How to Let Yourself Take a Vacation

One key to avoiding burnout is to take a lot of breaks both during your day and during your year. It depends on the rest of your life, but most people will benefit from taking regular short vacations as well as a long one every year if they plan for it and set themselves up for a real break and real vacation.

 

Accept That You Deserve a Break

 

So many people feel guilty about taking vacations or any type of break. They think they have to be busy all the time. The problem with this idea is that it’s just wrong. You, just like anyone else, not only deserve a break, but you need a break to ensure your mental health stays intact and that you can work to your full potential when you are working.

Focus on Results

Budget for The Vacations You Want to Take

 

Avoid undue stress about money by setting aside a budget for your vacations. One way to look at a budget is called the 50-20-30 plan. This means that 50 percent of your budget goes to needed items, 20 percent for savings and investing. The remaining 30 percent should be spent on something else like vacations, movies, and experiences outside the rest of your budget.

 

Plan and Schedule the Vacations That You Want to Take

 

Once you know your budget, even if it’s small, make plans for your breaks and vacations. Even a staycation can be very beneficial if you plan it right and truly take the time off to refresh from your hard work. Don’t wait for the time to be right. Once you have the funds, go ahead, and make the plans.

 

Set Boundaries for Yourself and Others

 

One problem with vacations for those who work for themselves or for some parents who don’t have the most supportive spouses is that people like to intrude on our time off. Instead of allowing this to happen, set boundaries for yourself and others. For example, if you really do need to check your email for work, just check it once a day. If you really do need to help your spouse with something, plan for it, so you know when you’re doing it.

 

Turn Off as Much as Possible During Your Vacations

 

One problem with truly getting the break you need is that technology has made it possible to take your entire office with you in the form of a laptop or smartphone. Set aside specific times to use this technology but try to keep it off most of the time, especially when you’re doing vacationing things like swimming, hiking, and eating.

 

Be Ready for Interruptions but Focus on Your Break

 

When you work for yourself, the truth is, you may get interrupted during your break. Fires may have to be put out. However, for each time that this happens, try to figure out a solution to avoid it next time. As you perfect your break taking, you’ll find that you really probably can just let most fires go after all and end up in the same place.

 

If you have felt guilty in the past for taking breaks much less a vacation, it’s essential for you to accept that the lies you’ve been telling yourself are wrong. You deserve to take a vacation, and it’s not lazy or self-indulgent. In fact, taking vacations can help you become much more productive and successful because you will avoid problems with burnout, which can set you back a lot more than a few days off to clear your mind and take a break.

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Productive or Just Busy?

If you feel like a chicken with your head cut off trying to get everything you need to get done in a day finished, you may be at risk for burnout. The sad fact is that many people who feel overworked are not as productive as they think. Society has instilled into many people that downtime is terrible and that you should always be busy to be productive.

eliminate automate

The truth is, productivity is only measured by results, not by how much you have to do to get the results. Because of this fact, you can be super busy and totally not productive and not busy at all and extremely productive. If you want to be more productive, it’s imperative to learn how to use your time wisely, as well as to eliminate, automate, and delegate when possible.

 

  • Create a Life and Business Mission – One reason some people have trouble making decisions in life and business is that they have no idea what they stand for. Create a mission statement that explains in a few sentences what your values, morals, and principles are.

 

  • Understand How to Prioritize – When you set goals, you must learn what’s important to you about the goal. Usually, the most crucial part is the deliverable or the impact of the goal. Know what’s important to you by matching goals to your values, morals, and principles.

 

  • Learn to Say Yes Slowly – Some people will tell you to learn to say no, but the problem is that saying yes is going to get you a lot further than always saying no. You do want to do new things after all. Instead, say yes slowly. Think about the offer and make sure it matches your goals, values, principles, and morals. Plus, check that it fits in with your mission and that you genuinely have the time to devote to it properly before you say yes.

 

  • Know the Expected Results or Deliverables – Being busy is about the appearance of action while being productive is about the results or the deliverables. You should be able to describe precisely what is expected once you’re finished.

