Burnout Warning: Your Work Schedule is Holding You Back

I know that you have a lot to do and your to do list is probably longer than the average person's because you are running and growing and building a business. But we've got to change that. Because if you are working so often, the work that you are putting in is likely not getting you the return on your investment of time and energy and sacrifice. Listen to this. Research from Stanford University in 2014 shows productivity per hour rapidly declines when you work more than 50 hours per week. In addition, the study showed the people who work 70 hours per week consistently get no more work done than the people who are working 50. You can feel it. You can appreciate this. There's good reason for this. We need time. We need space to think, to be creative, to process, to connect and to recharge so that we can show up and serve our clients and our customers and engage with our team in a more impactful way. So taking breaks and creating space actually helps our productivity. Countless four day workweek experiments have shown that productivity actually increases in a four day work week. In fact, one such experiment by Microsoft showed that that working a four day workweek actually increased productivity by 40%. In addition, a study by Harvard Business Review in 2021 showed that companies that prioritize well being see increases in retention, satisfaction and overall job performance. Now I know that you have to show up anyway. Your retention is simply innate because you are building this company. However, when we can apply these principles and consider what is good for employees, employees are individuals. So I want to be mindful of the employees on your team and the environment that we create for our employees when we're building a company. But in addition, if it's good for employees, we don't want to forget about you as a business owner because you show up and you are doing the work to these breaks. This space, space to rest, renew, recharge is essential for all of us. That's why in our last episode, I invited you to take the vacation test. We need you to be able to take breaks in your business just like your team members take breaks so that you can give the best to your business and have more impact. So the vacation test is a simple three part test and I'm going to show you today if I pass this test of my recent trip to Marrakesh with my daughter. The three questions that we ask in the vacation test are. Number one, can you take at least seven days away from your business? Number two, with no access to you, meaning no text messages, no one off questions, no you're the person to call if something goes wrong. And number three, the third part of the vacation test is that you do not feel like you need another vacation when you come back from the vacation. So how did I do? Come along with me to Marrakesh. Marrakesh, Morocco is just a quick jump over from where I currently live in Abidjan Cotabor. This was a pretty easy trip for my 10 year old daughter and I to take on our spring break together. We left Abacha and Cochabar on a Thursday and landed on Friday morning. We landed at Casablanca and we headed down to Marrakech in a car where we stopped for lunch before we went to check in at our hotel. After we checked in, we immediately left our bags and headed back out to go explore the Medina, walk through the streets and the alleys and get lost in the markets. And get lost we did. My daughter was not very happy about this. She thought that the Medina was a little bit overwhelming. There are motorcycles zooming by and there's so much to look at and smell and see and so many incredible sights and sounds. She was okay with it until we got lost and our time in the market got extended past what she expected. But I love getting lost and then finding our way again. Of course, as I was walking through, I was finding calm, savoring this experience and savoring the life that we're creating. And, you know, my wheels were getting turning about things I wanted to do and create in my business and in my work with my clients. As I went on that walk, I was reminded, man, I didn't think I needed this vacation, but I am so, so grateful in this moment that we booked it because I did not want to miss this. After we got lost in the Medina and then found our way out, we made our way back to our incredible Riyadh. We stayed at Riyadh Golovoy, which was recommended by Merak Mama, who runs Moroccan Food Adventures. And she actually helped us plan so much of our trip. Yes, I love to get leverage. And when there is someone in the world, there is someone that can do something better than you can do it. My gut, trust that person to take care of it. And I knew that Maroch Mama was my person. In fact, I'd known Maroc Mama from the modern CDO for years and I was so excited to get to work with her in Marrakesh. So she planned our trip. Day two was a complete treat. Moroccan Food Adventures arranged a food tour for us within the Medina and artisan craft tours along the way. So the day started with our Tour guide Hassan picking us up and walking us back to the