Hey, all you hard-working Kitchen Table CEOs and female entrepreneurs!

I want to teach you how to take a vacation and break from work.

You’re working so hard, managing all the stuff, wearing all of the hats, working your butts off and I have a very important question for you:

When is the last time you took a real vacation?

Not the kind of vacation where you have a conference call with your team every day.

And definitely not the type that has you on your phone for major parts of the day – nope.

I’m not talking about the type of vacation where you end up closing off your week short, and then running back to your laptop to finish a project either.

I’m talking about a real deal, true blue, unplugged vacation.

Some of you are saying, “what’s that?” and I’m worried about you. Taking time off is important. Setting up your business so you can step away is crucial for its success and for your health and longevity!

And work/life balance is probably one of the reasons you became an entrepreneur in the first place!

This year, I have decided to take an entire month off. Now I know that’s not doable for everyone and that is totally okay, but I want to challenge you to book a vacation in your calendar for the next few months and plan AROUND it.

My Mom died when I was 23 from breast cancer and I think that her lack of work/life balance was a huge contributing factor. As I went through that experience with her, I took a lot from it. I think about how hard she worked, how many things she sacrificed and said no to, and how she never had time for her health or just to have fun. I vowed never to let that happen to me.

Life is too short. And so, I have booked my vacation and you should too!

There are so many apps and resources out there that can help us manage our business when we are off for a few days. It’s time to put our feet down and promise ourselves that we deserve a break. We need space and time to refresh and rejuvenate. And, most importantly, we need to cut the umbilical cord with our cell phones:)

MY TIPS FOR HOW TO TAKE A VACATION

• Schedule out current projects and completion dates prior to vacation (add in 1-2 weeks of error), using programs like Asana, Trello or Monday.com
  
  
• Let current clients know about your upcoming vacation so that they can get things done ahead of time if needed
  
  
• Notify new onboarding clients of your time off and build it into their project schedule or let them know you will be busy until x date (when you are returning from vacation)
  
  
• Schedule out your social media for your time away, using programs like LATER
  
  
• Write your newsletters and schedule for the weeks that you will be away, using programs like Flodesk, Mailchimp, CMCommerce, Active Campaign, or ConvertKit
  
  
• Start brainstorming projects and to-dos for a Virtual Assistant or staff while you are away, using Google Docs so things can be shared, using programs like Asana, Trello or Monday.com
  
  
• Decide your boundaries… who and what will you be doing/answering while away
  
  
• Prepare your ‘Out of Office Assistant’ message and have ready – (I once set this up right as I was leaving for my vacation, and by accident, made it so that every email I had ever received was notified of my vacation and ‘out of office’ status. GULP! Lesson learned; don’t rush this.

Drop me a comment below and let me know the dates of your vacation you have booked!

From my kitchen table to yours,

I am a professional copywriter, brand strategist and the Founder of Kitchen Table CEOs. Through tips, writing templates and one-on-one consulting services, I help women entrepreneurs create the content, brand and online presence they need to launch and grow their business. For more information on my services and how to work with me, please click HERE.