5 Tips That Allow You to Take a Weekly Vacation

Vacation season is coming up, and many of you can clearly remember the anxiety and required activity as you prepare to leave for a week or two. I am always fascinated by how much I can get done in the last few days before a trip.

My planning gets much more focused. My work tempo accelerates dramatically. My ability to run triage on what is essential while I subordinate the stuff that I like to do and usually occupies most of my time. During this hyper-phase, I get more done because I have a deadline and a goal, and I value not having to worry about my obligations on holiday.

So the big question is, why don’t we do this more often, like once weekly?

I believe that we can if we follow these guidelines:

1. Every Friday afternoon begins a new vacation. Plan your week to have your work done by Friday at 2 pm, or you can’t take the weekend off. Even better is planning something you love to do for Saturday morning, and you can’t reward yourself unless you finish your work.

2. Late Sunday afternoon, spend an hour writing out a list of the “must-dos” by the end of the week. Keep it realistic and actionable.

3. Schedule those tasks into your calendar. Each task gets a realistic time block, and you must complete it each day.

4. Keep another list of the items that didn’t make your weekly list. This will help you start next week’s planning and allow you to park the less significant items. You will feel much better, and you won’t lose ideas.

5. Enlist an accountability partner. Proclaim to your spouse or friend what you are committing to getting done and the “prize” when you accomplish it. I highly recommend hiring a professional Business Coach like me to help you stay organized and productive.

Enjoy your weekly vacation!

Coach Dave