I'm just back from twelve days in Spain. For all twelve of them I've been switched off. No business. No social media. Just time with my family.
And I mean off. No checking emails "just in case". No posting holiday photos and then reading every comment.
You can only focus on one thing
That's the thing about focus. You can only really focus on one thing at a time. When I'm with my family, I want to be with them, not half there with one eye on my phone.
Some people will tell you that if you run your own business you should always be working on it. Always hustling. I don't buy that. Being a hero in one part of your life and a zero in another isn't success. For me, success is peace of mind, and you don't get that by never stopping.
Rain or sunshine
While I was away it struck me how much of life comes down to what you choose to notice. When it rains, you can moan that the sun's gone. Or you can be glad the garden's getting a drink. When the sun's out, you can worry about a dry summer. Or you can get the barbecue out.
Same weather. You decide which bit you pay attention to. I wrote about the same idea on a cold street in Wolverhampton in Two sides of the same street.
Coming back clearer
The other thing I noticed is how clear things looked when I got back. When you give your whole attention to one thing, you spot details you normally miss. And when you step away from work for a while, you come back to it with fresh eyes. Things you'd been staring at for weeks can suddenly look simple.
Still worth doing
Switching off has got harder since I first wrote this. Our phones are better at pulling us back than they were in 2017. Which makes it more important, not less. I plan my time off now the same way I plan work, otherwise it gets eaten. If you need a push on that, have a read of Put yourself in the diary.
When did you last switch off properly? If you can't remember, get a date in the diary. A long weekend counts. Tell people you'll be offline, take the email app off your phone for those days, and see what you come back with.
First published September 2017.
