Everyone is so busy!  We are busy working on our businesses, in our businesses, battling challenges inherent in a down economy, terrorist threats, scams and spams, managing our time, timing our management, and, meanwhile, hopefully, doing meaningful work we love. We’re trying to catch up and to cool down. We’re maximizing, minimizing, optimizing and satisficing.  So I thought it was time to ask “are we having fun?”

It may be just the time for a “Time-Out”, and they come in many flavors and sizes.  For purposes of simplicity, we’ll address just three varieties of “break”:  Small, Medium and Large. I’ll offer a few examples of each in my comments–and invite you all to create your own personal list.  For some additional tips on creating greater joy in your work and your life sign-up for our newsletter in the box at the top right.

Small Time-Outs:
Your days may be full, but you will accomplish more and feel better about it if you build in small breaks throughout your working day.  Five or ten minutes at a time will enhance creativity and improve the quality of your work.  A Small Time-Out can be crafted as a reward for completing a segment of a project or completing some difficult phone calls.  Or, as I do, you can place small “smile breaks” into your daily schedule.  I build in 15 minutes between my telephone coaching calls, groups, TeleForums, classes I teach, and planning sessions.  A big stress-reliever.

~~Coach’s Comment~~:
In a  Fast Company Magazine article by David Beardsley, “Don’t Manage Time, Manage Yourself”, he wrote: “Sometimes the most appropriate thing to do, if you have 10 free minutes, is to water your plants.”

Other things you can do in five to ten minutes:
1.  Read a poem; read the comics; read an article or column.  [If much of your work is done on the computer, then have your break-time be "paper reading", not on-screen.]
2.  Relax with a cup of tea or a cold drink.
3.  Work on a crossword puzzle.
4.  Play with a toy (Yo-Yo, Play-doh, dart board, bubbles, crayons…)
5.  Take a mini-walk–inside, outside, anywhere–and stop and smell the roses.

Medium Time-Outs:
These are the pieces of your week you reserve for time for yourself–when you craft the time to renew and revitalize.  Whether it’s an hour, a half-day, or more, it’s important to respect this time.  Put it on your schedule and keep the appointment–just as you would with a client, a customer, a patient, a doctor, or a lawyer.

~~Coach’s Comment~~:
The easiest way to make this happen may be to commit to an outside activity–something you schedule and pay for.  Some examples:
1.  Aerobics classes; appointments with a personal trainer.
2.  Lessons in a new language.
3.  Meetings of a group or organization–not work-related.
4.  Tennis league.

When you are comfortable with this concept your Medium Breaks can be less structured:
1.  Read a book.
2.  Go for a long walk or run or bike ride.
3.  Meet friends for lunch (business lunches don’t count).
4.  Work on your garden.
5.  Take a nap; swing in a hammock (also good for small time-outs)
6.  Play with a small child.

Large Time-Outs:
We know what these are–but do we plan for them?  Have you scheduled your vacation times (note plural) for the rest of this year.  Or next year’s big trip?  What’s your dream vacation–and when will you go?  A long cruise through the Greek Islands? An archeological dig?  The great museums of Europe?  Going off somewhere with a bag full of books to read? Why not allocate some of your Small or Medium Time-Outs to the planning of the big one?

Another type of Large Time Out is to really drop out for a while–a month, six months, whatever you need for renewal.  Does your company or university offer a sabbatical?  Can you turn your business over to someone else?  OR–have you considered a major change?

Some examples:
Leave the corporate environment. Get someone to run your business for you.  Sell your business. Move to a small town. Get into a career/business that lets you work from home or anywhere. Become less important. Give up the daily grind and replace it with projects, favorite activities. Change careers to make money doing what you love, even if it’s, at first, a major drop in pay. If you truly love it, you’ll find a way to make more money at it, if you’re at all creative and entrepreneurial.  Just a thought.

Maybe thinking about such a major change is enough, especially in these challenging times.

One big reason to pay attention to forming Smart Match Alliances is they allow you the freedom and leverage to take more vacations!

~~Coach’s Comment~~:
My recent vacations were in Europe, Alaska, Canada, and the mountains of Colorado.  The European venues and most of the Alaska adventure were E-mail-free times.  There’s a lot I can say about vacations, but if there is one gem I’d like to extract and share it is this:
“It doesn’t count as a vacation if you tweet, text, fax, manage your social networks, hang on your iPhone, collect and answer your E-mail and office voice mail messages.  Leave the office at the office.”

Try taking the coachability assessment to see if coaching is right for you.

Mariano M. Jauco has been empowering business professionals and individuals by sharing his knowledge to produce positive change in the world. His personal development techniques and methods will allow you to reach your goals and achieve the success and prosperity you deserve.

To subscribe to his newsletter go to: http://jaucoandassociates.com/subscribe.html

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