The Importance Of Resetting Your Brain
As regular readers will know, I took a few days off over the last week.
This is incredibly atypical for me. I took four days off from writing and online business and everything. (Though I did close another client over email; but that was about fifteen minutes of work.)
In comparison, I think I might have had four days away from writing for the rest of the year combined to that point.
I love writing. I love online business and the things I write about on this site. However, this week I realised that I should take more time off.
This article is another weird one that’s a bit off-topic, but it’s important for guys who are like me and constantly thinking about business stuff. You need to take time off, and here’s why:
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Stress is Silent
Before I went away, I thought I was going to go insane during my time off. I deliberately didn’t take a laptop with me. (I was staying with friends, and I knew if I took the laptop, I’d be tempted to spend time working on it.) I worried that I’d get a ton of work during my week away which I’d be unable to do. I was worried that something would go wrong with my sites or something. I thought I’d probably be itching to write after a few days of not doing so.
None of those things happened.
What did happen though was that I realised that I’d let stress sneak up on me. If you’re constantly worried about stuff that’s probably not going to happen, then you’re probably suffering from some form of stress.
For entrepreneurs, it’s really easy to think that this is just a cost of doing business. Most entrepreneurial literature talks about how the buck stops with you – and that’s true – but in believing that, there’s a danger that you’ll internalise stress as part of the entrepreneurial process.
For your own health, it’s best to take time off. If you haven’t taken time off in a while – or you spend all of your time off waiting to go back to work and worrying about what’ll happen then you do – you need to switch the computer off and take a break.
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You’re Probably Coming Up With Stale Ideas
Sitting at a computer all day is anathema to originality. Browsing the internet can only take you so far with new ideas as well. Sometimes you’ll find that you simply run out of things to write about.
More commonly, you’ll find that your writing style gets in a rut, and if you’re putting out a lot of material, you’ll find it all blurs into one. (You won’t like this, and your clients probably won’t like it either – assuming you’re freelancing.)
There’s another problem with not taking time off; information overload.
Last week, I posted what I’d learned about online course creation. I’m learning as I go along, and the project I’m working on for the online course is something that’s been marinating in my mind for over a year.
That’s too long.
If you constantly sit and tinker with a project idea then it’ll get more complicated. You’ll realise that you need to (for instance,) buy a membership plugin. You’ll need to write more materials. Put in the materials you’ve forgotten about. Get your email list up and running. Hire some guy from Upwork to make your logo.
There are hundreds of things you can add to your list, and when you do you’ll get stuck in a big, complicated web of things.
If this is you, take a few days off. Not from the project, but totally. You’ll find that the problem gets smaller after you’ve left it for a few days.
Taking time off is like resetting your brain. If you feel like information overload is slowing you down, it’s definitely time to switch off your computer and go outside.
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You Can Find New Ideas
It’s going to sound crazy to a lot of folks, but there are a lot of ideas outside.
When you sit at a computer and work, you get stuck in a particular way of thinking. When you hang around with people who are building businesses in the same area that you are, you get into a collective tunnel vision.
A good example of this is digital nomads; a lot of digital nomads want to move across the world and start businesses… yet they all create the same info products about making money online and travelling.
If they spent more time outside, they’d probably find tons of business opportunities in their new homelands.
Resetting your brain is a crucial part of new idea generation. If you’re constantly working on things, then those things will flavour any new information you come across.
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You’ll (Hopefully) Come Back Refreshed and Ready To Go
Since being back, my productivity has shot up. This is despite the fact I’ve only been getting my ducks in a row for tomorrow, when I’ll start working again back in my regular schedule.
That said, in this downtime, I’ve already untied the knot with my online course. After a few days away, I was able to come back, sit down and simplify the whole process into actionable steps.
Further to that, I’ve had ideas for this site, my freelance work and other projects that had stalled out.
What’s more important is that I’ve eradicated the melancholy and ennui that I was experiencing before I left. Every idea I have feels slightly more new.
…In short, I’m going to take some more time off from now on.
But obviously not before Christmas.
This is the run up to Christmas; which is probably the best time for building niche sites, releasing products and creating new services.
There are a few reasons for that which I’ll discuss in the future, but for now: If you’re reading this article and thinking, “Gee… I need some time off too” then you should do it soon.
Take a few days in the next couple of weeks, then come back refreshed and ready to take advantage of the Winter period.
Final Thoughts
If you’re becoming less productive despite working more, then chances are you need to take a few days off.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in work and not realise that you’re gradually getting less efficient and less happy with what you’re doing. When this occurs, it’s likely that bad thoughts will seep into your psyche and it’ll bring you down.
Rather than trying to work through counter-productive thoughts, you should probably take time out to allow your mind to settle itself. Information overload and entrepreneurial addiction are real things, and eventually they’ll get to you. Don’t try and combat them; evade them.
That said taking time off is a great way to increase productivity. If you do it right, then you’ll want to come back, and when you do you’ll find that problems and intellectual knots fix themselves.
That concludes this “Dear Diary” entry… back to the useful stuff tomorrow.