Vacationing as a Small Business Owner | Is That Even a Thing??
I am sitting in the most beautiful place in the world right now ... a table with my two kids ... in a gorgeous town on the Oregon Coast ... it's vacation time(!!!!) ... or is it?? I am technically on vacation, but my hand keeps grabbing my phone each time it dings or rings ... my mind keeps wandering to my work ... which got me thinking:
Can a small business owner really even take a vacation???
I think the definition of 'vacation' needs to be changed for small business owners ... maybe it means: we are 'half' working ... or 'quarter' working ... or only answering the SUPER important emails and not doing much else ... For me, I am using this time to reboot and recharge.
My children are 5 and (almost) 3 ... Grayson and Hadley are amazing kids and being here on the Oregon Coast with them means the world to me ... we are very lucky to be here as a family. Grayson and Hadley are the kids that keep me laughing and smiling ... who have taught me that it's ok to cry over spilt milk ... who have kept my heart young and my body moving. Grayson and Hadley are also the kiddos who keep me from having any sort of normal phone conversation that doesn't include cutting off my clients to get them water or make sure they aren't playing in the street ... they are the ones who stop me 'mid kick ass idea' and make me get up to help them get dressed or grab a snack ... I've talked before about the balance of being a stay at home mom and a small business owner on The Editor's Touch ... it really is hard, isn't it??
On this vacation I am trying to grab my phone less ... to answer emails less ... to put my kids first. I believe that is what a vacation of a small business owner should be ... to switch the priorities ... put work to the side and tell yourself: it's ok to not answer that email that just came in: it can wait.
I also have to say that having a vacation email responder on it an amazing feeling ... I try to be really quick to answer emails most of the time ... and having that there to give people a heads up of my 'delay' to communicate is so rad ;)
I'm excited for things to get normal when I get home ... for school to start and for Fall to arrive ... but for now I think I'll go play in the waves and savor this moment with my family.
XO~ Heather