#11: CEO Breaks: The Secret Weapon for Entrepreneurs
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Have you ever wondered why the world's most successful entrepreneurs swear by regular breaks?
What if I told you that the secret to supercharging your productivity and innovation is to simply step back, take a break, and focus on needle-moving activities? That's right. We're talking about CEO breaks - a transformative practice that I have developed within my own business and can't wait to share with you.
From personal experience, I can promise you that CEO breaks are the game-changer you need to stop sabotaging your business. They help clear mental blocks and tap into your motivation and energy like nothing else. If you're caught in the daily grind, juggling a side hustle, or planning an escape from the corporate world, this episode is the light shining on a new way forwards. Together, we'll explore strategies for planning and executing these breaks, to ensure they are as productive and beneficial as possible.
But it's not just about taking a break; it's about making it count.
We'll chat about picking the perfect location, choosing the tasks to focus on, and maintaining that crucial balance between relaxation and work. From brainstorming for your next project to planning out your annual activities, every detail matters.
So, are you ready to revolutionise your approach to productivity and innovation?
Join me, and let's start building the business and life you love, one CEO break at a time.
Main Points
0:01 CEO Breaks for Productivity and Innovation
4:47 What are CEO Breaks?
8:39 The Importance of Taking CEO Breaks
11:28 Using CEO Breaks When You're Stuck
13:15 Importance of Relaxation
16:25 The Power of Planning
26:16 Inspiring CEO Breaks
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Hi, I’m Samantha Bell
I’m all about helping you build the business – and life – you’ve always wanted.
Listen in for the simple, actionable strategies, mindset shifts, and practices you need to make your business thrive. Plus, a healthy dose of self-care, health, and wellness so you can live the life you absolutely adore while building your beautiful business.
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Transcription
00:01
If you're like most business owners, you're busy juggling multiple responsibilities while trying to grow your business, so finding the time you need to plan and to think deeply about the big picture view and the future of your business often gets buried under all the day-to-day activities. You've got great intentions, but they're always on tomorrow's list and never today's, and that can be a real roadblock to growing your business the way that you'd like to. In this episode, I'm talking about a rejuvenating and transformative practice that empowers you to focus on needle-moving activities and projects, without distractions and without burnout. I call it the CEO Break. It's something I've created within my own business, which has allowed me to revolutionise the way that I approach productivity and innovation, to propel my business forwards to new heights while, at the same time, feeling relaxed and empowered, and I'm really excited to share it with you today so that you can do it, too, and enjoy the space and clarity you need to take your business exactly where you want it to. Welcome to the Brilliant Business, Beautiful Life podcast, where we share simple, actionable strategies plus the mindset and wellness practices you need to build the business and life you love. Head to 16thavecreative.com/playbook and download your free guide to design the business and life you deserve. Today I'm your host, Samantha Bell, and this is the Brilliant Business, Beautiful Life podcast. Are you ready for the business and life of your dreams? Let's get started.
01:50
There's so much technology to help us run our businesses these days. We've got AI tools, productivity apps, schedulers, auto responders, even team members, and VA is to help us get the core activities in our business done. But even with all those amazing resources, it can still be tricky finding the time to go deep into planning and producing new programs or services, products and even content without feeling overwhelmed at juggling all the balls when you're looking at the same four walls every day and going through your daily routine. Before you know it, six months can pass and you still haven't ticked off those big ticket items you'd planned at the beginning of the year and need to get done so that you can keep growing and improving your business. Now there's one thing I love doing that is so amazing for my mindset creativity and productivity and that is taking a CEO Break. Now, that doesn't mean an all-expenses paid trip to an exotic location and just laying on the beach to get a tan. Now, while that may sound very appealing, a CEO Break is actually an amazing strategy that you can build into your calendar to help you power through mental blocks, get super focused and achieve your goals.
