On one hand I was thinking…
Tribe Research is really busy with new projects that are the full spectrum of our services. classikON hasn’t got a fully trained team and as it is still new I don’t yet completely follow a system myself. Sydney Business Month feels like it it just around the corner.
On another, I was thinking…
It is a week, I have many systems developed. Breath – it will all be okay.
A few things I did in preparation for a technology free week.
- looked back – thinking about the known things that happen in the business and checking there are systems for them and people who know how to do them.
- the progressive look – while I was working in the two month lead up I was always thinking ‘is there a procedure for that and someone who can do it in my absence?’
- the future look – thinking about what is coming up that I know about and are the systems in place for smooth sailing while I’m away?
- what to schedule and do before I go away so they can seamlessly continue?
What I realised.
- The new business which doesn’t have a business partner and hasn’t got procedures and systems developed, as I’ve been still working out what way I like to do it myself, was the easiest to sort out.
- I could schedule quite a lot.
- I developed some procedures and trained someone in time for other aspects.
- Most other aspects could wait a week.
- The oldest business, while it had the most going on, also has a knowledgeable and trained team who had most aspects covered.
- The new business with a business partner, I had a meeting with just before I left and we hashed out a plan for developers to be working on while I was away so there was less planning and more doing and the business partner could easily steer the development.
The technology free week away
While I like my connected life, a week with no mobile or internet was bliss. We talked, walked, swam (with fish), ate and slept our way through the week and I didn’t miss it at all (until we were stuck there – then I started trying to recall what I actually had planned the few days after I was due to land and who I had to contact). Post holiday I received feedback that the scheduled content was interesting and a habit I should continue, rather than the ad-hoc ‘I need to post something’. I should also definitely schedule for longer – there was a gap the week before I went away and the week after I got back. Completely stepping away really tests which team members ‘get you’ and know when to be proactive and how to be proactive that fits with your way of doing business. And more importantly, those who don’t. I’ve tried to maintain some barriers around the technology interruptions. Social media aren’t always on, monitoring your Skype status and having the mobile on silent. It isn’t that I didn’t know they were distractions before, but it is easy to wind yourself into a loop of ‘being always connected’ until you completely step away and take a deep, week long, breath. It is a sharp reminder of the lack of necessity to be constantly switched on. Have you taken a technology free holiday? How did you cope?
