Ah, the holidays are here.
The most wonderful time of the year, after all.
But how present are you during this season, really?
Maybe you sneak in an email during your daughter’s holiday recital. Maybe you take a quick call with a new client as your family sets the dinner table. Maybe you just strategize your to-do list while on a bike ride with your family.
Could be worse, right? It also could be better.
Those kinds of tasks – even as innocuous as they often seem – steal our attention away from what matters most: being fully present for our loved ones.
In fact, the holidays were the exact moment a BELAY client realized she needed help.
“I was working a 100- to 120-hour workweek and at the same time, managing the children – and it was the holidays.
“And I knew at that time that I really needed help. I was working at 2, 4 in the morning, and then I had to get up at 6 a.m. to get the kids ready.
“We were celebrating Christmas at my sister’s for a week – and she said, ‘You’re here, but you’re not really here. You’re working nonstop.’”
Worse still, she was lost in things that weren’t the best use of her time and that she didn’t enjoy.
So on Christmas day, she emailed BELAY – the rest, as they say, is history.
It's Time To Stop Surviving The Holidays
Remember the holiday break as a kid? We counted down the days until school was out, catapulting us into the excitement and magic of the holidays.
But now, if you’re anything like more than half of Americans, you have no plans to take any time off.
And while cost and other obligations were given as reasons, the most disheartening overarching reason given?
‘I can’t take time off of work.’
But this reason stands in direct opposition to the staggering reality that more than half of Americans have unused vacation days at the end of the year. So the time to take off is there, but withers on the vine.
This then begs the question: Why?
“Americans suffer from a work martyr complex. In part, it’s because ‘busyness’ is something we wear as a badge of honor. Unfortunately, workers do not seem to realize that forfeiting their vacation time comes at the expense of their overall health, well-being and relationships.”
And the specific top-three reasons given for not taking their hard-earned vacation days? Work. Not cost. Not children or pets. Not even prior obligations. But work. You know, the very institution that affords so many of us those aforementioned vacation days.
Respondents cited ‘looking replaceable (61%), ‘the workload is too heavy (56%), and ‘the lack of coverage at work (56%).
Maybe 2024 is the year you use 100 percent of those vacation days.
Every last nanosecond.
You’ve earned them. You deserve them. And certainly now more than ever.
Start Thriving During The Holidays
As a busy leader, you likely work yourself tirelessly, day in and day out. And nights, too, if you’re being really honest. You have your hands in everything and know every nuanced everything of your business, arguably better than anyone else.
So while you know you need a vacation, you trudge on.
But what if I told you there’s another way? A way wherein you delegate all of the nuanced everything of your business so you can fully, truly and completely check out.
Sound too good to be true? Don’t believe us? That’s fair. You don’t have to take our word for it. Take it from Bryan and Shannon, who took a three-month family sabbatical one summer with the help of their BELAY Virtual Assistant.
And while I realize this is an exceptional story, it doesn’t have to be a Bryan and Shannon exclusive.
This could be your story, too. But you can take baby steps.
With someone triaging and tending to your emails, managing your calendar and scheduling and more, you could dip your toes in the hard-earned waters of a long weekend. Then maybe a week. Then who knows? Sky’s the limit. Maybe the next three-month sabbatical story will be yours.
And a BELAY Virtual Assistant can help you write its happy ending. Let’s chat.
Curious about the real impact on your time? Stay tuned for our next blog where we'll unveil the numbers—discover the incredible time savings our service lines offer and how they can transform your productivity. Get ready to quantify the difference!