 

  • Avoid Shiny Object Syndrome – One thing that distracts everyone is getting their head turned by the next big thing. It’s okay to give yourself time to discover other things because you never know what doors will open, but don’t diss what you’re already doing. Set aside about five percent of your time to explore shiny objects so that you keep windows and doors open but don’t fall out.

 

  • Do Stuff – The only way you can actually succeed in life is with actions that produce results. Do things, but always make sure you are checking to see if what you’re doing is working or not working. Do more of what works, eliminating what doesn’t.

 

  • Make Time – If it’s important to you for your mission in life, then make time for it. It doesn’t matter if other people don’t get it, you do. Put the things that are important to you in your schedule.

 

  • Focus and Stop Multitasking – No one is capable of multitasking, according to science. Because of this, it’s time to stop doing it. Yes, many jobs out there require it as part of the interview process, but it’s a ridiculous and impossible thing they’re asking of you. Stop doing it.

 

  • Eliminate, Automate and Delegate – Whenever you can stop doing things that don’t affect results, as well as automate and delegate the things that do, you’re going to experience a lot more success and a lot less burnout. You can’t do it all, and you shouldn’t even if it’s your stuff and your business. You need help, and you should get it.

 

If you want to show results and not just look like a busy person, you can do it with the right plan in place. Remember that the impact you make is far more important than how you get there.

 

For example, you can lose ten pounds slowly over the next year by simply getting rid of about 120 extra calories per day from your diet. This is equal to one cup of coffee or soda. Or, you can do it the faster way and totally redo your diet to force your body into letting go of those ten pounds in a month. However, which method is truly going to give you the best long-term results?

 

How To Build A Wildly Profitable Income Stream From Home Without Lies, Hype, Manipulation or Pressure…

https://flawlessfreedom.com/training

 

10 Ways to Avoid Burnout

Avoiding burnout is really a matter of being aware that it can happen so that you take the steps to design your life in a way that keeps you from burning out and ensures that you thrive as you think about ways you can set up your life to avoid burnout figure out what you can implement right now to affect the most change as soon as possible.

 

Automation

 

  1. Be Mindful – Almost every person alive has an internal conversation with themselves, but most are not really that self-aware. You probably have thoughts that you ignore and then wish you didn’t. Try to be more mindful about your brain chatter because sometimes it can be a warning of things to come.

 

  1. Take Lots of Breaks – Work many breaks into your schedule. The idea that you have to be busy all the time to be productive is a lie. You don’t need to work yourself into the ground to be successful. Work breaks into your day and also vacations into your life where you truly take a break and stop doing work or anything stressful in a bad way.

 

  1. Be as Healthy as Possible – How you take care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually is vital to being a healthy person that can avoid problems with burnout. Eat right, exercise, see your doctor on schedule. Talk to a mental health professional or your religious leader if you need help dealing with something.

 

  1. Learn to Schedule Properly for You – One of the keys to success in life and avoiding burnout is to learn how to make a reasonable and realistic schedule. Try various methods until something clicks for you. One of the best methods to help you avoid burnout is the block schedule. Another is using the Pomodoro Technique to get your tasks completed.

Check out this post on Goal setting:

 

  1. Harmony is More Realistic Than Balance – Many people, especially mothers, tend to talk in terms of having a balanced life. The problem is this is an unrealistic ideal to shoot for in today’s world. However, you can seek to have harmony, which means if you have to spend a lot of time on one thing, you need to ensure you schedule a lot of time for the other thing, too, but maybe at a later date.

 

  1. Find Joy in Your Day – The best way to avoid burnout is to help yourself feel happier and more satisfied. One way to accomplish that is to keep a gratitude journal so that you can remember that sunrise you saw or your grandchild’s laughter on any given day.

 

  1. Pay for More Experiences and Less Stuff – One thing that can cause burnout is the continuous seeking of material possessions. Remember to use your money to experience things too. Experiences are always seen as much more satisfying and happier than things.

