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Taking a break may appear like a topic that no one should have trouble with but if you are an entrepreneur it’s not as easy as it sounds. Those working normal jobs might have trouble identifying with me here but I trust most entrepreneurs know what I’m talking about. If you are an entrepreneur you enjoy working on your business so much that you might have to force yourself to stop working and do something that isn’t business related. And let’s not talk about holidays. Entrepreneurs either take business with them or don’t have holidays (who would you trust to manage your baby?).

For a lot of people sitting on the beach relaxing is probably something they dream about and plan for their next holiday. Personally I just can’t do it. I don’t enjoy being idle and sitting on the beach gives me little satisfaction. I fidget and look forward to the next chance I have to check my email. What’s this? Looking forward to going back to work while on a holiday? Something must be wrong, isn’t that the reverse of your normal every day working person who thinks about holidays while working?

If you are an entrepreneur you are mostly responsible for your own destiny. In fact for a lot of us this is one of the main attractions for running your own business - you don’t have a boss, you decide your own hours and how much (or little) you work and where you work. Sounds like one of those ads in a business magazine doesn’t it!

An entrepreneur has to learn how to have a break and rest. This is very important. Learning how to relax, take time out and rejuvenate impacts your productivity. The Tao Te Ching, a 13th century text of Taoism has a great quote that describes the importance of rest:

Balance and illumination

When you are mindful in times of rest, you are observant in times of movement. If you have self-mastery in times of rest, you can be decisive in times of movement. If you have stability in times of rest, actions will not lead to unfortunate results. Rest is the foundation of movement, movement is the potential of rest. When you do not lose the constant in movement and rest, your path will be illuminated.

I sometimes have trouble calling what I do for a living “work”. For most people it’s easy to define work because they have to be somewhere, they are paid to work and rely on a salary to live. They are trading working hours for income to enjoy their recreation hours. True some are lucky enough to enjoy their work but most people I speak to do not talk about their job the way I feel about working on my businesses. I enjoy getting up most mornings and going to “work” (or turning on my laptop as the case is for me). Because of this however I have had to learn how to switch off because the boundaries between business work and, well, the rest of life are blurred.

I used to consider myself lazy. I’ve never been a hard worker, or at least I never considered myself one when I assessed myself against my peer group. While I was studying at university everyone around me was pulling all nighters to complete assignments, spending full weekends in the library and always striving for that “7″ (in Australia the university grading scale works from 1-7, 7 being the highest). I tended to do things last minute but I never spent all night working on a paper. I did what I needed to do to get through. I didn’t get top marks but I never really wanted to. My interests were too divergent to focus all my attention on one area, like my studies, and I understood that so I wasn’t too disappointed when I received mostly 4s and 5s at university.

This characteristic has continued on after university. I usually have more than one business activity running (see my projects list now for a sample), I work a casual job and spend a lot of my time reading and just doing what I enjoy (eating food!). I used to feel guilty about this perceived laziness, especially when I compared myself to friends working 9-5 (or more). My housemates come home tired from work and here I am spending the afternoon sitting at home eating a meal I lovingly prepared for myself and watching a Star Trek DVD. That does seem lazy doesn’t it!

I started to berate myself to “work harder” on business. I always have an ongoing list of things to do for business, ways to generate more clients, sales, enhance systems etc that I can work on. I found though that no matter how hard I tried to focus on working more and longer, it didn’t work. After a certain period of time my productivity just dropped. My mind starts to wander and I start browsing the web aimlessly (I do enjoy the tennis!).

I am very productive for a small percentage of the day when my motivation is peaking. It usually lasts no longer than a few hours, four at most. I thought this was just laziness, but then I read a book that convinced me that perhaps, I might even be smart by working less…or at least I have justification for being lazy
Living The 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More by Richard Koch is a book that uses the 80/20 rule or Pareto principle and applies it to everyday life. Without going into too much detail the loose rule states that 80% of outcomes are from 20% of activities. The book talks a lot about focusing on the 20% of things that give you the 80% of value in your life. It was quite easy to apply this principle to my working habits and I really feel it’s true. The 20% (or so) of my day that I spend completing productive work on business produces 80% (or so) of results.

As an entrepreneur you must learn that resting, enjoying life and indulging in non-business activities is a smart thing to do. When you are buzzing and your productivity is high, work hard and results will come easily to you. When you start to feel tired and your focus is waning step away from the computer or workplace and do something else, something you enjoy. Remember exercise is important too, and a healthy body will reward you with a more productive mind. Don’t berate yourself if you don’t work as hard as your friends appear to, you are working smarter anyway. The most important variable to your business is you.

Yaro Starak
Entrepreneur