What Free Days are, And How To Know When You Need Them
The Strategic Coach Team
If we know entrepreneurs — and we’ve coached over 20,000 of them — we’d confidently say that the majority of you are naturally driven to grow your businesses to your greatest potential.
Guilty of feeling guilty?
The not-so-great flipside of this exciting prospect is that you often feel guilty for taking time off. You think you don’t deserve to take free time.
Let us be the first to tell you that, as a matter of fact, no, you don’t deserve to take free time.
Why do we say this? Because taking free time away from your business isn’t a reward for good behavior. We see it as a necessary precondition for optimum creativity and productivity.
So stop thinking that you’ll let yourself take a few days off when you get such-and-such done, get so-and-so hired, get this-and-that delegated, and so on. The end of your “to-do” list will never happen.
A tired brain is an entrepreneurial nightmare.
Look at it this way: You’re the brains behind your business, and in order to continue to be successful, you’ve got to keep your brain sharp. Trouble is, if you use it continuously without rest, it will get dull. Seriously, how creative can you be with your brain dulled by overuse?
At Strategic Coach, we encourage the idea of Free Days. Free Days are 24-hour days with absolutely no work-related thinking, reading, or activities. And in our Entrepreneurial Time System, Free Days come before periods of high productivity, not after. They make your brain sharper, which means you’ll come back from your time off with a new perspective, more energy, and very probably a breakthrough.
Take one vacation a year, get one breakthrough. Take two vacations a year, get two breakthroughs. Take three, get three ...
This is a tough concept for entrepreneurs to buy into, even the ones who don’t admit to being workaholics. But you might as well face the facts. You need to work less to make more. You need Free Days!
Take this short quiz to determine if you’re due for some Free Days:
Tips to get you started!
- Decide on a relaxing spot you already know and love, or that you’ve always wanted to visit. Rejuvenating is the order of the day.
- Schedule your holiday to happen this quarter and book it right now. (Yes, now.)
- Get it into your calendar and protect those days. Think of this time as untouchable.
- Make a list and start taking the necessary steps to have business handled while you’re away. Delegate, outsource, find a major new capability—whatever it takes.
If you answered “no” to every question ...
- Hooray! You’re on the right track! Get another holiday into your schedule now and protect that time. Don’t let yourself get off course!
