2020 Is Kicking My Ass
Taking personal time off is a conversation that I have been having a lot lately as I have struggled to keep myself emotionally + physically healthy while prioritizing my joy this year. To say 2020 has been a doozy is to put it lightly. From the emotional rollercoaster of marching in the streets demanding my life to matter to the ancestral anger, I felt while being tear-gassed. To the deep fear for my safety as I watched local terrorism unfold onscreen and within my community, as white supremacists flex their dominance, all culminating in yo girl's anxiety being at a level 15, on a 10 point scale. Yea, somehow doozy just doesn't cut it. Instead, it has emphasized that the time for a self-care escape and (dare I say vacation?) is needed now more than ever. And I know each of you who are reading this have felt it too.
As I've struggled with my burnout this year, I've also grappled with implementing a solution. The biggest misconception about owning your own business is that it's easy to take time off work. HA! Not when you're a one-person show, and you feel like there is more work than can ever be accomplished even if you were to work 24/7-365.
Or so I thought.

Regardless of how smart I am, and knowing that genuine rest is necessary, it still comes with a measure of guilt. However, my desire to always want to be the healthiest version of me while leading by example thankfully outweighs said guilt. And this year, it has truly saved me. It has helped breathe new life into my spirit and has helped me avoid going any further down the burnout rabbit hole. From taking random weeks off when I felt my heart was too heavy to lead. To completely unplugging a few days a week. To now spending an entire month in Barbados as we speak.

Recognizing that this trip is controversial, I opted to only tell my inner circle that I was leaving. COVID is real, the wypeople are wildin' out, and I'm on the verge of losing my mind. If I lose my mind and belief in myself, my business will fail, and I let my community down. Nobody wins...and we can't have that! During this time, I desperately need to be around people who look like me. To be around people who naturally see and honor my existence. The ocean is my sanctuary, and I need to be by the water to process, grieve and heal, at minimum, a lifetime of pain. Most importantly, I need to be out of this country where COVID is being taken seriously. My spirit has called me to Barbados.
P.S.
I live outside of Denver, CO….sooooo as you can imagine, there are not many people who look like me. But I do have a bomb-ass group of accomplices and solidarity siblings, who I'm eternally grateful for - major shout out to yall cuz yall are some real ones!
This trip couldn't have happened, however, without some healthy boundaries around my time and energy.
Real Talk
I knew that financially where I am in my business, I couldn't afford to take off 30 days, but I could afford 10. Which meant planning. That part probably didn't surprise you.
Honestly, the only way you take personal time off as an entrepreneur without worrying is to plan so that you can postpone, automate, and delegate the tasks that need to keep happening, even when you're off the clock and your toes are in the sand. Or more accessibly (because I won't pretend that me typing this from my mandatory hotel-quarantine balcony while staring at the ocean is not a privilege). Therefore, I also want to include when medical emergencies arise (your mental health is one of them) or when natural disasters strike.

Here are the things that I did to make this much-needed escape happen behind the scenes
Plan In Advance

Automate, Delegate, or Postpone
Disconnect but Set Realistic Check-in Periods
Closing Thoughts
It can be difficult as an entrepreneur to take personal time off. Still, if you start prioritizing your wellbeing now, developing boundaries around your work and play, as well as setting up your business to run as much as possible without you... You'll be glad you did, and that's on my mama. ;-)
Try taking short times off to start and then work yourself up to taking off a whole month at a time. That's my next goal!
Try taking short times off to start and then work yourself up to taking off a whole month at a time. That's my next goal!