 

  1. Let Yourself Get Bored Sometimes – One problem with today’s always-on society besides rampant burnout is that no one is bored. Being bored is a significant catalyst for invention. Spend an hour in a hammock without your phone, go on a walk with your five-year-old. Spend a day fishing. It’s okay to do nothing.

 

  1. Practice Positive Self-Talk – When you’re mindful, you’ll start to notice your internal monologue more often. If it’s negative, it can be a sign of impending burnout. Try to turn those thoughts around to positive thoughts. At the very least, try to make the thoughts more neutral.

 

  1. Unplug Every Day Early – It might get old for night owls to hear this but turning off your technology a few hours before bed is essential for a better night’s sleep. Sleeping well improves your health in every way, especially mentally, giving you the strength to avoid burnout.

 

Avoiding burnout is very much like wearing a seat belt to help reduce damage if you get into a collision. It’s not going to stop everything bad from happening, but it will certainly reduce the damage to your life if you have a plan in place.

 

How To Build A Wildly Profitable Income Stream From Home Without Lies, Hype, Manipulation or Pressure..

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A Job Done is Worth a Reward

 

When you become a parent, or if you’re already a parent, you know that reward systems really work to help change the behavior of a child. In fact, studies show that rewards win out against punishment for most children in terms of successfully changing a child’s behavior.

work environment

Guess what? The idea of rewards for a job done works for adults too, and what’s more, rewards don’t have to be something someone else sets up. You can set up a reward system for yourself that motivates you and helps you get more done every single day.

 

Not only is a reward system fun, but it really works. To get started, you’ll want to follow these steps.

 

  • Set Your Goals
  • Set Up the Time Period Between Rewards
  • Choose the Rewards in Advance
  • Celebrate Receiving Your Rewards
  • Keep Doing It

 

Set Your Goals

 

The very first thing you have to know is what your goals are and what signifies ‘done’ for the sake of the rewards. State your goals and specifically spell out what constitutes done for the purpose of the prize. Learn about how to set SMART goals to ensure you get this part right.

 

Determine How Often You’ll Reward Yourself

 

You can set up as many rewards as you want to. For example, if you get up in the morning and do your 20-minute fast walk before your coffee as planned, you can choose a reward such as getting to spend a few minutes doing something you genuinely enjoy, like spending some downtime reading a good book.

 

Choose the Rewards in Advance

 

As you set up your reward system, you’ll want to know exactly what the reward will be for each activity you’re going to reward yourself for. There is no right or wrong reward as long as the reward motivates you and does not roadblock you. For example, don’t reward yourself with something dangerous or unhealthy. Set up some small ones for each day and some bigger ones for longer-term goals.

 

Celebrate Receiving Your Reward

 

There is more to the reward than the thing itself. It’s also the idea that you finished, which should also feel significant to you. When you meet a goal, it feels good by itself too, so spend some time being happy and thankful about that without the reward but then go ahead and brag to yourself about the fun or the experience of the reward.

 

Finally, don’t give up. Keep going. Don’t try it for just a month and then give up. Try your system out for at least a year to find out if it really works for you or not.

How To Build A Wildly Profitable Income Stream From Home Without Lies, Hype, Manipulation or Pressure…

https://flawlessfreedom.com/training

 

Scheduling to Avoid Burnout: Learn to Take More Breaks

Many people who experience burnout had one thing in common: poor time management. Everyone is given the same number of hours in the day, but some people tend to seem super productive, while others seem to run in circles being very busy but not accomplishing anything.

 

The thing to remember is that productivity is not about how busy you are but about how many things you accomplish.  Productivity is all about results. If you want to have more achievements and thus be more productive, you’ll need to learn how to schedule your life in a way that lends itself to your entire life, including downtime and breaks.

 

Understand Your Limitations

 

Feeling Overwhelm

 

It’s easy to compare yourself to others. If you use that other successful people are working 100 hours a week, it’s tempting to think you must. However, you really don’t need to do that, nor should you.

 

There are 24 hours in a day, and you need to sleep at least 7 of those hours, exercise about an hour, and eat for about three hours a day. Then you may want to spend time with your family, friends, and yourself learning and exploring.

