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My intention was to blog from the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica where I spent a week last month. But the Universe had other plans, which it gently, then forcibly applied. Since I’m an early riser, I thought I’d post a blog or two during my stay before the morning yoga classes. Because the location was so remote, the wireless internet was spotty. Others in the group seemed to be logging on without a hitch. But my computer kept getting that little whirling rainbow thing-y. I could never get wordpress.com to do its thing.
I also tried to respond to a few emails, hoping to keep my assistant informed, but those also went nowhere. The message was clear: DO NOTHING–TAKE A VACATION. So, I complied.
What a blast! Costa Rica has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. After traveling 13 miles from the thriving metropolis (I’m being facetious–no traffic lights, nor much signage either) of Puerto Jimenez along dirt roads (“This is the smooth part of the ride,” Ken, the leader said after fording the third river) we began our descent to Tres Palmas in first gear and 4-wheel drive. Half the adventure was navigating the one mile off-road drive into our location which overlooked the Pacific.
It couldn’t have been more beautiful.
I completely unwound. My favorite day was hiking in a primary rainforest (I’m in the blue pants in the photo.) where we climbed a waterfall, painted ourselves with facial-quality mud and saw monkeys, macaws, big bugs and trees whose sap heals wounds and burns. Meals were all prepared and served to us as a group.
I felt a million miles away, which is exactly the goal I had in mind. Now, I’m back at my desk and refueled and invigorated. I missed my wonderful clients and colleagues. Recharged, I’m excited to look at business again with these beautiful memories in my memory bank.
This is how I spent a great deal of my time there:
I’m going on vacation soon. As I get ready, I realize how important it is to schedule time off. I had no idea what kind of a winter we’d be having back in October when I scheduled a trip south for February. Now that the date has arrived, I couldn’t be happier. But, as you undoubtedly know, it takes work to go somewhere to relax.
Like hiring a cleaning lady and then organizing your house before she comes, for a business owner going away requires getting your ducks in a row. Before leaving for this trip I made sure my marketing e-blasts were written and scheduled and that my Virtual Assistant was on top of all the upcoming activities. She’ll be my only channel of communication while I’m out of the country. I recorded my out-of-office message both on my phone and my email account. I arranged my schedule with clients around this time away. I even pre-wrote blog posts to go live during this time. It was doing double-time so that while I’m on the beach, I can do nothing.
I know how important doing nothing is. For a Type A like me, I also know what a challenge it is. Yell at me if you receive an email from me between now and March 7. Zig Ziglar advises us to let everyone know about goals that are advantaged by outside monitoring–like giving up smoking or drinking or refraining from electronics while trying to relax.
The advantage to scheduling time off is that it brings into sharp focus all that’s in front of you, forces you to prioritize and delegate or plow through. Otherwise, we all just kind of go along. When clients say they want to give a workshop or have an open house, I immediately suggest they send out the invitations. The rest will take care of itself. Did you know that the English translation of the word vacation (this is a little known fact) is actually ‘deadline’?
