On the Road Again - The Benefits of Being the Boss
Summer is here - and the livin is easy! Or is it? As an entrepreneur, our business is always there, always calling to us. It can be hard to shut it off and take that much need vacation! I have just returned from my live mastermind retreat, heading to college orientation and am spending a week in Palm Springs. I know I need the time to be away, but how can I do it and not "stress" over leaving the office? During each of my trips, I have remained "connected" for the most part - taking my Blackberry and netbook. My husband has called it "dis-connecta-phobia" - afraid of being disconnected from the world and business! While I know the "ding ding" on my Blackberry annoys my friends and family, it actually started to annoy me too! But while I am lounging in Palm Springs on my pool side chaise lounge in my cabana, or listening to the President of the College welcome new parents, I am reminded.... I LOVE having a business where I have the freedom to work from wherever! Here are a few tips to help in planning ahead for that time away from the office! 1. Write in advance! Take a day, or two, to write your ezines and blogs before you go and schedule them to be delivered while you are away. Many of these programs have a setting for scheduling the "send" dates weeks in advance. I use both Constant Contact and WordPress - both of which allow me to "schedule" the publish date. 2. Schedule your vacation around your "slow" time. But you say, I don't have a "slow" time. I can relate! However, I have tried to schedule my time away around my magazine deadlines, Expos - and of course the NAOEM Success Summit - bigger tasks that require me to be around full time. In addition, as parents we know that summer is a great time to travel with our kids! I have found that typically business slows down in August, especially the last two weeks. So consider taking that vacation right before they go back to school! 3. Have a "wing woman" or man in place to run interference! I have always had someone from my office to check phone messages and return urgent phone calls. She can access the voicemail system from her home office and take care of any needs or questions my clients have in a timely fashion. If there is something urgent that she can't answer, she knows to send me an email marked URGENT in the subject line, so I know I must read and respond. In addition, this summer I will be on the road during two of our monthly teleclasses and I had my Virtual Assistant take care of the "technology" part of the call. I had her call in with the "host" code, I called in as a "participant" from my cell phone and she is able to mute callers, turn on recordings, etc. It was a great way to handle the call and keep my stress to a minimum while running my business from the road! 4. Communicate with your clients! Some of my clients are aware that I am going on vacation. I will try to anticipate their needs and call them ahead of time. I also use my voicemail message to let callers know that I am out of town, when I'll be back and who they can contact if they have an urgent need. I also set up an autoresponder on my email system to do the same. Most will wait until I return - but for those who can't, they feel they are being taken care of and have access to me, which gives them added confidence in me and my companies! These are just a few tricks I have used to make my vacations a little smoother. I do check email atleast once a day - usually at night. (Most vacation destinations have Wi-Fi available.) I have tried to "disconnect" a little more this summer and really enjoy the time spent with family and friends. I don't think I suffer as severly from "dis-connecta-phobia" anymore...and I have learned to turn off the sound on my Blackberry and only check it once in a while! Here's to your vacation and taking it on the road!WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete statement with it: Cathy Alessandra is President and Founder of the National Association of Entrepreneur Moms (NAOEM), an association dedicated to empowering mompreneurs to consciously create a balanced life. If you are ready to get clear and focused to move your business to the next level while enjoying your family, get your FREE Mojo Success Kit now at: [http://www.NAOEM.com]http://www.NAOEM.com. Or contact Cathy directly at [mailto:cathy@naoem.com]cathy@naoem.com. Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?On-the-Road-Again---The-Benefits-of-Being-the-Boss&...] On the Road Again - The Benefits of Being the BossComments [0]
