THIS TIME OF YEAR tends to get a bit slower for me.  More reflective, thoughtful.

For others, it can be crazy season.  Especially if you’re in retail.

But it’s still important to have a time when you can pull back from the details and look at the bigger picture.

thoughtful

That’s because you need to have some time to rejuvenate.  Humans were never designed to go 24×7, and we can fail in spectacular ways when we try.

And if your business depends on humans, you have to respect this reality.

I don’t mean that a company can’t deliver 24×7 to its customers; certainly we have plenty of examples.  But the people inside the organization have to have time to step away.

That’s where the 40 hour work week came from.

But most business owners I know try to maintain a much higher level of intensity than is wise.  So that’s why it’s good to have a time of day to rest.  And a time of the week.

And of the year.  When I’m doing my year-overview reviews with my clients, it’s not only important to look at accomplishments and goals like I mentioned last week, but to also change your internal state for a bit.

I talked with a friend recently who described her experience of taking a personal retreat for a week.  Away from business, from family, even from her computer.  She holed up in a cabin with her notebooks.

She read.

She thought.

She wrote.

And it catapulted her business forward along with her mental health.

If you can’t do this at the end of the year, fine.  Everybody has their own cycle.  But please do find time during the year for the deeper connection.

cold

And bundle up.  It’s cold out there.