This summer has been jam-packed with fun! We kicked it off by renting a house in San Francisco, then we camped in Santa Cruz, and we just got back from a fantastic vacation house in San Diego right on Mission Beach — And mixed in there were dance camps, play dates, barbecues, movies, and lots of play time with the grandparents.
Summer is definitely a time of year where juggling your business and family is a primary focus for most business owners, especially with the kids on their summer break. The key for Brian and I is understanding ourselves and our kids behavior styles. For example …
Both Brian and I are morning people. We love to get up early and because we are the most productive in the mornings, we keep that time open and free from interruptions as much as possible. So most of the time our kiddos wake up and play for a couple hours together before even coming down stairs to eat breakfast.
The mid-afternoon is when things start to get more interesting. That’s when our productivity wanes and the kids get restless. So we schedule most of our phone calls, meetings, and other appointments for the afternoon, and when we plan activities for the kids, which works out great for all of us.
Taking a vacation and leaving your business behind can be challenging.
It was a big challenge for me for a long time to detach from my business at all, let alone for 14 days!
For years, even though we were on vacation, I still brought my laptop and worked off and on throughout the trip — it was exhausting. Luckily, that’s not how it is today! In my next post, I’ll be sharing my tips to take a vacation completely free from work (without freaking out).
Oh and I almost forgot! Take a peek at three new custom WordPress sites we took live right before we left for San Diego:
About Jennifer Bourn
Six Years and A LOT of Changes
How to Be Famous in Your Niche Market
A Recap: Ali Brown, Entrepreneur Mentor Keynotes Infusioncon 2012
Bumps in the road lead to bigger and better things
8 Marketing Tips to Help You Get More Clients
What a terrifically refreshing take on “one’s behavioral style and scheduling tasks” – Very well done! Based on your clear example, I’ll tweak my approach to scheduling my tasks to be a better fit for me. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for your help :-)
Thanks Eric! It can be a challenge to juggle both and I hear business owners all the time talk about how “relieved” they are to have their kids going back to school so they can finally get back to work … but for us, it’s the opposite! We’ve built our work schedule around our entire family’s habits and as a result, juggling business and summer vacation has been a breeze — and I’m so sad to see the kids go back!
What a wonderful story Jennifer. I can hardly wait to read your next installment. Nice sites too by the way. Our family also took a trip to SoCal this summer and *loved* it! So glad you got to spend quality time with your family.
Thanks Mary Ellen! Getting away from our daily grind for some focused fun and relaxation time together is so important to the sanity of our whole family ;)
Reading your post Jennifer reminded me of a time long ago when our daughter was much younger and still at home with us. I became conscious of the junk in the thought, ‘It’s not the quantity of time, it’s the quality.’ I realized it is simply both. It has to be.
Jeff – You’re exactly right. It has to be both. For example, even though I may be cooking or doing other things, being in the presence of my children, near them, around them — and they me helps keep us connected too. Now that’s not focused, high-quality time playing, but we’re still together and you need both to set a good example for your children.
Going with the flow seems to be the trick. It looks like it is a win-win for you to buid your schedule around what works best for all concerned rather than forcing it.
Bill – Isn’t that the truth! Any time we’ve tried for force a schedule on our family that isn’t a good fit, we all feel the stress of trying to conform to it. We accepted along time ago that we just do things differently than most people (non-entrepreneurs) and it works for us :)