9 Things My Business Break Taught Me - When I Grow Up

9 Things My Business Break Taught Me - When I Grow Up Hey, did ya notice? I stuck to my guns and took the business break I talked about in my last post  just over a month ago. I know. I wasnt sure if I could do it either. Taking a month-long break from my blog and newsletter? Not only dont I remember the last time I did it, but I dont remember  ever doing it. Turning off  my business email  on my phone and deleting the Facebook apps for a whole 5 days? Also unprecedented. But I lived! Here I am!  Stronger and smarter, but also human and slipping back into bad habits I did so well shaking for a while. So, what did I work on this month?: My client prep, sessions and follow-up, both for one-on-one sessions and group work My Women of the World interviews (the next one is this Friday join us!) Participating in my private Facebook groups My usual weekly and monthly business review + planning meetings Email social media responses Because Im a crazy time tracker 4 life, I can tell you that Ive worked 53 hours in these 4 weeks, which equates to just 13 hours/week.  I know! Now that Im on the other side, heres what I know for sure: 12 hours/week in my coworking space equates to probably 15+ hours elsewhere. I  love the coworking space I joined when we moved. For 12 hours a week, I get to work upstairs while Ramona plays downstairs. Its fun to see the same faces all the time and feel like Im working alongside others that I know and can talk tobut my god, everyone is here to  work. When I get out of my house and all the distractions there, I can go go go. I often found myself getting all my work done during this time, and only having to do scheduled calls outside of it. My extroverted and productive self loves all of this. My business is still here and my people didnt leave. I think it helped both my own worried mind and that of my readers/subscribers that I announced my break. That way, I didnt feel bad not reaching out and they didnt expect me to. My biggest Vampire Voice has told me that if I didnt post/email at least once a week, my business would fail. Now I know thats bullhonkey, especially if Im communicative and have a plan, which I always do. This might be a different story if I didnt send out that announcement, and/or if I took a break indefinitely. I only missed one important email when I had my 5 day break.  In all honesty, I was anxious on Monday night thinking about All The Emails Id come across on Tuesday so much so that I checked my email at 8am. The only important thing I missed was an email from my coworking space saying Ramona and I could be accommodated that day. I was supposed to be there at 9am, and with a 30 minute drive and still being in my pjs, wasnt gonna happen. But I emailed back that wed be there by 10am, and we were! It only took me 42 minutes to sort through and respond to 5 days worth of emails.  Uh, yeah. So no big deal. Turning off your (business) emails on your phone is easy. It takes just a slide in your Settings from On to Off. Ill be utilizing this much more, especially on weekends. When Facebook isnt on your phone, youll have more of a life but also feel a bit out of the loop. Im a bit ashamed to say it, but I get my news from Facebook. I kept the app off my phone from Sept 1-19th, and only put it back on when I got Hamilton tix and was planning  to go backstage (!) via Messenger because I didnt wanna miss a message from Javier, obvs. But during that time, I was in the dark about the Manhattan bombings, the Trump Jr. Skittles comment, and more. I tried some news apps on my phone instead, but nothing delivered. Now that its back on my phone I notice that Im reading and writing less, being rooted to the couch more, and mindlessly scrolling when I should be, oh, paying attention to my kid or doing my yoga flow or heading to bed yknow, the things that are  good for me. Moving forward, Ill probably take off the News Feed Eradicator on my laptop and delete the app. That way, I can mindfully be on Facebook  instead of finding myself mindlessly scrolling multiple time s a day. Giving myself space when I know life is nuts is pretty much the smartest thing ever.  We moved into our home on August 15th, and its as much of an ongoing mess/project as I expected. But knowing I was only working 15ish hours/week and the rest of the time we could have family time and work on the houseit was priceless to have that breathing room. And while the house is far from done, I have a working office and most of the boxes are unpacked and this house now feels like home. Mission accomplished. Baby steps build the strongest foundation. Five days is all I need. Heck, two days would have worked! We do  not need month-long challenges to make lasting changes and build positive habits. Ive recharged my batteries. Creative people  need time away. We  need to walk away for lengths of time in order to get our mojo back. Im now ready to get back to work, and Im dreaming up some cool new things to offer that I think wouldnt have been thought of otherwise. Watch out, world Im back and better than ever! When youre stuck, taking a break is just one way to bring your momentum back.  Learn  some best practices with Jodi Womack and me this Friday during an amazeballs Women of the World chat! Register for free right here.