel you have no choice?
If you feel you have a choice, why is that?
Time to switch off
Picture this, you are on the beach, drink of choice in hand, a book on the side to pick up and read if you want, sunglasses and lotion close by …Sounds perfect right?
In this picture, then imagine your bag or your hotel room or safe. It is empty in terms of no laptop or files/folders. Even more perfect right?
As a marketer or agency owner/founder, you deserve a break. You need a break! You need a few days to recharge your brain with no work or business stresses.
This break away from work will you do a lot of good, as it will your clients, family and friends. Trust me.
It is ok to not always be on
According to Statista – Surveys indicate that a vast majority—up to 78% to 85% of self-employed individuals and small business owners—work in some capacity while on holiday or during the festive season. With approximately 4.3 million self-employed workers in the UK, millions regularly forego completely disconnecting to maintain their businesses.
So why is this?
- Financial Pressures: In surveys conducted by FreshBooks, nearly half of small business owners cited financial constraints and the need to continually generate income as the primary reason for working through holidays.
- On your own: Because you don’t have a second person or a right hand man or woman? Or someone outsourced to fall back on and pick up the Slack
- It’s the way it is: It doesn’t have to be. You don’t always have to be on and it’s ok to not be in control all of the time
- Poor planning: Have you double booked holidays with a colleague or with clients? Or have you taken on a new project at holiday time?
How can you be supported to give you holiday down time?
- Someone to answer phone calls and emails and filter these
- Someone to attend meetings/calls whilst you are off
- Some to field, collate, triage emails
- Someone to manage and support your clients and their needs/projects/accounts
- Someone to keep projects, deadlines etc on track in your absence
This support comes in the form of a marketing account manager who can provide holiday cover. Then you can catch up with handover post holiday so you are up to speed and can get pick up where you left off.
A change is as good as a rest …
Sounds just as perfect as the picture of the holiday I posed earlier doesn’t it ….
A holiday isn’t just about the beach, it is about giving your mind and your body a good rest. Marketing and agency life can be stressful, so as a marketer and a founder, you need and deserve the break.
“A change is as good as a rest.” Which means that doing something completely different from your normal routine can be just as refreshing and restorative as completely stopping work to take a holiday.
So if you think you need to take the laptop on your next holiday, then you don’t!
