The Every Day Holiday
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Productivity Hack
We’ve all heard that sage piece of advice reminding us that no one ever gets to the end of their life and wishes they’d spent more time working. I think it depends on what you do for a living! But I agree with the premise: There is more to life than work.
When you run your own business, it can be addictive. It’s exciting to not be capped by how much you can earn and to create something you’re proud of. When things are tough in business, of course it goes the other way and it can be stressful and produce sleepless nights before you hopefully turn things around.
Both the limitless possibility and the responsibility on you to make it a success often result in working really hard and making sacrifices.
I know this to be true for myself. I LOVE my work and I’m obsessed with growing my business. It feels exciting and I’m addicted to trying new marketing strategies, creating new offers and networking.
I worry that my business has become my main hobby. I read books about business at bedtime, I listen to podcasts as I go about my daily chores and I daydream about what I’m going to do next to make money. At the time of writing, I’m 3 years into the entrepreneur life and my enthusiasm for it shows no sign of waning.
Luckily, I’ve developed a keen self-awareness and I can rein in this obsession before it risks completely taking over my life.
As an ambitious business owner, I have a surprising productivity hack that has a direct effect on my energy levels and success. It also makes life more enjoyable! This ultimate productivity hack helps me to protect my physical and mental health.
I call the productivity hack The Every Day Holiday. Read on to find out how this productivity hack aids success and how you can use it in your own life and business.
The Every Day Holiday Ultimate Productivity Hack for Entrepreneurs
Before I share how to use the Every Day Holiday productivity hack, let’s take a moment to remember WHY you started a business in the first place. It probably wasn’t because you wanted to put in more hours at work.
I started my business when my daughter was two because I knew when she got to school age, I wanted more flexibility to do the school runs and take time off during the many school holidays (more than my annual leave would cover). My dream involved working fewer hours than I was as a part-time marketing manager (22.5 a week) and matching my salary.
I share more about my background and entrepreneurial journey here.
My WHY in business is to be a present parent and also to facilitate the time to be creative outside of work. I love to write and my dream life looks like headspace and time to write every week. It’s also very important to me to be able to visit family members and connect with my friends on a regular basis. I’m not motivated by material things - I want more time to enjoy life outside of work. More holidays are also on my wish list!
What is your big WHY for being in business?
I have to come back to my values and why I’m in business daily to prevent myself from overworking and focussing solely on the money. The struggle is real! Money is a concrete number to work towards and the goal to “have time to be creative” is less tangible.
Often I will tie a money goal to paying for a fun experience.
ACTION: Pause for a moment here and remember why you decided to start your business.
Ask yourself: In an ideal world, what would my life and business look like?
Sit with your vision for a few minutes and write it down on a piece of paper.
Why Entrepreneurs Need An ‘Every Day Holiday’ To Be More Productive
Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster of emotions, successes and failures. It can be damn tiring. And as you’ve probably found out, it’s really hard to show up and do the work required to make your business a success when you’re tired out and emotional.
Even more worrying is the possibility of burning out. Burnout is a severe injury to your nervous system and takes a long time to come back from. Prevention is better than cure when it comes to stress and burnout.
This is where the Every Day Holiday comes in. The productivity hack involves giving yourself a holiday-style treat every day. Observe what happens to your mood and energy levels as you do this! Taking time out daily will feel counterproductive at first because of course, you will tell yourself you don’t have time to practise self-care and take time for fun once a day.
ACTION: To convince you of the benefits of this as a productivity hack with a direct impact on your business success, keep a journal of your every day holiday activities and record how they make you feel.
I want you to prioritise yourself. You need time to restore and you have permission to enjoy yourself right now. It won’t work to put off relaxation and enjoyment until you’ve reached a certain milestone. For example: I’ll start this habit next month once this big piece of client work is completed.
Believe me, if you can’t prioritise yourself now, you won’t do it at some point in the future. There will be something else you choose to sacrifice it for. And you may burn out before you get there and have to take weeks or months off work to recover.
Taking time out for fun and relaxation is directly linked to the success you’ll experience as a business owner.
So, how are you going to take an Every Day Holiday?
How To Implement The Every Day Holiday Productivity Hack As A Busy Entrepreneur
I’ll start by sharing some examples of my Every Day Holidays. These activities are the treats and moments of relaxation or fun that you’d often wait to indulge in until you’re on holiday. They aren’t all big things!
A great example is reading a book for fun. If you take books on holiday and enjoy having the time to read them, this is an obvious activity to prioritise in your everyday life.
I’m a book lover and I create those holiday vibes of being able to indulge in a good book like this:
Go back to bed in the morning with a cup of tea and read a chapter before my daughter wakes up
Read my book on my lunch break away from my laptop
Take my book with me on the weekly grocery shop and read it in the cafe with a coffee once I’m finished shopping (I leave everyone else at home so I can do this!)
Go to bed early, light a candle and read for an hour
Read my book in the bath with a hair mask on
Small moments of relaxation and enjoyment like this are something everyone can find the time for when we prioritise the idea of relaxation over ‘busy work’ tasks such as responding to emails or scrolling social media.
No excuses - look at your schedule and make the time to read for 10 minutes if reading is something you enjoy.
The next common example of something many of us enjoy that we put off because we’re busy working is exercise. I enjoy working out and I’ve made it part of my weekly schedule to do this during work hours. I also go to the sauna afterwards - a favourite holiday spa activity!
I have to remind myself every time I put 2 hours in my working week for the gym and sauna that this activity will help me to be more successful in business. Because I only work 20 hours a week, prioritising gym time can feel like a sacrifice to my business! It never, ever is.
My mantra is: “The more I go to the gym, the more money I make!”
Here I am taking a full day off running my business to go to the spa on a Tuesday.
Creating Your Every Day Holiday Activities
Begin by thinking about the activities in life that make you happy. What makes you smile, laugh, relax or give you a jolt of joy?
ACTION: Write down as many as you can and remember, they can be little things such as lighting a scented candle, knitting, listening to a favourite album all the way through etc
Once you have your list, choose one activity that you can do TODAY.
Can you fit it in once you’re finished reading this blog?
Next, schedule in the Every Day Holiday activities that require planning ahead such as gym time or whatever hobbies that require factoring in travel time or may be limited by opening hours etc.
Keep your list of every day holiday activities in a prominent place where you will see it multiple times a day.
Choose one thing from the list for at least the next 7 days
Reflect daily on how taking the time out to enjoy that activity is making you feel
A walk in nature is always restorative. As humans, getting out in nature calms our nervous system and lowers stress levels. A must have for increased productivity!
If you can see that you feel happier, more relaxed or engaged with life and work, you are succeeding.
Committing to taking time for yourself every day to focus on activities that enrich your life will stand you in good stead on your entrepreneurial journey.
Let me know in the comments what Every Day Holiday activities you plan to commit to.