 

If you really want to fit it all in, you’ll have to be realistic about time and your own limitations in terms of resources financially, mentally, and physically.

 

Know Your Priorities

 

When you look at your overall life plan and goals, what are your actual priorities? You have priorities for all the different areas of your life, including spiritually, personal development wise, health-wise, romantically, socially, family, business, career, and so forth.

 

Determine Your Daily Energy Levels

 

Everyone has their own daily rhythm to life that works best for them. Some of us are night owls, and some of us are more productive in the morning. Know where you fit in so that you can schedule the most physically or mentally taxing tasks to the right time frame.

 

Delegate and Automate When Possible

 

You shouldn’t do everything yourself in business or life. Instead, get help either by using automation technology or outsourcing or both. It costs a lot less than you think to hire someone to handle your customer service emails or to install automation that saves lots of time.

 

For automation and outsourcing ideas, look at your accounting, bookkeeping, administrative tasks, customer service, data entry, marketing, tech support, web design, web maintenance, content writing, and so forth. If the task does not need your personal touch or smiling face, let go of it.

 

Set Up and Organize Properly

 

It cannot be overstated how important using the right tools for the job can save you time and frustration. This is true whether you’re cooking a nice dinner or if you’re setting up customer service options with software. If you don’t invest in the right tools, you’re not going to get the best result.

 

Avoiding burnout requires that you be very honest with yourself and others about your capabilities. No one really needs to work 80 hours a week. The human body was not designed for that. Therefore, you will need to learn how to schedule yourself to accomplish your goals without overworking because you’re not here to simply work and make money. You’re also here to have a full and well-rounded life that includes downtime, vacations, family, friends, and joy.

Focus and Find a Good Mentor

How To Build A Wildly Profitable Income Stream From Home Without Lies, Hype, Manipulation or Pressure…

https://flawlessfreedom.com/training

 

 

 

Changing Your Mindset: Attitude is Everything

 

Keeping a positive outlook can be a struggle during times of uncertainty and understandably so.

It’s easy to feel surrounded by doom and gloom when you’re virtually sequestered.

Making things even more difficult is the constant flood of information coming from the news and social media sites. It’s important to take your mental health seriously, and mindset seems to be the key.

There are two camps out there when it comes to mindset during challenging times. Some people are able to focus on the positives, while others seem to be more challenged to keep a productive, positive mentality.

 

Positive thinking

 

This “new normal” that we’re facing comes along with all sorts of new ways of living.

Attitude can really be everything when it comes to a healthy mindset.

We are asked to change our behavior and how we interact with others. This can feel isolating. But, what about thinking of it as an opportunity to spend much needed quality time with your immediate family.

Maybe you find yourself unexpectedly out of work and home with the kids. You could give in to the worry and let it stress you out. Or you can use this extra time spent with children and bring the family closer.

Try making it a fun experience to remember! Not all learning is done in the classroom or behind a computer screen.

How about taking the kids outside for a nature walk to collect leaves or flowers and then label them. Or, try a homemade weather station, where they measure and record the daily temperature, rainfall and humidity. There are plenty of resources out there for fun, active learning ideas.

 

Another way to keep positive is to try and unplug. It’s necessary to take a conscious step back from the tv or computer screen.

Try not to let yourself be inundated with negative news 24/7. Remember, there are still good things happening in the world. Maybe search for some funny cat videos to watch, or Facetime with friends and family.

Do something to make yourself smile.

Sometimes something as small as what you’re wearing can make all the difference in how you feel. Even if you’re working from home now, getting up and getting dressed as if you were headed to the office, may give that needed mood boost and positive motivation. Achieving a positive outlook can be as simple as daily positive affirmations. Find what works best for you.

Get better

Giving yourself a mood-makeover is something we can all do to help ourselves stay focused on the positives during this time of uncertainty. Remember, no one is perfect. So, if you feel yourself starting to slip into negative thinking patterns, try making a conscious effort to rearrange your mindset. A positive attitude can go a long way!