Some of you might remember that I took August off last year. No blogging, no Twitter, no work, except I did keep up with e-mail, albeit a bit sporadically. As I expected, it wasn’t that easy, especially before and after the vacation. (I am remembering the before vacation crunch quite vividly at the moment, for some reason.) And I am going to do almost the same thing this year—I’m even using the same picture for my blog post as last year.
The reason I am taking August off again is because it worked. You might remember my first post back in September where I reflected on what I learned from a month off the grid. I’d like to say that all of those lessons stuck, but I really need this month off again.
Image by Kenzoka [Insearch for a new cam] via Flickr
My next book is still not done, although I have about one-third of it done. I did decide to do this one more slowly so as not to become a workaholic to complete it. That is working, but not as quickly as I might have liked.
I am doing a much better job on blocking out time to get things done, but my Web site redesign is not yet complete. I broke down and began hiring people to do things for me that I can perfectly well do myself, but just never find the time to do. I have someone working on the redesign, so I hope that will see the light of day before long, but I am not going to drive myself crazy to make it happen.
I am keeping up with my e-mail without checking it every three minutes like some kind of twitch, and I tend to take Twitter breaks a couple of times a day to read, respond, and post something of my own, so I am still growing in followers while not spending too much time on it. And best of all, I have kept my office organized and it has helped me to do so. I probably need to go through it again, but it is in far better shape than ever.
And I have tried (and mostly succeeded) to go at a slower pace. My wife and I start slowly in the morning of each day that I am working at home, and I still stop at dinner time each night at 5:30. I am working far fewer nights and weekends than before, although I still keep up with e-mail during those times. All in all, a work in progress, but still improvement.
So, what am I going to do differently this August?
I will still keep up with e-mails (of which there are many) and phone messages (of which there are few). I think I have done a better job of preparing all of my clients to do without me this year (but the proof is in the pudding). I am also going to be really off the grid the first week of August when we visit the Poconos where there is no cell phone service (and therefore no e-mail either).
But I am going to make sure that the blog does not lie fallow for a month the way it did last year. My good friend Frank Reed will post (not every day, but frequently) throughout the month of August to keep you informed and entertained. I’ve seen some of what he has planned, and you are in for a treat. Frank and I are also kicking around some ideas for how to post even more frequently than once a day for this blog, including bringing in even more contributors, so if you or someone you know is looking for an outlet, let us know.
I also am making an exception to the “no work in August rule” in the last week of the month to make an appearance for a client that has hundreds of folks lined up to hear me speak, because we tried to do this once already and had to postpone it. My wife and kids (my board of directors) decided that it is OK for me to zip away for a couple of days, so we are trying not to be doctrinaire about being on vacation either.
So, I will post my August newsletter Monday morning and then I am gone. I’ll let you know in September how it went. Thanks as usual for spending the time listening to all of us here at Biznology and thanks especially for those of you who comment. See you in September.
