Taking A Pause From Your Business
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Can you really burn out from your business? I mean can’t you just turn the computer off and take a break. That would totally prevent burnout!
So not true, right!
If you are an entrepreneur like I am, you know you can’t just turn the computer off or walk away from it. It’s always on in your mind. You are constantly thinking about your business, what you should be doing, what you want to do, what you need to get done. And lets not even mention the amount of lists you write and collect just to keep all the thoughts swirling around in your mind straight!
So I wanted to share a personal story with you today. You might have noticed I’ve been a little quiet through the month of June. Not much social media interaction, no new blog posts and no new videos.
I hit the pause button!
I took most of the month of June off! That’s right, I took an entire month off. My husband had planned our family vacation for 2 weeks in June (it’s been his dream to spend 2 weeks at the beach so he made it happen this year). So those 2 weeks kicked off my time off.
During the 8-hour ride to the beach I thought a lot about my business. Was I happy? What had I accomplished the past 5 months? Should I start looking for a part time job? Will I make this business succeed?
You see, I started my business officially on January 2nd this year, officially launched my website and services. And in those 5 months I have hustled my butt off! I quit a great paying job to start my own business, so I had to make it work.
In 5 months I;
- Created a free 7 day email course and challenge
- Launched my One-On-One coaching program
- Created and launched Brand Boosting Video Ecourse
- Hosted/Cohosted 7 webinars
- Spoke on 2 podcast interviews
- Wrote 4 guest blog posts
- Filmed and edited over 25 YouTube videos
- rote 18 blog posts
Not to mention the social media game! Twitting and posting on Instagram, interacting in Facebook groups, creating opt-ins to grow my email list and sending newsletters to my subscribers.
All with a husband, a 1 year old and recently finding out I was pregnant.
That’s a lot going on in 5 months!
So back to the beach. While I sat in our beach house it was just nice to take a breather. That’s when I finally realized how close to a burn out I actually was.
When you are in the trenches just trying to stay a-float you don’t really think about being burnt out. You are just thinking about the next thing you have to do to get you your business to the next level or get that next client.
I decided to take the month of June as a reset month. Evaluate how far I’ve come and what is most important with my business that I want to continue with and what I can do without. I started making a strategic plan for the second half of the year.
It’s so crazy because just last week in a Twitter chat I participate in #createlounge the topic was minimalism and that’s exactly what I was trying to do with my business. I was trying to minimize it to the most import key must haves to avoid a burn out.
I’m not suggesting you take a month off. I’m fortunate enough to have a husband that can support me right now but it is time for me to get back to work. I’m not at the point where I can just run to Target and buy a new pair of shoes just because! Or be a stay at home mom and not contribute to our bills. We need the money.
But through it all, I want to suggest to you to take a pause!
Maybe it’s just a few days; maybe it’s the weekend. Just take a chunk of time to stop and think. If you are fortunate enough, maybe you even check into a hotel for a night just to get away from everything. Sort of like a mini retreat for yourself.
Start to think about the things you have accomplished.
How far you have come.
What you want to accomplish?
What do you need to do to reach those goals?
What are you doing now that isn’t helping you reach those goals?
Are you taking time for yourself through out the week?
I know we’ve heard countless times when you are starting a business you have to make scarifies; less time for yourself, less time for your family and friends.
I think this is the wrong mindset! Those things we do for ourselves are what make us who we are. Those things are what fuel our creativity and our drive to succeed with our business!
We are now officially into the second half of the year. Take the weekend to really start to think about these things. Revaluate your goals and how you want to achieve them. Start planning a pause in your week.
Your business will survive a pause, but you will not.
Don’t sacrifice your health for the health of you business because if you aren’t healthy, your business isn’t healthy.
I want to know if you ever felt this way? Do you feel guilty if you take a pause? Have you burnt out? I want to have an open discussion about this because I feel it’s not talked about enough. We need to show each other that it doesn’t need to be all business all the time. It’s ok to watch Netflix or just sit in a coffee shop and read a book!
Lets chat in the comments below. I would love to hear your thoughts!
