I am about one week away from a 21 day vacation from work. As a fairly typical American who habitually works too much, it was tough to give myself permission to take this much time off to relax. (I'm not even sure I've taken this much time off as an adult ever.) It's even harder to ignore all the "what ifs...?" running through my mind of all the things that could go wrong while I'm away or worries about losing the momentum that is beginining to propel my business along without quite so much constant hard work.
The days leading up to my trip continue to be challenging as I try to fit in all those last minute meetings with clients, wrap up loose ends, finish my projects scheduled for completion prior to the trip, make reservations, pack for the trip, clean my house, get to the gym, and stay calm, cool and collected. Whew! I think sometimes getting ready for vacation is more work than... work!
I know that R & R is so important for over well-being, which is why I made this trip a priority even though the timing may not feel completely comfortable. Allowing the vacation preparations to cause stress is counterproductive to my goal of R & R, so I have dug into the bottom of my bag of tricks to come up with some tools to get me through the pre-vacation push as peacefully as possible.
My first step was to make daily appointments with myself between now and take-off for all the self-care things which keep me feeling energized and happy. This includes enough time to sleep, a morning meditation, getting to the gym, dates with loved ones, and unplanned down time. Yep, that one probably sounds funny - an appointment for unscheduled time - but it works! I commit to a date with myself where I don't pre-plan what I'd like to do; instead, I tune in to my desires or needs and spend the time spontaneously.
The second step was to take a critical look at my to-do list and decide which items are priority and truly need to be completed before the trip. I found a number of things on that list that I would love to complete before the trip, but they weren't crucial so I set them aside for when I return. Then I delegated some of the tasks by asking for help and handing them over to someone very competent whom I trust with the responsibility of completing them while I'm away.
This exercise resulted in a smaller, more manageable list of tasks, which brings me to the third step. I promptly scheduled all of the tasks as appointments in my PDA so I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting something or when I was going to fit an errand in. Now, everything I need to do and know before my trip is organized at my fingertips.
Of course, life has this way of turning the best made plans topsy turvy, so I put plenty of extra time in between appointments. So as my last step, I decided to view any obstacle or challenge over the next month as an opportunity for adventure.
The days leading up to my trip continue to be challenging as I try to fit in all those last minute meetings with clients, wrap up loose ends, finish my projects scheduled for completion prior to the trip, make reservations, pack for the trip, clean my house, get to the gym, and stay calm, cool and collected. Whew! I think sometimes getting ready for vacation is more work than... work!
I know that R & R is so important for over well-being, which is why I made this trip a priority even though the timing may not feel completely comfortable. Allowing the vacation preparations to cause stress is counterproductive to my goal of R & R, so I have dug into the bottom of my bag of tricks to come up with some tools to get me through the pre-vacation push as peacefully as possible.
My first step was to make daily appointments with myself between now and take-off for all the self-care things which keep me feeling energized and happy. This includes enough time to sleep, a morning meditation, getting to the gym, dates with loved ones, and unplanned down time. Yep, that one probably sounds funny - an appointment for unscheduled time - but it works! I commit to a date with myself where I don't pre-plan what I'd like to do; instead, I tune in to my desires or needs and spend the time spontaneously.
The second step was to take a critical look at my to-do list and decide which items are priority and truly need to be completed before the trip. I found a number of things on that list that I would love to complete before the trip, but they weren't crucial so I set them aside for when I return. Then I delegated some of the tasks by asking for help and handing them over to someone very competent whom I trust with the responsibility of completing them while I'm away.
This exercise resulted in a smaller, more manageable list of tasks, which brings me to the third step. I promptly scheduled all of the tasks as appointments in my PDA so I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting something or when I was going to fit an errand in. Now, everything I need to do and know before my trip is organized at my fingertips.
Of course, life has this way of turning the best made plans topsy turvy, so I put plenty of extra time in between appointments. So as my last step, I decided to view any obstacle or challenge over the next month as an opportunity for adventure.
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