James and Arlene Martell recently celebrated 25 years of being married. At a time many businesses – and marriages – are struggling or failing James is running a successful full time business as an affiliate marketer that has thrived for ten years.
With three grown children and a teenager at home certainly it is and has been a busy household. Whether it’s taking a little time for the pets, attending activities for the children or training others to do his business, it’s certain that his days are full.
Like most of those working from home it is important to work hard in order to make a living. There is no boss to pay you if you lose track of time and don’t get everything done. For this reason James has learned the advantages of working hard but there is more to learn about working from home.
Sometimes just an overnight trip is enough to take a break for a new view on a project. For this James and Arlene occasionally head to Seattle, a 2 ½ hour drive from Vancouver, for a Seattle Mariners baseball game. If booking a hotel through Priceline.com you can get a 4 star hotel for just $50, allowing an overnight for family time, walking down to the pier, a market unlike anywhere else and the unforgettable landmark the Space Needle. Seattle is a perfect place to unwind and worth a trip for an unforgettable overnight stay. Stop for fish & chips and relax with the laid back pace of Seattle and all she has to offer.
The Advantage of Down Time
Certainly it’s important to keep pressing on when business calls. It can mean long days and although you might not start until 10 in the morning it can mean working until midnight on a project that is pressing or in updating information for customers one more time.
Long stretches of work mean striving to stay productive. Staying focused can be difficult on days when someone calls to chat because – well you work from home so are available. There are many reasons things can pile up and you need to step back, breath and take a break. Remember why you’re doing this.
Like James Martell it’s not to work yourself to exhaustion! The reason most love their home based business is because it isn’t working all the time. James has employed what he calls “breakation” – this means leaving home and the business behind.
These short breaks may be a weekend or even an overnight trip somewhere. For James and Arlene this can mean taking a short to Dancing Firs, their favorite local B&B in White Rock, BC Canada. This is a beautiful property overlooking the Pacific Ocean just 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver where the sunsets wash away the stress.
Additionally there’s a hot tub, paths that lead down through the terraced landscape right to the ocean. There’s a luxurious bed, fireplace and wake to a wonderful organic breakfast. This is a highly recommended place to stay to recharge, with three private luxury suites. Dancing Firs is a place that James highly recommends, as it’s a 5 star place with all the amenities to recharge.
One way to get recharged is to take a day before and after a conference or other event for an extended stay that enables you to get back to work with a new outlook. For example, when James and Arlene attended the ShareASale Think Tank in Newport Beach, California this was the ideal opportunity to take a “break-ation”. Arlene booked an extra margin of time and they spent several days relaxing at Disneyland. Because it was the off season lines were shorter and there was less wait time even for the popular rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones.
This allowed a relaxed state of mind for the conference, then an extra night was booked at the Hyatt Regency and the day after was spent exploring the southern California beaches. This extra time is a great deal because you’ve already bought the ticket to travel to the convention.
A break-ation just makes sense. It allows a mental break as well as a physical one from the business, which we all need no matter how much we love our work. Further it allows more focus on the job when we return.
