Why take a work-ation?
If you own a small to medium enterprise, it is likely that there may be just you or a small team in the business, therefore time off for you will be minimal and often involve working while on holiday.
According to londonlovesbusiness.com, a poll from cloud accounting company FreeAgent has revealed that over 90% of micro-business owners admit to checking work-related emails or doing work-related admin while they are on holiday – with nearly two thirds (61%) saying that they do so “regularly”.
In a survey of nearly 600 freelancers and micro-businesses about their experiences of self-employment, 38% of respondents said they work more than 48 hours in a typical week – while 7% said that they typically work 64 hours or more per week.
So how can you manage your time effectively to ensure that you don’t come back to an inbox that is overflowing, but you do still get your well-earned break?
The fact is, you don’t have to compromise on one to have the other. Instead take advantage of the wider availability of wifi connections that are reliable and set yourself aside an hour a day to catch up on those tasks that go by the wayside when you are caught up in the day to day running of your business.
If you’re a self-confessed work-a-holic you’ll probably find that this approach will work better for you, because no contact with the workplace will no doubt give you anxiety over what is happening in your absence regardless of how capable your team are.
What better way to check your inbox than with that perfect view, and rewarding your efforts with a cheeky cocktail poolside after?
Time away from the business often leads to us having inspired ideas, and a fresh perspective so allow yourself time to take note of these, and then maximise your flight time to work on the fine details.
Ultimately though, the goal here is to get away, and have time out so also set boundaries for your team, making yourself contactable between defined times and only by email so that you aren’t plagued by pings of messaging apps and notifications all day long. A burnt out business owner is no good at all!