Remembering to Have Fun
All right, fellow business owners, maybe you can relate to this …
Last week I had to REMEMBER to have fun.
Yes, I actually had to tell myself, Hey, it’s OK to stop working for a hot mint and just hang out with the family🙂
It was my son Max’s birthday and we wanted to celebrate and have fun as a family. And we did! Complete with a pretty awesome basketball cake made my his Grandma Karen.
But I’ll be honest, after more than 80 days of working around the clock in my businesses, I’ve lost some of my other life skills, like relaxation and fun and play. Fighting for your livelihood, putting so much fuel into that passionate work, will certainly build some serious business chops. But it can also make you feel a little weird trying to downshift a bit into a more “normal” gear.
If this resonates with you, know that you are not alone!
From what the business owners I coach have shared, they have been feeling this way just like I have. It’s like we don’t even remember what it’s like NOT to work constantly. It’s a similar feeling to when you first opened your business and the grind feels never-ending. The pandemic has made so many of us feel like we are building our businesses all over again. And, many of us actually were.
And yet, we can’t forget that in order to do our best FOR our business, we have to take a timeout occasionally.
Even if your business is your passion like mine is, it’s still okay to remind yourself that downtime is valuable too. Necessary, in fact. Your family needs it. YOU need it!
At first, it felt strange to me to try to focus solely on a fun day with my family. But it was strange in a wonderful way … a way that reminded me just how special (and important) it is to have these quality moments with my kids. Moments where they don’t have to hear me telling them to keep the noise level down because I’m heading into another Zoom meeting one more time.
Normally, I would say I’m pretty good at blocking time, but it’s been exponentially harder during these past three months. And, there were times when “safer-at-home” felt more like “busier-at-home”. Fun wasn’t always at the top of my priority list when there was homework to be completed, laundry to be done, and meals to be made, all organized around the endless business meetings!
And that’s why last night was SO great for us. Not just that we had dedicated time together as a family, or that we had fun watching Max blow out his candles and open presents, it was that it made me remember how meaningful this kind of time is … and how fast it goes. I mean, how on earth did my fourth kiddo turn into a thirteen-year-old?
YES, I had to go all-in on the business during these past many, many weeks. But now? It’s time to restore time to my family, in whatever pockets of time I can find. Scratch that…in the pockets of time that I MAKE.
I encourage you to pull back from your business enough to see what YOUR needs are and where you are able to put down the work. Give yourself a break. Focus on fun. Do something relaxing. Maybe it’s a birthday party; maybe it’s a weekend bike ride. Maybe it’s game night. Whatever it is, make it count!
Be as intentional with your FUN as you are your work and reap the rewards: Your mind will feel clearer and your body less tense. It may feel weird at first to unplug but do it anyway. And enjoy every second. <3
Love,
Misty
