When There’s Not Enough Time to Get Everything Done

Business owners live busy lives, juggling family, business, social, continuous learning and finding time to eat properly, get enough sleep (Hah!) and move a little to stay fit. That’s the excitement of living in a world with so many options and opportunities.

One of the first things I recommend to my clients in setting goals and planning their year is to book three or four vacations for the year. You need time to be in touch with yourself and your loved ones, your hobbies and your dreams, and you always come back more creative and energetic than when you left. A vacation can be a long weekend, or a month travelling, depending on your circumstances, but plan it, and take it. Frequently.

Here are a few ideas that work for me to help me keep my (relative) sanity when the Responsibilities List is longer than usual and the anticipation is both exciting and stressful:

MAKE A LIST: Write down everything you think you need to do before that next big event, or that fabulous vacation you finally committed to but are now thinking you must have been crazy to think you could take.

BREAK EACH ITEM INTO SMALLER STEPS AND ONLY DO WHAT IS ESSENTIAL RIGHT NOW: We tend to write down as a task, what is actually a project. For example, you might be booked to make a presentation 5 days after you return. Instead of writing your speech before you go, just map out the key points before you go, then trust that the Rest and Relaxation will refresh your brain and you will come back inspired to write the Speech of the Decade! It will be brilliant. And it will take a small percentage of the time it would have taken had you done it under duress. In this case, instead of perhaps a two-hour task before you go, you have a 10 minute one now, and a one hour one on your return. Time saved. Stress relieved. Promise delivered.

BEG FOR TIME: Reschedule any appointments that you can. You will be able to concentrate better and be better able to devote your full attention to the conversation. If you have a deadline for something, check and see if the deadline can be stretched without inconveniencing the other party. Many times, deadlines are set with a big grace period and both of you might be grateful not to have the pressure at either end.

BLOCK OFF TIME FOR WHEN YOU RETURN TO EASE GENTLY BACK INTO YOUR WORK. That sentence speaks for itself. As much as we think we can go full out when we return, it takes time to readjust from vacation mode to work mode. And you will be more creative when you return so allow time to capture the new ideas that popped into your head while you weren’t even deliberately thinking about business.

And enjoy your time off. Happy travels!