Off on holiday...

We are currently in France, near La Rochelle, on holiday. It is an absolutely beautiful part of the world and the quality of life is fantastic.

Of course, it is always typical at this time of year, when you are outside of the day to day, to think “wouldn’t it be wonderful to be here all the time” and you have to remind yourself that one of the reasons why it is so perfect is precisely because it is not a day to day experience.

We have holidayed in this area before and returned time and time again. Why? Simple. There is a lot to do, whether the weather is good or bad. The food is fresh and the wine is ageing. It is silent at night. And without waxing too much lyrical, the sight of the stars, so bright, in the evenings, against an ink black sly, is breathtaking.

I am sure there are lots of places like this on earth. Perhaps you know of one? But when you find one, I find that returning rather than discovering something new, is rewarding. The simple fact is we know what we are getting from a holiday in this area. And we like it.

This time last year I was less than 100 days into running a business. This year I have the incredible luxury of the help of a colleague back in the UK to keep an eye on things. It helps. Whilst there have been certain things that I have wanted to deal with directly whilst I am away, I am half way through a two week break that has mostly seen us able to enjoy a break without many distractions.

Running a business is a learning process and I have learned to take the opportunities when I can to take a break. Ideally these need to coincide with school holidays because I want to holiday with my family.

At Christmas, whether intentionally or otherwise, life seems to slow down from late December until early January. We always try to take the time to have a break then. In the summer, August is also quieter, so we try to take some time then too. Outside of these times, life always seems busy so planning becomes much more important. There are serious benefits in taking a week off with a Bank Holiday in it. One less day when everyone else is working!

More than ever now I appreciate time spent away. I do believe that with a self run business you never really switch off but, the time spent away is well spent. The value of time thinking is much underrated in large organisations. Which is a shame. Because it is probably the most productive time of all.