OK, I’m not comparing myself to Bill Gates, but I am repeating this mantra over and over. I am leaving town for a week to visit family and I am not taking my laptop!!!!! I quake as I type this. Think of all the work I could get done on my very long flights! How will I capture all my great ideas? Be away from e-mail–are you kidding? What if there is a problem with my website? What if? What if? What if?
Last week I realized that I have not been away from my laptop since 2002. That’s not healthy. It is well known that Bill Gates retreats to his cabin for two weeks of solitude to read and think. I have always been captivated by that concept. I, too, know that good solutions, great ideas and new excitement appear when I am off by myself. Once I considered going laptopless, I started making a stack of books and magazines I want to read. The stack is pretty high (and heavy). I think I will add that beautiful yarn I bought on our trip to NYC . . .
Enough about me. Remember Michael Gerber’s concept of working on your business not in your business in his book E-Myth Revisited? When was the last time you stepped back, stepped away and read or thought or simply chilled? If you are like me it has been a long while. Let’s try it together and see what develops. Let me know.
As Eliza Doolittle sang in My Fair Lady, “England still will be here without you!” Please be here when I get back!
This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 9:55 am and is filed under General Business, Personal Growth, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.4 Responses to “If It’s Good Enough for Bill Gates . . .”
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September 9th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Bonnie you deserve a break, I recently went on vacation and I came back fresh! With new ideas, new outlook. It felt like a new beginning. I too was laptopless, and while laying on the beach I was thinking “darn I could be blogging” but then again, it felt good just to really sit back and analyze, think, organize my thoughts while sipping on some tropical lemonade. I highly recommend time off. If not for you, for your family & business.
Lisa
September 18th, 2008 at 6:06 am
There was just a post on this same topic earlier this week on SCORE’s small business blog for women . I used to take my laptop every where with me. Now that I have an iPhone, I’m even more addicted to staying connected. As entrepreneurs we rarely take vacation, much less completely disconnect and unwind. It’s hard to let go of business while you’re gone, but definitely worth it. Good luck and have a great trip!
September 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Lisa and J.,
First thanks for the good wishes! I too have an iPhone and find I’m getting a little buggy with it. To think I didn’t want a Blackberry! Fortunately I was out of the country and couldn’t pick up messages. My next posting will be about the “experience”.
Thanks again!
October 25th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I know what you mean about leaving your Labtop behind. Great insight! – Really enjoyed this posting.