Struggling To Disconnect On Days Off: A Business Owner’s Challenge
I decided to take a few days off, five whole days! After weeks of intense work, I felt the need to disconnect and chill. However, fully disconnecting is something I really struggle with 😣
I use focus mode on my phone and laptop to block all work-related notifications. Before taking days off, I scheduled everything that had to be done so I knew I didn’t have to worry about them ✅
But it’s still tough. On day 1, I ended up checking emails and replying to a couple of people interested in our trainings. I also attended a live Zoom session as we had a group graduating. On day 2, I edited the session, created some slides, and answered a few emails ❌
I’m not doing as much as usual, far from it, but being 100% off seems so hard and nearly impossible.
I know it’s just a story in my head 🧠. The business will run even if I do nothing for 5 days. No lives are at risk, the business will still exist. But still, I don’t want to let some “important” emails go unanswered for 5 days.
Having the flexibility to work when you want is awesome! Being my own boss is awesome. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But I feel it’s also harder to ever fully switch off. I think there are two reasons for that:
🤓 I feel a sense of responsibility. It’s my business, if I want it to be successful I need to do the work… if I don’t do the work to bring money, the team and myself won’t get paid.
✌️ I enjoy what I do. Developing the business is a sort of hobby now. And it’s hard to stay away from things I enjoy.
I’ve always been good at setting boundaries in previous jobs. But this feels different.
I realized that the most important thing for me with those days off is having a free calendar, with nothing scheduled 🗓️. My schedule is already pretty flexible, I do organize my day pretty much as I want. But there are always a few calls here and there that mean I have to be “on-time” and available for others… even if I’m not in the mood.
So those days, a day off for me is a day with no call, no commitment. If I want to do a bit (or a lot) of work, I can, but I don’t have to. I don’t have to be back on my laptop at a certain time if I don’t want to. It’s the 100% complete freedom that I enjoy during those “days off” 🪽
❓I’m curious, how do you navigate taking time off? Do you easily disconnect? Or do you always keep an eye on what’s going on?