Nothing caught fire

Seven days away from the business

On Tuesday, I returned from a seven-day holiday. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I didn’t check email or open Slack on any device. No phone calls were taken, either.

This is very unlike me.

The only thing I did while on holiday in Majorca was dip occasionally into video performance (it’s a thing when you’re a creator, I’m afraid - but I’ve still successfully dropped YouTube Studio from my phone). Oh, I sent one email, as well - but it was an important one, and I actually covered everything in my inbox with my hand while hitting the ‘new email’ button. I didn’t see anything. Promise.

Why am I making such a big deal about this? Because it is a big deal for me and I’m pretty sure if you run your own business, or if you’re just incredibly passionate about your career, you’ll know how stupidly scary it can be to go on holiday. And it is stupid because it’s a holiday and it’s something you should relish.

The problem with holidays when you genuinely enjoy work is the fear of everything crashing into a smouldering heap during your time away from the coalface. Revenue will take a massive hit. Your clients, partners, and sponsors will all decide you’re not that bothered and immediately pull the plug. Your team will screw stuff up without your watchful eye. Something massive will happen in your industry and you won’t be there to witness it. That thing you forgot to do in the run-up to your holiday will rear its head during your time away and you’ll rue your ignorance for the rest of your sorry life.

In reality, what actually happens is absolutely nothing at all. The world continues to turn while you take a break, yes, but everyone gets on just fine without you (in some cases, they get on better), money continues to come into the bank account, and those who send that money are probably completely unaware that you’ve taken a week off. Thus, you return, and everything is normal and not on fire. It was only a week, after all.

I’m over-egging the pudding a bit here, but if you’ve felt this fear, it’s because, just like me, you deeply love what you do and you don’t want to be the person who spoils it simply because you decided to sun yourself on a Balearic island for seven days. It’s totally nonsensical and, unfortunately, capable of ruining that precious time away - but, thankfully, I managed to avoid that this time around.

The reason I didn’t ruin my holiday with these thoughts was simple - I needed it. Leading up to last week’s trip, my body was telling me to slow down. There were telltale signs of exhaustion and I’d reached a point where, as much as I still loved the work, I’d had enough of turning the camera on, of writing, and of industry schmoozing. I wasn’t after a career change - I just needed to switch off for a bit.

I recommend it wholeheartedly. If you’ve reached that point of the year where you feel like you need to jet off somewhere (or shut yourself in a darkened room) - do it. I’m now back in the game and have, obviously, re-entered a ridiculously busy period, but I do at least feel refreshed and ready to go.

More holidays like this, please!