Happy Birthday to Me: How to take a whole day off

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Today is March 3rd. 35 years ago today, I came screaming into the world and I’ve been living voraciously ever since (my poor mom).

This is also the day that I typically take off the day from work. A former employer used to give a paid day of vacation for birthdays and ever since, I’ve felt it was my inalienable right to do so.

Have you ever tried to take a whole day off? Just one day? I’ve succeeded at taking days off by going on vacation, but the one-day-off is much harder now that I’m my own boss.

Here are a few guidelines that will ease the stress of dropping out:

Complete any urgent work beforehand: If you’re obsessing the whole time about whatever you have to do when you get back – really – what’s the point in taking time off? If there are urgent tasks due now, get them done or renegotiate their due date. This will give you huge peace-of-mind. (Right now I’m writing this message on March 1, so I won’t have to write on my b-day.)

Configure your email autoresponder: Just set up a friendly message that lets folks know when you’ll be back. If you email me today, you’ll get mine. In fact, I’ve gotten several compliments on it – which is great considering I’m telling them to wait 24 hours to hear from me!

Change your phone’s outgoing message: Same idea. When my phone rings, I usually answer it. So knowing callers get a nice message from me helps me refocus on my own enjoyment. I also usually turn off the ringer (not even on vibrate) so I don’t get interrupted.

Stay away from your computer: This is the most challenging thing for me. My goal is to do nothing work-related on my day off. While some people may be able to flit in and out of their personal email (ignoring work stuff), I simply cannot. I’m Jennifer Hofmann, and I have an addiction. So my strategy is to just go cold turkey when I take the day off.

Come up with a plan of how you’d like to spend the day: If you know what you want to do with your time, it’s easier to accomplish. I’m getting excited about going up into the Cascade Mountains for a snowshoe/hike in the woods and a soak in the natural hot springs afterwards.

Up there, I’ll be thinking, “Work? What work?”

Have you found a way to balance your work and personal time? What do you do to get away completely?