Medina. Harper was grateful that we had a guide this time around, so we likely wouldn't get lost. Then our guide took us straight to meet our photographer for the day the Moroccan Food Adventures organized. We were so pumped to meet Steph and we were feeling so grateful that we had a photographer on this trip to capture some key moments. In fact, this is not the first time that we worked with photographer on our vacation trips. It's quite common that when we go on trips, we have a photographer with us. And we were so grateful that Moroccan Food Adventures and Morocco Mama organized that for us. And on this particular trip, we've had photos taken together as a family in Dubai, Cape Town, Chicago, Scottsdale, and now Harper and I in Marrakesh had that perk as well. So our guide took us to meet our photographer who joined us as we headed to a family home where we were going to make our lunch together. So we entered their home and we made our lunch, which was chicken tangine with lemon preserves in it. Oh my gosh, my mouth was watering as we made this dish. We put the tagine in the pot. Then the family took it to the community oven to be baked almost like a crock pot style, where we would return a few hours later to dine together in their home. After they took the pot to the oven, we we headed out for our artisan tours where we saw some metal work, we saw some incredible, stunning tile work, and then we made some of those tiles ourselves and did some paintings together as well. Then we grabbed a cup of coffee with our photographer before we headed back to the family home to have the lunch that we made. So far, I am passing this vacation test with flying colors. I am present. I am. I'm windy and I'm not worried about a thing. But it is also Saturday, so when I have vacation on the weekend, I'm quick to make a no. Am I enjoying this more because I know most people are not online or available right now, or am I truly relaxing? I'll keep you posted. Day 3 Moroccan food adventures and Morocco Mama planned a sidecar tour for us. This was so day one. Awesome. Harper and I got a tour of the city in a sidecar. We went through the new city, we went to the Oasis, we went through the Medina, entering the Thursday gate. It is called the Thursday Gate because this was a popular location for the Thursday market. Now it's a market that happens every day of the week, but they pulled the name through and they call it the Thursday Gate. This was so cool. And after our sidecar tour, Harper and I were so grateful for the history that our guide shared along the way. And we were kind of exhausted from all of the fresh air. So we made our way back to our Riad and took a nap. Honestly, that's where Harper and I ended day three. We took a nap, we hung out in the Riad and we just had a good time hanging out. I was still feeling pretty relaxed. Vacation test still on track. However, Monday morning, it all breaks down. I needed to do a little bit of work. I working on a project that I needed to spend about one hour of time on. Nobody was asking for anything from me. Nobody needed anything. But after all that space over the weekend in immersing myself in a totally different space, I had a few things I wanted to get out the door so I could get them out of my mind. So Harper and I headed to a coffee shop. In fact, she was on the hunt for a cake pop. So in many places, Starbucks has cake pops. We don't have a Starbucks in Aubergine. So this is truly a treat and something unique. So we headed to Starbucks and it was hopefully going to be a win win where we find a cake pop and I would get my work done. I committed to Harper that I would only work for one hour and one hour of work I did. We did not sign a cake pop because the Starbucks did not have them, but I did end work after one hour. Then Harper and I went to do a little bit of shopping and then we headed back to Aria to regroup so we could head to the high tea that Moroccan Food Adventures and Morocc Mama arranged for us over at the Royal Mansur Hotel. I probably said that completely wrong. This hotel was absolutely stunning. The gardens here were so overwhelmingly refreshing and restorative and peaceful. I could have spent hours in that garden. In fact, Harper and I spent one hour in the garden because we were lost trying to find our way to our high tea, which we eventually stumbled upon and we had our high tea that was absolutely delightful. Would highly recommend PI tea at this location. Honestly, tea time anywhere in Morocco is delicious because of the mint tea with the sugar finish that just is so refreshing and calming at the same time. But guess what? I had one more hour of work to do on this particular Monday because I host a weekly client call on Mondays and there's one week a month that we typically do not have this mastermind call that I facilitate for my clients. And I also have a second trip planned this month. I Am heading to Pasai Mara, Kenya, to take a couple of clients on a safari. So I wanted to touch base with my clients on this particular Monday because I did not want to miss two weeks in a row. So I had one more hour of a call