Vacation - oh yeah, you probably need one

This year, more than any other, I have discovered the value of vacations. It seems funny to even have to say that. Everyone knows vacations are great! Right?! Well, my experience as a business owner and as a coach to business people has shown me that often we forget the real and significant value of lounging in a chair, on a beach, on a plane, etc. Lounging is the key word.
Two thoughts come to mind here. First off, people forget that a vacation is supposed to allow them to slow down. I talk to people continuously that say, oh yeah, I took 5 days off, we hit Victoria, Kelowna, Nelson, Red Deer, Saskatoon and then up to Rocky Mountain House for an afternoon. I'm sorry, did you say vacation?! This is not a vacation. This is an adventure race. If you ever come back from vacation and feel you need one it is a sign. A sign that your vacations are not full of relaxation and laziness.
Most of us pound through our days and weeks every year. Months flash by in the busy seasons (Sept-Dec, Feb-May long weekend) and we push so hard we forget just how much we need to really, really slow down. I told a client two months ago to stop and take 2 weeks of vacation immediately. I said cancel all meetings and just go home. Two weeks later she said, I think I could use another two weeks. We all can.
If you are like me, it takes 3 days to unwind and I start to wind up 2 days before I get home. So my real vacation is the days in between. You need to make vacations 10 days long as a minimum (two weekends and a week). If you can take a month off, you should. Verne Harnish author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits says that entrepreneurs need to take months off and sabaticals every couple of years otherwise they burn out.
Get away from your daily life with a vacation regularly and you will be amazed at how you bring creativity, energy and enthusiasm back into every day.

Great book - just when you thought Big Brother was watching ... you're right!

I just finished reading the book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman. It is an insiders perspective on how the US leads the developed nations of the world in exploiting poorer countries, their resources and their people.
The author was an economic hitman. He went into countries, made projections on how US led construction of power grids, infrastructure projects, dams, bridges, etc all would economically benefit the receiving countries. Sounds good until you find out that these projects were done with loans from the US that the receiving country could never re-pay and would knowingly be forced to default on them. This gave the US leverage to come in and control the resources, politics and economies of many countries around the world.
Have you ever thought Iraq is about oil? Ever wondered how the Bush family's oil background impacted US policy? Does there seem to be too much coincidence in some of the third world support and who has natural resources the US needs? If you think so, you need to read this book!

Productivity - When did it become the only game to play?!

You know, I like to think of myself as someone who can get more work done in a day than 3 normal people. A real productivity superhero, if you will. But even with this emphasis on productivity, there comes a point where other factors have to tie in.
What happens when you can get 38 items stratched off your To-Do list but you are exhausted and hate how you spent your day? What happens when you get to one really IMPORTANT item but not urgent ... does it make your day less productive?!
Yesterday I ran all around town -to the lawyers, to the men's clothing store, to the registry, to the restaurants I own, to the passport office, to the ... I know you get it. I wiped off 14 things that were outstanding in my life and weighing on me or littering my office and car. It was a great day in terms of clean up and enjoyment. Unfortunately, my first answer at the end of the day was ... it wasn't very productive!
So here is my new measure for productivity ... it is balanced with FUN, IMPORTANCE LONG TERM and CONTRIBUTION. So today I will look at my productivity combined with all the things that were "unproductive" and decide ... ah, but were they fun? important to me long term? Yesterday I incorporated a company with a tradename and got the URL. Sure it wasted some time in line at a registry BUT it was critical for me over the next 5 years. So what is the issue? I stopped and had lunch with a friend I ran into - not productive for work. But fun. And with great contribution to him in a time, I found out, that was a rough one.
I was falsely pulled into the trap of thinking productivity was more important than anything else. Trust me, change you criteria for your day AND LIFE to recognize that so many things are critical but don't always maximize productivity.