Keep Your Shit Together
Keep Your Shit Together
Startup

Time off from work to play is totally cool

I’m an entrepreneur who LOVES to ski. Except every time I hit the slopes, it eats up most of my day. Then, I end up feeling guilty, stressed-out or trying to check my email the whole time. Help.

Kara Martin Snyder offers pragmatic health & lifestyle options for frazzled entrepreneurs with all heart and no bullshit. Take care of you as much as you take care of business. Oh, and keep your shit together.

Q:

Dear Kara,

I’m an entrepreneur who LOVES to ski. Except every time I hit the slopes, it eats up most of my day. Then, I end up feeling guilty, stressed-out or trying to check my email the whole time. Help. –Tamara

A:

You wouldn’t try to ski in your office, right? So, why are you working on the mountain … or worse, just stressing out? Assuming you aren’t playing hooky to ski every day, taking some time off from work to play is totally cool. In fact, it’s essential for creativity and innovation, two pretty damn impactful things for entrepreneurs.

It’s easy for the whipsmart scientists who have studied this to say, “Go play.” As an ex-CPA, I like data and testing. As a coach, I like challenging people, so here goes:

  1. Take a moment to jot down how you felt while skiing last time and how you felt when you got “back” to work. If you can’t recall the details or want to go all Type A on this task, head on out and torture yourself during 1 more day of skiing.
  2. Give yourself permission to totally let go and unabashedly enjoy your next day of skiing with NO work allowed. Double-dog-dare you to leave your smartphone off or locked in your car…unless saving babies really is your job.
  3. At the start of your next day back at work, jot down some notes about your energy level, stress level, concentration and attitude.
  4. At the end of your first day back at work, jot down some notes about what you accomplished, any changes in your productivity and, most importantly, your sense of flow. Did anything just seem weirdly more figureoutable or feel easier?

Tried this and have an insight to share? Pop your thoughts into the comments below.

About the author

Kara Martin Snyder

Kara Martin Snyder, CHHC is the Owner & Chief Strategist over at vital corps, a health and wellness studio located at the intersection of strategic action and self-care. Kara's not your run of the mill, woo-woo wellness coach, though. Sure, she's got the classroom and professional creds that many health coaches have but she's also got an arsenal of bad-assery stemming from her boardroom, kitchen, and street savvy. Serving whipsmart, Type A, professional women since 2009, Kara deconstructs the broken processes in her clients' lives and together they co-create actionable, manageable steps to creating healthier lives spiked with passion and slathered with joy. Forget frazzled and famished, it's time to get focused and downright fierce... without starvation, deprivation, or tribulation. Visit her little slice of digital Shangri-La at http://vitalcorpswellness.com/ and get on the list to receive exclusive action-stoking and thought-evoking goodness in your inbox.

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