How Vacations Are Beneficial For Entrepreneurs?

Being the CEO of a startup, I would usually be the last person people would go to for some vacation advice. I started my company about 4 years ago and since then, I have been working each and every day of the week to get the customers, partners and vendors on-board.

While all of it had been really exciting at the work-front, it also meant that for the last 4 years, I hadn’t taken a single day off, let alone taking a vacation. But it changed last month!

Last month, I was travelling for a business meeting to an exotic location. This was an important client meeting and we had been working hard for months to score this account. The meeting went well and after some negotiations to-and-fro, I finally got the deal.

I had a flight back to my work location the next morning. But I decided to take a break from my hectic work schedule and stay back for a couple of days. This was unusual for me, given that I hadn’t taken any break in the past 4 years. But I felt that I deserved some days off, this time.

At first, I didn’t expect a lot from this break except for some relaxing. But this mini-vacation, if you want to call it that, helped me in more ways than I expected. It rejuvenated my whole being, made me more productive at work, and even increased my creativity. This also changed my perspective on taking time off, and now I believe that vacations can actually prove to be really beneficial to the entrepreneurs in many ways.

1. Avoiding the Burnout

Working every day of the week, every week can actually get tedious at times. Focusing on one type of work for such prolonged periods of time may often lead to burnout. And that is the worst state you would want to be in as an entrepreneur.

The little vacation that I took actually helped me come out of this burnout phase and made me feel rejuvenated again. In fact, before I went on the vacation, I didn’t even realize that I was burned out with all the work. Only after coming back from the vacation, I noticed that my production levels had actually increased and I was feeling new energy towards my work.

Also Read 5 Common Travel Mistakes You Are Making

2. Recharging Yourself

It is well known that vacations help you in relaxing your body, but the great thing about vacations is that they help you feel refreshed and re-energized mentally as well. During my vacation, I had truly restful sleep which felt like giving my body and brain a reboot.

I felt recharged and fresher going back to work and could see my productivity levels increase significantly. Vacations are actually the best de-stressing mechanism too. In fact, scientific research also suggests that taking a break from your work and re-energizing yourself from time to time actually increases your productive capacity and strategic thinking skills.

3. Refocusing!

Often as an entrepreneur, you get so busy with your work that for the lack of time, you keep doing things in the same way again and again. However, to be better than the competition, it is sometimes important to take a step back and look at things from a new perspective.

Taking a break helps you in taking that step back. When I was on the vacation, I started thinking about my recent projects and I got into thinking why I was doing what I was doing. This helped me re-focus on the more important and relevant projects for the company while leaving or deprioritizing the things that the company no longer needed or that had become irrelevant with time.

This vacation also helped me in finding new ways to look at the old issues that had been plaguing the business for a long time and in finding their solutions from a new perspective.

Also Read Importance Of Travelling

4. Inspiring Creativity

I think this point can’t be stressed enough. To be creative and to remain creative are two different things. Doesn’t matter how creative you are, working in the same office space every day, with some people, and in the same surroundings can often dampen your creativity levels. To remain creative, it is important that you go out, meet new people and have new experiences.

And vacations are the best way to do that!  When you are travelling, you are seeing new places, meeting new people and exploring new things. All of these experiences can inspire new ideas as well. In fact, many CEOs quote having had inspiration for their products while travelling. Moreover, you can also bring your exploratory attitude of vacation to your work, and see how it takes you places.

5. Letting Your Team Grow

As a leader, it is important to allow your team to grow on their own. Therefore, it is useful from time to time to delegate the work to the team and see how the business operates without you. In fact, the leader’s time away from the office can actually encourage individual development and proactivity.

This may also strengthen the bond between the team members as they effectively address the challenges in the CEO’s absence. Moreover, it also establishes trust between the leader and the employees. So, take that break and let your team grow your business.

I think I will now rest my case for taking a vacation, especially if you are an entrepreneur. If you are looking for some inspiration, want to get creative or just looking to get some new energy and motivation for work, grab that bag and head off for a vacation.

You will be surprised to see your creativity and productivity levels increase much fold just by taking a few days off. Even the busiest entrepreneurs take time off to “sharpen the saw” as Stephen Covey says in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Taking time off from your work can help you in many unexpected ways. Take a vacation and see for yourself!