Why, how to take a break

Being an entrepreneur can be physically tiring, especially if you spend several days a week moving heavy stuff from here to there. Owning and managing your own business can be mentally stressful, too - especially as you balance sheets, people and strategic moves in ways that you hope will lead to success.

So take a break.

Take one day a month, each month, and don't go to work. Do something different one day out of 30.

If you have someone on board who can run your business for a day, great. If there's only you, post a brief email that says you'll get back tomorrow to those who emailed you today. Leave essentially the same phone message.

Then for one day each month (a workday, not a weekend day), do something different. Something fun. Something you hardly ever do. Something that is not work-related. Enjoy yourself.

Here are some ideas:

• During the summer, go to a ballgame. Cubs. Sox. One of the many minor league teams in the area. Maybe take your spouse. Maybe take your kids, if they're into baseball. Maybe go alone.

• This isn't baseball weather, so get a book from the library and spend the day reading. Like mysteries? Biographies? Another genre? Remember that author you used to read when you were younger? Get her newest book. Get his.

• How about a movie?

• Have lunch with a friend. Maybe a business friend, but stay away from business talk. Go back to that restaurant the two (or three or four) of you used to frequent. Eat away. Then go home and take a nap, to sleep off the calories.

Take your spouse to her (or his) favorite food place.

• During good weather, take the kids to the zoo. Take them to an amusement park. The swimming pool. Take them ice skating.

• Set a session up in advance with the teacher or principal at your child's school, and spend half a day in the classroom - observing. Talking about what you do. Reading to the class. Playing your old clarinet and getting the kids to sing along.

Set this up with your own kids in advance. Mom, or Dad, showing up unannounced to lead a classroom activity is not generally a good surprise.

• If you're into music, go downtown for a matinee at the CSO. Take in an afternoon performance of a popular stage show.

• Wander the Loop. Discover museums, buildings, sights and activities you've forgotten.

You can do many of these activities solo, though that's not a requirement. And because we're all different, you'll be able to put your own one-day-a-month list of activities together.

The idea is to break the routine - do something you'd really like to do one day a month - 12 days a year. Alternate the days: The first of next month, the 17th of the one after. No weekends, but otherwise whenever something you'd like to do is doable.

We all need to break our routine. Let's do it.

© 2018 Kendall Communications Inc. Follow Jim Kendall on LinkedIn and Twitter. Write him at Jim@kendallcom.com. Read Jim's Business Owners' Blog at www.kendallcom.com.