back at the Riadh, and I did not pass the vacation test again. So this is two hours of work now that I have done on this trip in Marrakesh. We are rolling into day four of the trip, or if we count the travel time on Thursday, this would be day five. On day four, my daughter and I woke up and had a wonderful breakfast again. Actually, this is day four of incredible breakfast in Marrakesh. The breakfast in Marrakesh. In fact, all of the food in Marrakech, they're so generous with the food and there is a plethora of options, and they're petite options, which is exactly how I like to eat. I like to eat a little of this, a little of that so I can get all, all of the flavors. So breakfast in Marrakech does not disappoint. And we were happy to start our day this way at Briagolahoy every single day of the trip. After breakfast, Harper and I decided to wander. We made our way back to the medina and we walked in front of a hotel that said they had the best rooftop and spa in the medina. So we stopped to ask the man standing outside if we could go inside to have tea on the rooftop. And. And he said, absolutely. It's on me today. You're like my family. So we went upstairs, he walked us up. He told the server on the rooftop that this is my family today. They're going to have tea. Please take care of them. And then he came up and checked in at us and said, don't pay for this. This is a gift for you. Of course I'm thinking, thank you so much, but we have to pay you. This is incredible. Incredible. So. But we wanted to honor and respect what he had said. So instead of paying, we generously tipped and we made it on our way to meet friends for lunch at an incredible restaurant inside, further into the Medina. After lunch, it was getting close to time to head to the airport so we could make our way back to Abidjan. However, Harper really wanted to get the camel ride in. This is not something we pre planned. This isn't something we organized or that I told to Maroc Mama and Maroc included adventures in advance. So Harper and I asked someone at a store who was selling shoes, actually if there was a place nearby to get a camel ride. And he said, absolutely, let me make a call. So he called someone. Then he took our payment and he walked us to the location where we were going to meet a driver to take us to the camel ride, to take us back to our Riadh before we would be picked up to head to the airport. This was such an incredible way to end our trip. And as we step into this last piece of our trip, where every single step of our journey is falling in place right on time, I am reminded that everything is right on time because you cannot be late for your destiny. And I'm also reminded of the power of trusting other people to take care of things in your life and in your business. Did I know these people? Did they have a big sign up that said camel rise? Nope. But I just trust it and decided to ask the question because they're going to know better than I know. And it was such a beautiful journey. Everything was well timed, everything was well taken care of. In fact, I need the payment by credit card. But I saw some money get handed off at 1, 2, 3, 3 points from the person I booked with to the person that walked us to the from the pickup location, the guy that walked us to the pickup location guy, from the pickup location guy to the driver, from the driver to the camel guy. And that was maybe five passes. Hands off. I'm like, I don't even know, I'm losing count there. But the point is, this money was kind of like, how are people getting paid? Do I need to pay more? What is happening here? But you know what? That trust in honorary, that there's a system at play here that I am a guest within and I am an observer within was really such a beautiful, stunning gift. And I was so grateful that we took the time to do this trip because so many lessons emerged and so many reminders were present. And you know what? At the end of this trip, I was definitely feeling recharged and ready to go back to get some work done and to step back into our normal routines of life. Now you already know I did not pass the vacation test. I sat down and I did two hours of work. Plus, this was not a full seven day getaway. It was just over five. We just barely crossed into that six day in mark with flight time included. So I did not pass this vacation test. Was it still worth it? Did I still feel like things were taken care of at home and in the business? 100%. Did I feel like I disconnected? If I recharge and I'm ready to show up and serve in an even better way for my clients and my team big time. Do I want to make sure that I plan regular vacations even when I don't think I need them 100%. So my desk vacation is actually coming up in just a few days. I'm headed to Masai Mara, Kenya, as I mentioned, with some clients and business charter and a friend. And so I am really pumped to take you on that journey. And we'll show you if I pass that vacation test, because that is over a seven day trip, just over a seventh day trip. And I'm expecting that I'm going to disconnect just a little bit more on that trip, but we will see.