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This feels like a weird topic to write about (the importance of not working?!) but it's something we are both passionate about and which makes us much more productive during the time we spend in the office.
We find we can both be workaholics - I suppose it comes with the territory of running your own business. Towards the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, we found ourselves waking up super early, charging to the office and returning as late as possible in the evenings. We were taking on a large amount of new projects, which made us happy as the business was clearly going well, but were both struggling to take a day off without dropping the ball on projects and ruining timescales for clients.
We love our businesses so much (and have recently started a third) that it's so easy to just sit here 24/7.
Eventually, the time came for us to try and each take a week off for a holiday and found it really tough to find a time to sign off. As happy as we were, something had to change.
The beauty of being self-employed and the majority of our work being digital means we can pretty much work from wherever we want - as long as there's good internet!
After our office was crashed into in February, and then COVID-19 hit, we re-evaluated how and where we were working, and resolved to still take on the maximum amount of work while also giving ourselves time to breathe.
Nowadays, you'll find us in the office 80% of the time, but the other 20% we make sure we're either working from a different environment such as a coffee shop in a different town (we love Hitchin), visiting clients or taking time off completely to go hiking - which we personally find is the best way to relax. (The downside of this is that usually the internet is less than reliable in The Lakes, North Wales, or the Highlands!)
Whatever your way to chill out is, make sure you schedule it into your working week. You might feel like you're dropping the ball on client work or appointments, but it ensures that the 80% is much more productive and relaxed if you're happy and refreshed.
MIND, the mental health charity says on their website: “One in four people in Britain experience mental health problems each year, but spending time outdoors can reduce the risk of depression by 30%.”
For us, the outdoors is the key, but maybe for you it's spending time with friends and family, going to the gym or just taking a sofa day to watch a film or catch up on a TV show. Either way, taking a break from stress improves your performance and makes the 80% much healthier, happier, and you can get more done.
Plus, you spend more time in your life doing what you want to do. Win win.
Right, we're off to Wales x
