A Working Vacation? What Do You Mean By That?

As the CEO and co-founder of Conteh & Brown Group, I find that taking a substantive break from business operations and planning is a challenge. Even after 10 years in operation and finally experiencing significant growth this year, the field of management and consulting feels less like work and more like a passion to me.

Every day, with each project and through every task, I genuinely enjoy what I do. This enjoyment often makes it hard to recognize when I'm overworked or stretched too thin, leading to neglecting necessary breaks.

It's important to understand that, even when you love what you do, taking breaks is crucial. Your brain requires downtime to function at its best.

Lewis Family Vacation…finally

This week, I was allegedly on vacation with my family. I say "allegedly" because I still had a few meetings and even squeezed in a presentation. Plus, let's be honest, vacation for a mom is just taking your mom duties to a new location. I've lost count of how many times I’ve had to remind my kids that, hey, I AM ON VACATION TOO!

They don’t care though.

We haven’t had a chance to vacation since 2021. Our family has been busy graduating, moving back to Richmond, and welcoming a new baby. This is our first family vacation with our newest cast member, Baby Lewis #4.

All in all, I did get a modicum of a break, I was still productive with the team, and reviewing contracts on the beach ain’t too bad.

As an entrepreneur, a break looks different for everyone. Even though I did some work on vacation, it was items I wanted to do and relieve stress, like designing content and reviewing contracts. Yes, reading long contracts is a stress reliever for me…mind your business.

Because you work for yourself, you will have to determine when to award yourself a break and what that break looks like. Just remember that rest is not a reward and you are worthy just because you are.