Taking A Kit Kat
I abandoned my routine for 17 days to take my first holiday in 8 years. With this being my first holiday as an adult, it was also the first time I’ve had to leave behind the responsibilities of work.
I find it hard to switch off from my job, which is probably a sign that I enjoy what I do (I think?), but like everyone else, I get burned out from being so consumed by work. Recently, I noticed that was happening a lot more regularly, and my performance at work was suffering.
I visited New York for 5 days and Florida for 10. New York was an opportunity to soak up some culture, while Florida was an opportunity to soak up some rays. Having never been one to relax very well (I’ve always got to be doing something), I wasn’t sure how entertaining I’d find Florida. Would I get bored? Restless? But once I fully allowed myself to unwind and be sucked into the slow-paced, relaxing lifestyle of Florida, I found it to be hugely beneficial for recharging my batteries.
Preparing reading material for my holiday was easy. While I knew I wanted a break from work, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to educate myself in areas related to work that I’d been meaning to do so at home. So I brought along a few books that had been gathering dust on my bookshelf:
- The Whuffie Factor
- How To Build A Successful Blog Business
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
- Oh, and an issue of Inc magazine thrown in for good measure
Leaving behind the trivialities of everyday life gave me the perfect opportunity to really zone into the content of these books, and I found myself soaking up the information better than I would have done at home, which subsequently left me feeling wildly inspired.
By day 5 in Florida, I was itching to get back to work — not through boredom, but through excitement; through having had an opportunity to think about the future and scope out a plan without having the stress of work getting in the way and clouding my thoughts.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, to all those hard working hustlers out there who are married to their work, it’s actually hugely beneficial to you and to your career to take a bit of a breather. While I felt that 2 weeks away from home and my routine was a tad too much, by the time I got home I felt ready to take on the world.
