Running a Business and Fahrenheit 451

. . . and why you need to take some time off.

It’s the end of August, often thought of as a slow time for advisors and consultants –– and, well, business in general, as people take vacations and prepare for school. Interestingly, this year, we haven’t really noticed a let up. Networking events have been packed to the gills, clients have been calling with new projects, and we all seem to be busy. Even some of the lucky few who have been able to get away manage to answer emails or take calls. One colleague joked that he wasn’t in a hurry for a proposal because he had one more day to collect sand between his toes (yet he responded to my email in record time). So we’re on vacation, but are we really on vacation?

Our time-saving devices, while often helpful, have us connected all the time. And we are literally “running”  our businesses. Author Karen Salmansohn likens it to Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451, where “you must drive over 55 mph so you cannot see the world around you clearly. In this blurry, fast-paced world, porches have been banned, so you don’t have a place to sit and feel what you may sit and feel. And books have been burned, so you cannot be inspired to think deeply.”

As a busy business owner who works with other busy CEOs, VPs and executive directors and business owners, I confess that I struggle with time management and multi-tasking. We want to be responsive to our clients and solve their problems. We want to implement new ideas. And we still have to handle the day-to-day tasks in work and life. We are master “multi-taskers,” but when the mind is going 24/7 it can take its toll.

Around this time last year I wrote an article about crafting your vision and how wonderful it is to be able to get away from business for a time to refresh and renew and to gain some perspective. For me, spending time by the ocean was just the inspiration I needed to do some work on my vision and that of our company.  I am still a proponent of planning and communicating from one’s vision, but I wonder how we can really gain the needed perspective if we are constantly plugged in, working, “on,” and available.

Could you just do nothing for a day or long weekend? This coming Monday marks Labor Day, a federal holiday that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers and symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, parades and the like. Can you take advantage of this three-day weekend to disappear? Even if you can’t get away to the beach, could you unplug? No really. . . turn off the phone. Don’t check email. Do nothing.

Doing nothing is paradoxically very difficult to do (pick up any number of books on meditation or Buddhism for more on this). Our conscious awareness continuously focuses on our own preoccupations, and as a result it really doesn’t offer us many opportunities to relax and do nothing. It is only during periods of doing nothing that our subconscious intuition is able to express its creative qualities. Ah, creativity.

Why you should take some time to do nothing.

1. Our need for multi-tasking and speed actually keeps us from remembering daily details and keeps us from connecting to our truest values, needs and insights.
2. Doing nothing forces you to turn off the autopilot in your head and get in touch with what matters most.
3. Clearing brain space allows for clarity to return and our ability to focus actually improves.
4. Taking a break from work may remind you of the reason you started on this track in the first place, or help you reevaluate the whys and wherefores.
5. New ideas, creativity and even greater productivity can come from even a few minutes of mindfulness.
6. Your children, friends, significant or dog will notice and thank you.

Trust me. All of the emails and work will still be there when you come back. And, you may have created some space from which a new perspective and strategies can flow. If you’re worried about getting back on track, here’s a good place to start when you plug back in.