Last Saturday, Bob and I stopped at our favorite local bagel place for breakfast sandwiches and iced coffee.
The owner was behind the counter with one employee in the kitchen. Yes many resturants are still searching for more employees.
The owner was talking about his trip to Boston. He was supposed to leave that morning. But his other employee didn’t show up for work.
So there he was hustling out orders and taking care of his customers. He knows that he has regulars and wants to ensure excellent customer service. That’s why we keep going back. But due to circumstances out of his control, his vacation had to be put on hold.
And frankly that sucks.
​
Work as a small business owner can frequently be this way - a day off put on hold, exercise set aside, fast food grabbed on the way to the next meeting. We have so much to do and if we have ADHD brains we may feelb like we're constantly trying to catch up and we don't deserve time off until we do. I don't know about you, but I know full well I'm going to die with an unfinished to do list in my hands.
And my inner perfectionist has made peace with that.
​
Yet too often even I, the proponent of the power in the pause, procrastinate taking a day off.
Yes that’s really a thing.
It’s not unusual for small business owners to put themselves last.
There’s always one more thing to do. Add in family obligations and you can see how quickly play and rest can procrastinated right out of the equation. I’ve been guilty of this.
​
As summer comes, we commit to taking a full day off to enjoy the beach, a pool, a walk by the lake, a day trip up the coast for lobster rolls, and when we’re really lucky a long weekend in our happy place. The sky is the limit. I think summer is way too short so we make sure to squeeze in every glorious drop.
​
This summer, we flipped our vacation schedule to accommodate our college age daughter.
We went to Fenwick for Memorial Day week.
Snuck away with friends for a weekend in Chicago in June.
In July, we've spent lots of time at our family memeber's pool, been to several concerts, gone out for a stroll and an ice cream, and enjoyed several summer evenings at our local boating club.
And just yesterday we spent an entire day with friends at their camper on Hamonasset Beach. We arrived at 9am with banana bread, enjoyed the beach, then a cookout, more beach time and a nap. Feeling too relaxed to cook again, I set up a tray loaded with antipasto and we happily noshed. As the sun set, we built a fire and cooked s'mores. It felt like a vacation in a day. Heaven.
And we still have August!
​
It takes commitment to take time off.
And planning.
Lots and lots of planning.
Not our ADHD superpower.
​
BUT - Here’s the thing.
If you don’t take time off your body and brain will just force the issue.
Either you’ll get run down or worse, lawd forbid, sick.
Or you’ll procrastinate playing a mindless game of Candy Crush or puttering in the kitchen or some unimportant task (that’s aptly termed procrasti-doing). Procrastinating time seems like time off but it really drains our energy.
We constantly have that nagging judgmental voice in our head reminding us how we haven’t gotten that project done, the deadline is looming and why can't I ever get things done like everyone else? That's a big one in the world of ADHD.
​
We struggle with task initiation. So for us, it's about much more than just procrastinating.
In fact, we need a little grace from everyone else but most especially ourselves.
​
REAL time off recharges us. And that takes sitting down with your calendar and the people who are important in your life to plan.
The benefits are soooo worth it!
How are you planning to take time off?
Let me know in the comments.
Not sure how to make it happen?
Something special is coming soon - stay tuned to my LinkedIn posts!
