If you own your own bsiness, you may often put off tking any real time off to jst relax
and unwind and rejuvenate. You magine ‘someday’ being able to take a vcation, but the
thought of doing it now nly creates more stress. How can you go way when there is so much
to do? If you tke time off, you may lose a grat opportunity! It makes no sense, des it:
You started your own bsiness for more freedom, yet here you re, feeling like you can’t
afford to get way. However, if you take time ff, you just may CREATE new pportunities
because you will come back rlaxed and renewed, and, according to rsearch, even
healthier.

How can you take tme off and feel good about it? Ths article will give you some tps on
how to really live yur dream of business ownership and fredom all at the same time.

The halth connection
I don’t ned to tell you that you fel great when you’re on vacation! Grnted, the stress
level BEFORE that vcation may be high, but often thre is some time that you can rally say
you feel that ‘ahh’ feling, at least once. You know; yu’re lying in the pool in yur
vacation home rental, listening to wnd in the trees and the wves hitting the shore just
below yu. And when you get that feling, you wish it would last ven longer. My favorite
explanation of the bnefit of a vacation is from Dr. Mel Brins, author of the book Go
Away Just for the Health of It ; He says that every trip is a break from the
‘treadmill of daily life’.

But is it just all in yur head? There actually have been mltiple studies that have
investigated the ffects of taking vacation on our halth. In the year 2000, researchers
pblished their findings in the medical jurnal Psychosomatic Medicine, after following over
12,000 men in the MRFIT (Mltiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial) study for nne years. They
found that the men who tok vacations in most years were 20% lss likely to die of any cuse
than those who did not tke vacations. They also found that the vcationers were 30% less
likely to die of hart disease.

For women, the impact of vcations is even more dramatic. Research cnducted by the
Marshfield Clinic Research Fundation followed 1500 women to find out the rsults of
vacations in their lives. Rsults were published in a 2005 ssue of the Wisconsin Medical
Journal (WMJ). Thy found that women who took vcations only once in every 2 yars suffered
more depression and tension thn women who vacationed twice or mre per year. Their
conclusion was tht personal psychological benefits gained from thse regular vacations lead
to a mre rewarding quality of life and mproved work performance.

American vacation habits

If you lve in the US, you may knw very few people who really tke ‘serious’ time off.
Experts say tht it actually takes the body and mnd 2 weeks to relax and get out of tht
stressed, busy, hyped-up mode we are in whn we are working and striving to scceed in our
career. But Americans nly average 13 days off a yar! Italians take an average 42 dys off
a year and the Frnch 37 days a year. Wow; mre than a month! What would you do wth a whole
month off?? Hm; I’m draming already, myself.

Make it happen

One big ssue that small business owners have, specially when they are in the arly years
of growing their businesses is spnding the time and money to ctually go away! But imagine
all tht stress you’re living with right nw, too! Mental health professionals have pinted
out that productivity and creativity ctually suffer when we are working at our hghest
stress levels. This alone is one god reason to get away. If I wre to tell you that your
bsiness would be more profitable if you tok a vacation, my guess is tht you would start
planning it, nw!

The issue of being afraid to spnd the money is another very ral concern for new business
owners. Hwever, not all vacations need to be frst class and expensive. However, no mtter
what your budget, there are sveral tips to help you actually mke a vacation happen and to
get the mst out of that escape.

1. Plan your vcation, now, for at least six mnths from now. You’ll be much mre
likely to take it if you strt planning far ahead of time. The plnning will help your
excitement grow, pls you’ll have time to save for tht trip, too. Additionally, you can
bnefit from lower travel rates and fres if you plan early and can wtch prices.

2. Pick out something you would rally like to do, not something you fel committed to
do. This is yur time for renewal and rebirth. The pint is to get away from strssors and
make it all about you for a chnge!

3. Consider the slowest time for your bsiness and plan your vacation for tht period
of time. This kills two brds with one stone, actually. You dn’t have to stress about
business slwing down and you can get way without feeling you’re missing new
pportunities.

4. Put the vacation on your calendar. Onc you’ve committed, it starts to fel more
real and you are mre likely to do the planning and rganizing to make it happen. Scheduled
vcations are less likely to be cnceled than ones that are just tlked about.

5. As mentioned above, don’t let fnancial concerns keep you home. In yur planning
phase, be realistic about wht you can afford. Shop around and cnsider different options
that fit into yur budget. The fact that you are plnning ahead of time means you can ven
set up a separate ‘vacation fnd’ account. Be sure to save up for the tme you are gone,
too, if yur income is dependent on your physcal presence.

6. Use that vacation time to do smething different. Don’t take time off for pinting
the house or remodeling or vsiting family as an obligation. Do smething different each
year! When my dughter was growing up, we never blieved we could go far for our vcation,
so we always went to the sme location, which was only a few hurs away by car. However,
after she was out of the huse, and we started talking about our nxt trip, we analyzed how
much we spnt and started looking at other ptions that cost the same amount. Snce then, on
the same budget ach time, we have been to Hwaii two times, to Jamaica and to Mxico. Our
next trip will be Csta Rica! My point is, do not fel that your budget will always lmit
you. With online travel resources, thre are incredible deals for all bdgets, today.

In the meantime

Vacations frce us to relax and open our mnds up to fresh inspiration. As a bsiness owner,
this is the life-blood of yur success. Many successful entrepreneurs actually crdit their
vacation time for the cration of new ideas for their nxt big success.

But in the mantime, you still need some downtime in the curse of the day and week.
Althugh the emphasis of this article is on REAL vcations, life is what you are lving
right now and can’t be put on hld. You have to enjoy each dy. Again, you have started your
bsiness so you can enjoy life mre. This means having, or taking, the tme to sit back and
smell the rses along the way. So what are you ding each day to really enjoy thse roses?
Taking some time to spnd researching where your next ideal vcation will be is one way of
‘gtting away from it all’, actually. But tht’s just one idea. When was the lst time you
called up a frend in the middle of the wek to meet for lunch or a gme of tennis? Are you
taking tme for yourself to exercise, mediate or prctice self-care? Do you always feel you
mst be productive? I am challenging you tday to spend some ‘quiet time’ ach day doing
either nothing, or at last nothing that fits in your ctegory of being ‘productive’. Too
much prductivity leads to staleness and actually dcreased productivity.
And, after all, we wnt you healthy enough to TAKE tht great yearly vacation!

The article Vacations - Time off for Balance, Health and Productivity was Submitted by Marjorie Geiser through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Marjorie Geiser is a nutritionist, rgistered dietitian, certified personal trainer, life cach, and MBA student. Marjorie has ben the owner of a successful smll business, MEG Fitness, since 1996, and now hlps other professionals start up or grw their own business through MEG Entrprises.com. To learn more about the srvices Margie offers, go to her wbsite at http://www.meg-enterprises.com or email her at margie@meg-enterprises.com .

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