Taking Time Off

This article is written by my wife and business partner, Roslyn Rozbruch, who works very hard but also knows that taking time off is just as important. 

Yesterday, as I was wrapping it up for the day, I noticed Becky was still working. Usually I’m the last one in the office and the last one out. I know she works later once a week because she likes to take a conga class, and it’s easier for her to go straight there from work. When I asked if it was her drum night, she said yes, but that she was having second thoughts about going because she was so busy trying to catch up on work.

When I started writing this, I was in the midst of writing a book, getting ready for our upcoming mastermind meeting, and preparing for last month's San Antonio Confidence-Building Boot Camp!

I’m busy — what else is new? I’m always busy. I know everyone reading this is busy. But, as anyone who knows me knows, I also always make time for fun. So I encouraged Becky to make the time and just go to her class. I told her that once she went, she’d be glad she did.

Even though my own head was spinning with thoughts of “What should I do first today?”, I took a long weekend off to go away with two of my girlfriends from high school to celebrate our upcoming 60th birthdays. While I was talking Becky into showing up for class, I myself was wondering why I was taking a day off when I had so much to do. Then again, I knew the next good day to take off might not be until the end of September, and that maybe by then, something else would be happening and it would get pushed out once more. So I’m sticking to my plan of a day off for fun with friends.

Are you guilty of not making time for yourself because you are so busy? I know more people who don't carve out a moment than do. There's guilt behind spending money, or taking some free time because time and money in life are scarce and need to be spent on work. Here’s the thing — if you don’t make time to do something fun right now, you won’t do it later either.

Everything in life — whether it’s planning a vacation, taking a day off, or even doing a 90-minute drum class — needs to be scheduled.

Sometimes it’s a fine line of finding the balance. For instance, I would really like to go on a cruise to almost anywhere in the world for a week, and I’m sure I can make it happen, but it’s not a priority for now. I can handle one day off, though. Becky ended up going to her class, enjoyed it, and felt revitalized the next day. It helped that she’s been going regularly for the last several months, so it’s almost a habit. And that’s the other point I’d like to bring up: Once you take your wish list of thoughts out of your head and schedule the time in your calendar to do them, it will be easier to do it again the next time and again, until scheduling fun time for yourself becomes a healthy habit.