• Build your systems
    • Chaos to Consistency
    • Bespoke Mentoring & Development
  • Systems online
    • Business Efficiency Bundle
    • Systems Mastery
  • Manager Development
    • Managers' Development Programme
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Marianne
    • Contact
    • Media
  • Books
  • Blog
Marianne Page
  • Build your systems
    • Chaos to Consistency
    • Bespoke Mentoring & Development
  • Systems online
    • Business Efficiency Bundle
    • Systems Mastery
  • Manager Development
    • Managers' Development Programme
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Marianne
    • Contact
    • Media
  • Books
  • Blog

A whole week totally switched off from work - can you do it?!

7/7/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
I read an article this week on linked-in where the writer had challenged herself to take a whole week off and totally switch off from work. And she reinforced the ‘totally’ bit. She wanted to spend quality time with her children for an uninterrupted week and was asking readers if they thought she could do it. My response was, “Yes! Otherwise, what’s the point?!”

And that’s the question I’d like to pose in this blog:
“Why are you really in business?”

With my clients over the years I’ve gleaned there are often three main reasons:
  1. To make a difference. As Daniel Priestley so aptly put it, “To make a Dent”
  2. To afford a certain lifestyle (financial freedom)
  3. To have the time freedom to spend with family and friends.

You could almost combine 2 and 3 into the time and financial freedom to provide a great life for me and my family. And of course ‘be my own boss’ ‘get rid of the 9 to 5,’ ‘work at something I believe in’ are all in the mix.

But for many business owners I meet, the ‘making a difference’ is happening and often the ‘making money' (for financial freedom) is happening but what’s got lost is the pursuit of time freedom. That has often become a vague ideal that will happen somewhere down the line.

And of course when you’re younger you take your health for granted, you’re loving the buzz of your business. You’re energised and focussed and you’re driving your business forward. And that’s great…to a point.

So I would ask you to just pause, take a breath and think about what’s really important to you. Most often people will respond to this with one word - ‘family.’ And you may say that you’re out there working all the hours for your family but given a choice would your children want more money or more of your time? Okay, maybe not teenagers! But younger children; are they going to remember summers of great games on the beach, pony rides and ice creams, and bedtime stories with mum or dad, or a parent who was always too busy?

If you want great relationships with your children you can’t say, “Right I’ve got time now” and find they’re eighteen and about to leave home. And it’s not just about those wonderful memories you want for your children but for yourself too. You’ll never have this time again. Same for your spouse or partner.

Think about what’s stopping you from taking time off:
  1. Have you not got people in place who you can delegate to?
  2. Is it a trust issue? You have a team but don’t trust them to perform without you?
  3. Are you struggling to let go as you still feel the need to micromanage ‘your baby’?

Small business owners are clearly passionate about what they do, so it’s no surprise that they find it hard to leave work behind on holiday. It can be a challenge also to totally switch off from work as technology has made it so much easier to stay in touch. I believe it’s crucial to take proper breaks to achieve an enriched life and avoid business burn out. 

This is why we at MPL exist. Our vision is to make business easier. To enable people to achieve financial and time freedom. 

The right team, recruited to your Big Vision and Values, simple logical and repeatable systems to follow, and a strong second line manager to whom you can delegate are the portals to freedom. 

If you want any help unlocking those door please take a look at our website: 
www.mariannepage.co.uk or email us at: hello@mariannepage.co.uk

Do one thing: Think about what’s really important to you and what may be preventing you from achieving it. Then act.

Good luck and thanks for reading :)
1 Comment
David Bailey
9/15/2019 02:35:12 pm

My life has completely changed now, circumstances now find me without a home or a business or a paying job. I know care for my 97-year old father. I was recently going to apply to work for Ruth Smeeth, my local MP, it seemed really interesting and something I could be good at. But as I sat at my computer, adjusting my CV, I knew that I didn’t have the time to do it properly. And that is the clarity that comes with age and experience. When you learn that taking on more maybe lucrative, and make a difference, but being honest enough to realise that you can’t give it everything and, even more importantly, it will impact on the most important and most satisfying thing that I have ever done.

I made all those mistakes whilst we were with Macs and then when I had a Pub. It resulted in a divorce and a failed relationship and a life changing illness. And then where has the time gone that you were going to enjoy, once you had made your mark in life and could concentrate on something you wanted to do?

I have a friend who works for Desoutter the tool company and he quickly moved up in the ranks. Suddenly, his time is not his own. As his wife says, he never used to have to answer his work phone or do work from home once 5pm had passed. He is seriously considering stepping down again because he misses the freedom that his lower position used to afford him.

I think that is the same for many self-employed people who take a risk and leave behind the company or public pension the five or six weeks holiday a year and work-free weekends and public holidays. That first year in business for yourself is a killer when you may be struggling for cash flow, not trying to overspend, dreading every VAT quarterly payment. I have met so many people who haven’t really thought through the whole thing and long for the safety of the 9-5 again. And there are family pressures as well as work pressures. I think a business like yours that can help people through those times, to see that training trust and delegation are so important. And if, after trying this you can’t make any money then maybe you never should have done it in the first place!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Sign up for our weekly insights email below

    Sign up

    Author

    Marianne is the author of three books, and is currently working on her fourth, whilst regularly writing her blog, we hope you enjoy it :-)

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Business Consistency
    Business Growth Solutions
    Business Owner
    Business Planning
    Business Relationships
    Business Systems
    Communication
    Cost Efficient Systems
    Creativity
    Customer Experience
    Customer Journey
    Customer Satisfaction
    Easy Business
    Efficiency
    Entrepreneur
    Family
    Feedback
    Get Stuff Done
    High Performing Team
    Hiring Well
    Leadership
    Management Development
    Managers' Development Programme
    Managing People
    Marianne Page
    One Right Way
    Overwhelm
    People Systems
    Performance Reviews
    Personal Development
    Personal Effectiveness
    Personal Management System
    Personal Process
    Personal Satisfaction
    Personal Systems
    Personal Transformation
    Planning For Success
    Planning System
    Process & Systems
    Scale Up
    Service Excellence
    Simple Logical Repeatable
    Success Habits
    Systems4Scale
    Team Engagement
    Time Management
    Time Management & Personal Effectiveness
    Time Off
    Training
    Vision & Values
    You Reap What You Sow

    RSS Feed

Picture
Get Started
Marianne
Blog
Contact
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
  ©Marianne Page 2018
Picture
  • Build your systems
    • Chaos to Consistency
    • Bespoke Mentoring & Development
  • Systems online
    • Business Efficiency Bundle
    • Systems Mastery
  • Manager Development
    • Managers' Development Programme
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Marianne
    • Contact
    • Media
  • Books
  • Blog