July 7, 2021

How Can I Take A Guilt-Free Vacation As A Business Owner?

As a business owner, the word “vacation” may evoke feelings of stress and anxiety. 

When it comes to deciding whether or not to take a vacation, business owners often feel obligated to keep working and forego that much-needed rest and relaxation time.

While experts recommend taking at least 7-11 days of vacation each year, many working adults choose not to take that much time off. Americans only use an average of 54% of their vacation time, according to a 2019 study from Glassdoor. For business owners especially, the responsibilities of work can seem too overwhelming to relinquish, even for a few days.

If you’ve ever been torn between work and the thought of taking a vacation, you are certainly familiar with the concept of “Vacation Guilt”. Let’s talk about the reasons behind that guilt, and ways to ultimately overcome it.

Feeling Guilty About Leaving Your Work to Others

When you schedule a vacation, you might feel guilty about leaving your work to be completed by your team or employees. After all, your employees depend on you to get your job done as the owner of the company! Sometimes it feels like you’re the quarterback on a football team and you’re choosing to skip out on the big game to go kick back in Hawaii.

Chances are, your employees feel the same guilt about taking their vacation! Guilt is inevitable, and even good – it means you care about your work and your team’s opinion.

A good way to avoid feeling like you’re skipping out on your employees is to…

Plan Ahead

How far in advance can you plan your vacation? Are you planning a weekend getaway or a two week trip across Europe? When are you typically busy and when does your workload lessen? By scheduling vacations strategically and communicating with your employees as soon as possible, the process becomes much more seamless and stress-free.

Giving people the time to logistically prepare for your absence as well as coordinate with you to cover the bases while you’re gone is crucial. The more prepared you and your team are, the easier it will be to enjoy your vacation guilt-free!

Missing Out On Work and Having To Catch Up Later

56% of Americans report working while they’re on vacation. The worst part about this data point is that it’s understandable. What’s worse than going on vacation and coming back to 6,000 emails in your inbox? For many, this is a reason to avoid vacationing altogether. Fortunately, there are also ways to mitigate the stress of this dilemma.

Set boundaries. Craft an “Out of Office” reply for your email and voicemail inbox. Create a detailed message explaining who the caller can contact for specific functions or needs. For emails, you can even leave a Google Drive link that will allow someone receiving the auto response to copy pertinent information into the Drive so you can view it later. Get creative! It will help organize your workload upon your return to work and help manage how overwhelmed you might feel.

Delegate expected responsibilities to other employees. If you’re working with specific clients or partners that you know will need to get in touch with you, give them advance notice of who they can get a hold of within the company while you’re out of office.

Commit to relaxationTrust your employees and your pre-vacation planning. Don’t stress yourself out by constantly checking your phone and email to see if anyone needs you – otherwise you may as well have stayed at the office.

Reward Yourself To Avoid Burnout

As a business owner, you’re hardwired to want to succeed. You want to grow your company and you won’t stop at anything to continue to build your empire. Sometimes, the best way to keep performing at the top of your abilities is to stop, step back, and take a break.

Everyone needs a break sometimes. Maybe you don’t feel like you’ve earned it. Have you really worked hard enough to take vacation? Let’s look at this way: You can work until you can’t work anymore and still continue to work. Are you really being productive at that point or are you just clocking in hours with minimal ROI?

Say goodbye to “vacation guilt” and say hello to vacation time!

Let Oncue Help You Take That Well-Deserved Vacation

With Oncue’s software and booking service you can relax and enjoy your vacation time knowing your business is in good hands. Our mobile-friendly software allows you to run your business from almost anywhere, making travel of all kinds possible.

For more helpful information regarding the moving industry subscribe to the official Oncue Youtube Channel and follow us on social media!

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