Whether you’re a freelancer, a business owner, or just self-employed in general, there is no doubt that it can be tough trying to find time for a vacation. Those who work the standard 9 to 5 job already have a hard time with getting a vacation, but did you know it’s far worse for the self-employed? Unfortunately, for many workers, one of the looming fears is trying to figure out how to escape from work, even if it’s temporary. We all know that vacations are the best way to recharge. It’s how many entrepreneurs get their battery recharged, and it’s also a way to get new ideas while gaining a whole new insight.
While many entrepreneurs have the privilege and the availability to just get up from their desk and say “it’s vacation time”, how easy can it be to do this? Well, to a degree, it is possible to take some baby steps so you can prepare yourself for a much-needed vacation.
We all deserve a vacation for the hard work, so why not work towards it? Whether you’re wanting a working holiday, an unplugged getaway, or a vacation where you’re getting to travel around, it can happen. You just need to manage your time and take some baby steps to get there. Here are some helpful tips for any entrepreneur who is wanting to have a vacation.
Start by preparing
This could include writing out a plan of how you’re going to be able to balance out your work, manage time to plan out a vacation, and how you’re also going to set your business up in such a way where you’ll be able to go on vacation without anything failing. Many owners, they’re terrified that a few days of not working is either going to leave them behind or they’re going to risk having to deal with a business that is beginning to fail. Businesses don’t fail overnight, and going on a vacation isn’t going to make your business fail either. Here are some small steps so you can prepare:
Communicate to your customers and clients about your vacation plans. It’s important that you set up some expectations on how long you’re going to be unavailable to do any sort of work. It’s so important to directly inform everyone about it.
Mark it on your calendar when you expect to be on vacation
Set up your inbox just right before your vacation that you’re going to be out of the office. This is going to allow people to know (who may have forgotten) that you’re going to be away for a while for your vacation.
You’ll also want to set up some time to plan out your vacation. If you just plan to stay at home during the entire length of the vacation, then no planning is really required. However, if you’re going to be on a vacation, it’s best to begin searching for accommodation, visas by going to visit this site, and also many other things such as flights.
Look into schedule content
Thankfully nowadays, business owners can still have content scheduled while they’re away from their desks. If your business relies heavily on marketing, such as posting on social media or even newsletters, then you are probably aware of scheduling tools. Hootsuite and Sprinklr are a couple of major ones as they can schedule posts on LinkedIn, Instagram, as well as other social media platforms.
While you’re not engaging with your audience while you’re away, you’re still showing them content which is engagement on its own. The same can be said for newsletters. If your business dishes out weekly or biweekly newsletters, then it can be very beneficial to just continue creating those and scheduling them. Most newsletter providers such as Mailchimp do offer this service.
Think about what could ruin your plans
While it’s not ideal to sound negative, it is a good idea to just try and be realistic with yourself. What could potentially happen that could destroy your plans? Sometimes emergencies happen, and in these times, it’s best to try and have an action plan if possible. Many businesses have someone else to be referred to during these types of emergencies. Do you have a team member or someone else that you could rely on in the case that an emergency happens?
Try and schedule small windows of availability
While you’re trying to take your wonderful staycation, it’s best to try and have a small window of availability every couple of days. It’s best if this is no more than two hours every couple of days since you’re on vacation. However, this window of availability isn’t necessary but it could help you out in not having a swarm of things to do once your vacation ends.
