Life can be a busy, frantic thing if you aren’t taking a break from time to time.
There are so many daily responsibilities that need to be handled – work piles up, relationships need tending to, houses need cleaning, kids need taking care of.
It’s easy to get exhausted when you’re always on the move, trying to get everything done in the limited amount of hours you have during the day.
Wouldn’t it be great to take a little break from it all?
Just a little one!
Of course, you love your family, your kids, your home, and maybe even your job!
But it’s alright to want to take a break from everything once in a while.
Not only is it okay, but it is something we should encourage to help combat the epidemic of stress that can wear down your physical and mental health.
Let’s take a look at how we can go about getting that break.
Consult a life coach to help you take a break from life and come back to an even better one. Use the quick and simple form on Bark.com to have qualified life coaches email you to discuss their coaching services and provide quotes.
What kind of break can you take?
Wouldn’t it be lovely to pick up and take a much-needed vacation – preferably someplace tropical where the drinks come with tiny umbrellas?
It would be, but maybe you don’t have the means to do that right now.
What other options do you have available?
There is always the “staycation.”
That is, you stay at home but take some time out of your busy schedule to disconnect, relax, and unwind.
The key to having a good staycation is disconnecting from your general life and responsibilities – if only for a day or two!
Use a day off from work, turn off your phone, don’t answer emails, let the housework and responsibilities of life sit for a day.
You may even be able to make that a weekly thing if you can keep up with the chores during the workweek. Just one day of focused rest and relaxation to get recharged for the coming week.
On the other hand, maybe you want to take a vacation to that tropical place with the umbrella drinks.
Who doesn’t?
The first thing to do is to draw up a budget for your general finances.
Money might be tight, but you can often find a few dollars here and there by seeing where your money is actually going.
With a budget, you have greater control over your money, where it goes, and how well you can save it.
And it may not even be about doing more with less. Many people forget to cancel recurring subscriptions, are paying unnecessary fees, or waste money on frivolous spending that could instead be put toward a vacation.
On the other hand, if you have kids and a family, you may want to choose to have a staycation while your family goes out and about.
Sometimes, you just need a break! Sometimes you need a change of pace to break up the monotony of life.
After all, if you’re dedicating years of your life, time, money, and energy to your family, a couple weeks home alone may be just the reboot that you need.
How do I deal with work?
The average workday can take a lot out of you, especially if you are in a stressful, busy career.
Responsibilities are always coming at you – new projects, new deadlines, more stress to worry over.
It can be a lot when you really start needing a break from work.
What can you do about that?
The first thing you can do is make sure you are taking your vacation and sick days if you have them!
Our workaholic culture encourages people not to use this extra time.
We may encounter pressure or scorn from our bosses or coworkers for taking time out and away from our work.
Don’t let these people and this culture prevent you from taking the time that you’ve earned, whether it’s for sickness or fun.
The work will still be there when you get back.
It’s a widespread problem for people to not take their vacation time because they feel they don’t want it or because they feel like they have to stay busy.
If you’re one of these people, that’s an even greater reason for you to take it.
But what if you don’t have vacation time or days off and really need that break?
You can always approach your boss about taking a few unpaid days off.
It’s as simple as saying, “Hey. I really need to take some time off.” And seeing how that conversation goes.
(Author’s note: Speaking from personal experience in working at different jobs, I’ve never had a manager tell me no to a couple unpaid days off. We’ve usually had to find a decent time to do it, but the times I’ve asked, they’ve always worked with me to find a solution that let me get some extra days off, even if it wasn’t everything I wanted.)
Taking a long-term sabbatical is a much different scenario.
The boss may be able to find a way to work with you on it, or they may need you at work. After all, that’s why they hired you!
You shouldn’t expect them to approve a long-term break. If you’re looking for weeks or months of break, then you might be better off examining why.
Maybe it would be better off to save up some money, quit, take your sabbatical, and then look for a different job later.
Sometimes being exhausted is our body and mind telling us that we need to do something drastic, like change our job or career altogether!
If you work for yourself, you may be able to offload some of the smaller work that doesn’t require your attention onto a Virtual Assistant.
Virtual Assistants come in all types, and they can really help lighten your overall workload and free up some valuable time.
Schedule regular time to disconnect and recharge.
Listen, we understand that all of this might be pie-in-the-sky musings for you.
Life is rough. You may not have vacation days at your job, an understanding boss or spouse, or the money to really take that break.
What you can do is aim for smaller, regular breaks if you can’t take a major break.
Really, you should be doing this either way. Even a few hours of dedicated time for yourself during the week can make a massive difference to your stress and mental load.
Schedule one day to focus solely on yourself at a frequency that works for you.
It could be one day a week or one day every three months.
Either way, pen it into your schedule and know that on that day, you will be taking a mini-break from the world.
Do something fun or even nothing at all. Some quiet time home alone with a good book may be just what you need to get yourself back in tune with your world.
“But I don’t have time for that!”
You have to make it a priority and dedicate time to it.
Life is an unrelenting march of responsibilities that will gobble up your time unless YOU take control of YOUR time and dictate how it’s going to be spent.
Don’t let other people and life’s responsibilities eat up all of that time.
Maybe you’ll need to let some responsibilities go so that you can have that additional time.
You might have taken on too much responsibility in the spirit of being helpful. It’s okay to cut back and give yourself some slack.
Still not sure how to take a break from life? Speak to a life coach today who can walk you through the process. Simply fill out this short form to get quotes from several coaches along with details of how they can help.
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