Summertime is one of the busiest times for most small business owners. Kids are home from school, maybe there’s a cottage, and certainly there is more activity in general as everyone tries to enjoy the nice weather.
With any luck, your clients will take holidays and the work pace will slow down so you can incorporate the new level of activity in your household.
But even if there is more client work than you anticipated, don’t forget that burnout comes easily when you’re not paying attention.
How to handle this?
First of all, be aware of your limitations. If you know you are taking holidays, let your clients know with plenty of notice. Be sure that anything they need in your absence will be handled to their expectations.
If you haven’t booked holidays out of town, be sure to carve out some time for yourself at the end of the week (or whenever it suits you) to get out in the fresh air and enjoy the weather while it’s here.
Don’t take on new projects if you don’t need to. Summer is a time of rejuvenation. Just as the kids are out of school, it’s smart to keep the status quo during your summertime too. Not to say you can’t do anything new, but try to manage the scale of those new projects as necessary.
Basically, you want to stop, drop and smell. 🙂
Stop running at full pace, just for a while. Your mind will thank you!
Drop (or reschedule) projects that aren’t necessary for a few weeks, to give yourself a break.
Smell the flowers. Take time to recharge where you can.
In my experience, when September hits, a lot of small business owners gear back up quickly and things start happening. Work can get very busy … and although the kids are back in school then, there is often extra-curricular activity that kicks in, that must be slotted into the calendar.
So enjoy it while you can – it’ll be gone before you know it!
I’d love to hear what you are doing for your summer. Please share your activities on my blog!