Do business owners get Bank Holidays?

Everyone loves a bank holiday ... right? Well, for some people a bank holiday means an extra day off enjoying the sun, but what does it mean for you?

This year we've already had a glut of Bank holidays, with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee adding an extra one. But, as a small business owner or entrepreneur do you actually get a day off?

More often than not, no. As a business owner you end up being responsible for all the elements that go into running a successful business. Not only are you 'doing your job' as a therapist or estate agent (insert job title here), but you also get to be the Marketing department, the IT dept, the Accounts dept, and the Secretary as well as all the other jobs we need to do in order to keep the business going. Hey, you even get to be the cleaner! Running your own business can be so glamourous at times.

So, whilst we are busy wearing all these hats we often don't get much downtime, and a bank holiday is a good excuse to get your head down and catch up with all those jobs.

We all know that its important to get enough R & R and time away from your business can often mean you are more productive when you step back into it.

So whether you are planning to work on through or take a day out, here are my top tips for getting organised and making sure you get to take sometime off every now and then.

As a busy mum, I use time blocking in my diary to ensure I get everything fitted in.

We have so much scheduled into our diaries with every day life, meetings, networking and more that we often don't have any time to do any work! With time blocking you can mark out times in your day for working on your business and getting those annoying other jobs done.

1. Mark out your working week on a piece of paper and block into hours making sure you add your start of day and end of day timings.

2. If you have children or other commitments during the day block out those times next.

3. Add in your breaks including lunch.

4. Now add in any repeating meetings or tasks.

5. Block out time for 'work' and for 'working on your business' (working on your business means all those other jobs, marketing, IT, etc)

6. Put in time for reactive tasks - replying to those emails, not just reading them. Make it realistic! Don't put in 30 mins, if you know its going to take an hour. Over estimate how much time you will need for tasks.

7. Set an 'Overflow day' once every two or three weeks, for catching up with things that have just over run, or appeared or got missed. Sometimes life will get in the way! Your overflow day should be empty from any scheduled meetings or work (to begin with)

8. Stick to it, but let it evolve. If it doesn't work check out why it's not working and revise it.

Let me know if you find time blocking useful.

Best Wishes

Andrea