Hey guys, Keir here coming to you from our office corporate headquarters in Saratoga Springs, New York. Hope this finds you well, wanted to chat for a bit today and share something that I think all of us need to be reminded.

It’s something that’s really important that I think a lot of us as ambitious professionals, executives, business owners, and entrepreneurs sometimes forget. Which is the importance and the need to actually schedule in time off to take time off, to do the things that reinvigorate you, that inspire you, that motivate you and they keep you sane.

Also do it with the people that you really enjoy spending time with those you love, your family and friends. For me this past weekend was my mother’s 70th birthday. Something that went really, really well because we put on a huge birthday bash up in the mountains at our place.

We had a lot of different people come from different sides of the family, her and her best friend from college. We had some live music, some great food, a lot of you know, cousins there and kids, and it was pretty awesome and special.

Create Memories

We created some amazing memories and most importantly, my mom and her best friend from college had an extraordinary time. And we’re super grateful that everybody was there and took time out of their schedule, you know, three days to drive in from all over to be there to celebrate that. That momentous and important celebration and birthday for their 70th.

Now this obviously was an event and it was something that was important for all of us to be at, but even if it’s not an event, even if it’s simply a quarterly or bi-annually or whatever it is, I think the importance of what I just said, unwinding taking time off and doing things that you enjoy with those that you love is critically important to our mental health. To our, you know, maintaining a high level of energy and focus, and frankly to our productivity and intentionality when we return back to the office.

You know, such as what we’re doing now and reintegrating back into our workflows, back into our daily routines, and getting back connected with our team. I’m actually really proud and this doesn’t always happen when I take time off this time specifically, and I’m going to try to do this more and more. I was very present. I was very in the moment with my family, I was very disconnected from work. I wasn’t answering emails, I wasn’t checking slack messages. I wasn’t texting team members. I wasn’t managing projects. I wasn’t in Asana.

I was doing none of that. It felt really good. And I actually felt less anxious by doing that this time than I normally do. And I think it’s because I simply gave myself permission to be disconnected, to take that time off and be intentionally present with my mom, with my family and really celebrating that and being in the moment.

Give Yourself Permission

So I think it starts with just giving yourself permission to be disconnected and to actually silo and treat your personal time as something that is to be guarded and is to be protected and not to be filtered in and kind of co-mingled, right, with our work and professional priorities, because that’s what often happens.

And what that does is it means we’re a little bit diluted in focus in both things, right? Personal and professional priorities. So give yourself permission, make sure that you’re scheduling in this time off, make sure that you’re intentional about planning it so that you’re making the most of it, when you’re away, and that you’re safeguarding that time with those that you love.

And you’re also doing things that inspire you, that keep you healthy to keep you challenged, that keep you fit, mentally and physically. So just a couple of words to share and reflect on these few days away as we were celebrating my mom’s 70th birthday, how I feel so relaxed and at peace, not anxious here that I’m back in the office, even though I’ve got a lot to do a lot on my plate. To-do list is long, it’s okay, because I’m at peace with my time away, it was really replenishing.

It was very helpful for me and it was a nice little reset after a really crazy year and summer, to be able to do that, take some time off, take some down days and do it with those people that mean the most to me. So hopefully you found value in this. If you did show me a message like this share with somebody who could also benefit from the message and as always to success your happiness and your freedom, we’ll talk to you next week.