Taking time away for vacationing may seem impractical, if not stressful, for leaders, but prioritizing it can provide numerous benefits for their companies.

When you chose the path of entrepreneurship, one of the top reasons was likely the opportunity to be your own boss. But take a step back and ask yourself: At this stage of the game, are you really? If you rarely or never take time off—and feel the need to be available when you do—then your business is actually your boss, dictating not just your professional life but also your personal one. Learn why you should value vacation time and how to go about truly embracing it.

Reap the rewards of R and R

If you’re in the early stages of ownership, lounging on a beach somewhere may seem risky, if not financially foolhardy. However, whether your business is brand-new or decades old, it needs you to be fully engaged rather than burned out. Going years without getting a real break will only wear you down, impacting your ability to be an effective leader. In turn, you may actually stunt your organization’s growth and unintentionally set an unhealthy standard for both yourself and your employees. Prioritizing even an occasional escape can help mitigate these effects in a number of positive ways—here are just a few.

Your benefits

Leaders are renowned for frequently grinning and bearing maladies, from sleeplessness to mental health issues like anxiety and depression to even major physical conditions like heart disease. Periodically getting away from it all will allow you to destress and clear your head of day-to-day duties, better ensuring that both your mind and body will be at peak capacity when you’re back on the job.

Another important consideration is family. Although entrepreneurship can provide immense financial support for loved ones, it often comes at a cost: the seemingly 24/7/365 demands of building and running a business have been shown time and again to negatively impact family members. While a vacation isn’t a complete solution for such busyness, it does offer the perfect environment for giving them your total attention, helping you focus on making core memories and resetting your priorities to commit to better balance upon your return to regular life.

Your business’s benefits

Beyond what you personally reap from taking time off, your corporate culture is also likely to flourish as a result. The primary reason? You’ll be a role model for your employees. Typifying a “work hard, play hard” mentality will make it clear to everyone that the bottom line isn’t the be-all and end-all— you value their well-being and happiness as much as their contributions to the company. Encouraging such a work-life balance has been shown to result in numerous windfalls, including increased productivity, reduced turnover, less time off, and improved morale. Just as valuable, temporarily handing over the reins will exhibit a greater trust in your team, boosting both their confidence in their abilities and their loyalty to you as a leader.

How to vacation as a leader

There are several key steps you can take before, during, and after a trip to help ensure that things go smoothly.

Be truly unavailable
The best course of action is to aim for absolute unavailability other than a five-alarm emergency, which will allow you to actually live in the moment instead of constantly strategizing and worrying about your business in the back of your mind. Of course, that may be easier said than done, but taking the following steps can help:

• Communicate frequently with your team and your clients about your time-away window and expectations so nobody is caught off guard.
• Plan both internal and external project timelines around your vacation.
• Name a point person, a trusted team member who will be the only one to contact you if absolutely necessary.
• Put your trip in your calendar and set up your email out-of office auto-reply to reinforce your unavailability and who to contact.

All that said, if it’s impossible for you to completely cut off communication (such as if you own a small business) or you’re the type who will get more stressed doing so, total detachment may be counterproductive. In such cases, simply set strict boundaries for your availability, such as an hourlong window in the morning while your family is busy getting ready for the day’s adventures. As a bonus, this will shut the door early on your workday, easing your mind so you can focus on the fun ahead.

Plan your trip wisely

To start off, choose a getaway destination that, if possible, is in no way associated with work (i.e., you haven’t attended a business conference in the area or a vendor isn’t located there). Otherwise, the work seed will already be planted long before you arrive.

In addition, avoid packing your itinerary with endless activities. Many people think the key to maximizing a trip is fitting as much in as possible, but jumping from place to place can induce anxiety about timing and keep you keyed up rather than getting a chance to unwind. To prevent this, make sure to schedule some quality downtime, which may mean literally doing nothing. If you rent a beach house, for example, consider dedicating a day to just enjoying the place and its surroundings. Or limit yourself to one attraction daily, giving you ample time to try all its activities. No matter the scenario, the goal is the same—savor instead of sprint.

Ease in, ease out

Here’s an idea that’s often overlooked: instead of taking all your days off at your destination, consider adding do-nothing bookends at home before and after your vacation. Having a day or two before you leave can set the tone for a more easygoing trip, and reserving some rest time after can help you mentally and physically reset before diving back into your corporate duties as a leader. (Plus, admit it—you may very well have the itch to check in with your team as soon as you’re back home.)

In general, entrepreneurs need a mindset makeover about vacations, one that deems time away to be a necessity rather than a luxury. By taking one every now and then, being fully present during each, and enjoying every moment, you can unleash a world of benefits for both you and your business.

TAKE ACTION:
Determine at least four steps that can help you can detach yourself from your company while getting away.