Taking a Break From Your Own Business

Even with the most experienced team on board, many entrepreneurs forget to sleep. Or take a break. They’ll be there, four coffees deep, cramming in back-to-back meetings and circling back to clients. But is this habit healthy for your business in the long run?

Taking a break, whether you do it with a KitKat or not, is vital, not just for your business, but for you too. Your bed misses you!

We’ve put together three reasons why entrepreneurs should take time off from being an entrepreneurial superhero.

To avoid brain burnout

Entrepreneurs are the ones working long and hard, operating on pure overdrive to develop their winning strategy, flawless execution and refine communication. And whilst you smash it – you risk major brain burnout.

To function effectively on all cylinders, the brain needs sufficient downtime. Four hours broken sleep and Red Bull isn’t enough!

According to Scientific American:

Downtime replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to both achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life.

Time away can help entrepreneurs rest their mind to be better able to address and resolve what’s waiting back in the office. To put the plan to rest into action you need to:

Establish boundaries

Meetings at 10am, brilliant. Regular meetings at 1am whilst your family sleeps upstairs, not so healthy. Turn off notifications and prioritise time with your loved ones. Or just with yourself.

Delegate tasks

If you don’t have a team, you can outsource work to freelancers or agencies instead. For example, hire a freelance writer to do your newsletters, or hire a personal assistant if you have admin up to your eyeballs.

Sleep

We get you can’t always make money if your asleep, but a proper night’s sleep helps you make better business decisions. If you’re sleep deprived you could face losing business deals. Or agreeing to an all-expenses-paid team building trip to Ibiza. Which is unlikely to be seen as a tax-deductible expense. Soz.

Invest in team development

Of course, it’s important for your team to have a leader but progress shouldn’t be overly dependent on the executive. A leader needs to challenge, empower and motivate its members. With this in mind, sometimes the chief needs to get out of their way for a while so that they can thrive.

Time away from the office will not only encourage individual development and proactivity but it will also strengthen bonds among team members as they effectively address challenges in the absence of their leader. And who doesn’t want members of their team missing them whilst they’re gone? Although we can’t promise they won’t be low-key thrilled in your absence.

To set an example

It’s imperative to encourage a team to take care of themselves and let them know that a balanced life is also a happy life.

CEO of Grokker, a yoga, fitness and cooking video network states:

I see it as my duty to walk the talk. I started this company to help busy people get better at what they love, with hopes of developing a workplace environment that reflected the organisation’s overall philosophy of prioritising personal wellness.

I take steps to prioritise my own personal wellness, so it’s important that my team do the same. Yes I work hard but I do a lot more than just work. I practice yoga, work out with teammates twice a week, hike, ride my bike and take vacations. I am not going to burn out.

With this in mind taking time away is the perfect way to recharge and be mindful. Entrepreneurs can explore or rediscover their love for something they rarely have time for.

As difficult as it is to step away from their daily business life, the physical, mental and emotional benefits of taking some time off are undeniable. And the more you do it – the easier it’ll be to trust your team, and know your company will be there when you get back.

Learn more about using Pandle to make business accounting easier. Create an account today and decide what to do with all the extra time you get back.