Why it is important that you take off regularly some time to recover and get new spirit

In this year’s fall I will be self-employed for 4 years. The whole journey had lots of ups and downs but was in total really great until now and hopefully there is a lot more to come. In the early beginning, there was almost no time for other things than look after my projects that they will succeed. That means I had no time off, no vacation and I rather worked 7 days a week for 12 – 15 hours (so a total of 80 – 100 hours a week). That is a huge workload and there is really no time for a lot of other things. For me personally it was and is very important that I do lot of sports for compensation and stay healthy but what is with family, friends, other hobbies or relax?

Yes, this is definitely a topic, which everybody building a sustainable business would encounter. In the early beginnings I worked very often from my lounge and not a desk. That worked out for sure because I got the shit done, but I got carried away by the statement, that I will never need a desk again. How naive could one be? But sometimes you get affected by other things. During that time startups were already a very hyped and a well-known thing and I saw a lot of pictures of lounges and couches in startup offices. Everybody tried to establish a nice environment, which is of course good to have a better working atmosphere. That tempted me to come to such a statement. Of course, I am working sometimes from my lounge (and at the moment I am writing this blog post from it), but for sure I have a desk from which I am also working a lot of the time nowadays. But now when you are working that much time what happens with your mind, your inspiration, your goals?

What I discovered is that you are getting heavily focused on the topic what you are doing right now. Maybe you can also think of, that it is like getting blinders and don’t see what’s left and right. Of course, it is important that you are focused that you get your tasks done and move forward. But at the same time, it could happen that you miss out great opportunities, which could be business or even life changing and you don’t see them as you are focusing so hard on your daily operations and tasks. Therefore, it may be a good starting point to take some time every week and recap. Was it the right direction you went last week? What are your plans to achieve next week? Are you running in the right direction? If no, then you will recognize and can adjust. If yes, you can just go on.

Horses often get blinders, that they don’t be frightened from what happens left and right. For us it is sometimes also good to have them, but sometimes you need foresight and it is important that you also look left and right.

So, it happens, that most of the time I solve complex problems not at a desk or my lounge. At those places I get the everyday, normal tasks done like fix bugs, answer E-Mails, manage employees and so on. But when I discover I need a solution for a hard decision to make or how to solve a complex programming problem, I would get inspiration and door openers while doing sports, while driving a car or while doing another activity. In my opinion new environments and things give your brain new impulses and that leads to new thoughts and ideas. So please don’t think it is necessary that you need to do new and other things all day long – as a lot of the time you must find a good mixture that works out for yourself. People are different and so maybe for you it would work out to cook, to knit, to paint, take a walk, meet some friends, play (computer) games or others to freedom your mind and get new ideas.

I would suggest that you try to implement different things to widen your horizon and get rid of the blinders at the time you need it.

Another important point is vacation for sure. Now in July begins the time where it could take 3 weeks until you get an answer regardless if it is a customer, a partner, a friend or someone else. This is because almost everybody goes to his summer holiday and takes a couple of days off. As a startup, when you must make progress, that could be a very difficult time, because no changes could be very bad , and actually threaten your existence. But I think you just need to be aware of different times that may impact your business in a negative or positive way and plan for it, so that it would not be a problem in the future. I think it is best when you also take off some days and travel around, lie on the beach, do activities or whatever you like to do. Than you could recover yourself and free your mind and I am convinced that you will come back with a completely other focus and mindset after 1 or 2 weeks. It's better than trying to do your job with an empty head and move your business forward by hook or by crook.

This leads to more productivity in general and that you have new inspiration to master your challenges. In this sense I wish you a nice holiday and come back stronger and inspired 🏖🗺🏔.

Have nice holidays and enjoy!

Hopefully the post was interesting for you and you enjoyed reading it! Have a great time until the next post will be published next month and enjoy hustling, relaxing, chilling, sporting, travelling or whatever you plan to do!

All the best – Mo ❤

P.S.: If you have questions, suggestions, criticism, an idea for a great new topic or just want to have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine or you want to work out with me please do not hesitate to contact me.