Enterprise Nation

I’ve just been on my own personal Away Day. And I’ve come home to recommend it to you too! It requires a bit of courage and some preparation but it could just be the thing that transforms your business and your lifestyle. Willing to give it a go?   

Sun, sea and a lone sailor

I just spent the weekend in Nice. I wanted to move away from the computer screen, move to a room with a view and have a think about the business and my own direction.

And I’ve returned to recommend this ‘going away’ business to you!

It’s true that a different environment and location can help you to see things more clearly. My best moment came on Sunday morning. I’d just been for a run along the beach. I showered, went for breakfast, opened up my notepad and suddenly had a very clear vision of what I wanted for the business and how I wanted to live my life.

Fine for me – not so good for my breakfasting neighbours who looked on as I wrote furiously for 60 minutes and nodded my head, to myself! 

‘English folk are mad’, they could have thought….but we do play a good game of rugby!

Your own personal Away Day

When I worked for a big accountancy business, we had regular ‘Away Days.’ They were put on to help teams bond and to agree business strategy. So, see this as your own personal Away Day (with the distinct added benefit that you don’t need to build bridges or climb over walls with strangers in the name of ‘team building!’)

Here are some tips that I hope will come in handy as you prepare to free your mind on your own personal Away Day.

Book it!

When there are client deadlines to meet, reports to write and invoices to chase, it can be really hard to justify striking a day or two in the diary as ‘time away.’ Be brave, strike it out and make the booking. It’s an investment of time that’s worth making.

The perfect environment

It doesn’t have be a costly trip in terms of expense but do think about the kind of environment in which you function best. For me, it was finding a place that offered a view of water and the sun on my skin. For you, it may be a nice country hotel, looking out over trees and mountains.

The perfect guest?

This is quite a tough question. Do you go alone or take a guest? Do you think and plan alone or with your wife/husband/business partner? In which case, maybe they should come too. 

Preparation

A little preparation had gone in to my Sunday morning moment. The day before I relaxed and started to clear my mind of the detail of the business. I bought a fresh, clean, new notepad. This helped. As did the run on the beach before settling down for a mental work-out. 

Recording & Realising

And the final step. You’ve taken the time to think and plan so record it! Write it down, there and then. Get home, write it down again, post it up (on your vision board) and then work towards making that vision become reality.

This personal Away Day may involve two days out of your working week. But it could just be the most important two days of your whole year!

Emma Jones