03:21
In this episode, I'm talking about the rejuvenation of your mind, your body, your creativity and the extreme productivity you'll experience by taking a CEO Break. You'll learn why you need them, how to plan them and what you can expect to achieve. That's going to be a significant way of moving your business forwards without burning out. So whether you're juggling a side hustle or planning your escape from the corporate world, or just have so much on your plate that you do not know where to direct your attention, basically anyone looking to supercharge their productivity, taking a CEO Break would be the game changer that you need. Now, I must admit that I have to constantly fight off shiny object syndrome and comparisonitis, just like the rest of us, to make sure that I stay focused and on track in my business. I'm guilty of sometimes putting off the hard things because of overwhelm or self-doubt, and I've found that taking CEO Breaks is a fabulous way to stop sabotaging my business and get back on track. So if you can relate to any of that, tap the bell to like the episode and keep on listening.
04:47
So what exactly are CEO Breaks? They are game changing getaways. Ceo Breaks are a dedicated space where you can focus solely on building your business or a specific task or project that you've been trying to get to, but do it without any distractions. They're a glorious commitment to the health and well-being of your business and yourself and to getting things done. Many creatives take some time to disappear from the world, to hide away somewhere quiet or somewhere beautiful or just wherever they feel inspired, to refresh their mind and allow them to get stuck into things without distraction and to enjoy complete focus. It's a fabulous practice. Recently I read a quote somewhere by a mathematician, J.E. Littlewood, and it was about the creative process, and he said that there are four distinct stages in creation. There's preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. The first two stages take conscious thought, and they work best without distraction, hence the need for your CEO Break. However, it's the illumination that creates the magic, but this magic can only happen when your mind is relaxed, and it takes just a second for the subconscious mind to take over and to bring a new level of awareness to your thoughts, and voila, before you know it, the creative idea is born. So we need to allow our brains some downtime so that we can create magic. Have a think about how often an idea has come to you when you're in the shower. You're not actively thinking about anything, you're just enjoying the water and feeling it running over your body and the warmth and the steam, and you'll have this magical thought come into your head. I know this happens to me all the time, and that's because in that moment, your mind is relaxed, and the creative juices can just free flow without any pressure, allowing the magic to happen. So that's why it's so important to allow your brain that downtime.
07:29
I like to take some inspiration from JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. She took herself away, as you'd know, from her everyday life. She locked herself down inside the Balmoral Hotel so that she could finish writing her Harry Potter series. She said in an interview something that I know all of us can relate to. She said, "There came a day when the window cleaner came, the kids were at home, the dogs were barking and I could not work and this light bulb went on over my head and I thought I can throw some money at this problem. I can now solve this problem by going to a quiet place." So she did. She went to the Balmoral Hotel because, for her, it was a beautiful place where she felt comfortable and where she felt inspired, and inside that hotel room, she ended up finishing the last of the Harry Potter books. And by that one action, she potentially saved herself years of writing and unnecessary stress.
08:39
So while most of us won't be able to go somewhere quite so luxurious as what JK Rowling's did or take out a month or more from our lives or our businesses, we can take some time, even if it's just two or three nights, or, if you can stretch it, take a week away for a CEO Break. It's a beautiful opportunity to tap into your motivation and your energy to tackle those important tasks and reduce procrastination and say goodbye to the shiny object syndrome that stops us from getting things done. You can do it on the fly and take a CEO Break just whenever the mood takes you, or you can do what I do and plan ahead because, to be honest, I find it really tricky to just up and run when I've got client work and deadlines and family commitments to consider. So for me, it takes a little bit of forward-thinking and planning to make it happen, and I'm sure that's the case for most of you too. But, oh my goodness, it is completely worth it. So how many times should you have a break from the everyday? How many times should you plan a CEO break?
09:55
It really comes down to the individual. For me, I like to plan at least two CEO Breaks a year. One at the beginning of the year, where I get really clear on the vision for the business for the next 12 months, and during that break, I create a big picture overview, plus a plan for the first six months of all the projects and the activities to help me achieve that overall big picture objective for that first part of the year. And then, around June or July, I like to have a second CEO Break and during that break, I review the last six months and whether I've achieved what I've set out to do, if I need to pivot or whatever needs to happen to make sure that my plan comes to fruition, and then I plan out the rest of the year. But really you can do them whenever it works for you. You might like to do it quarterly. You might like to do it monthly. It all depends on what works for you and your particular situation. But it doesn't matter how often or when you have your CEO break. What matters is that you do have one. By taking that dedicated time to focus on the big picture strategy for your business and how you're going to achieve it, you can really catapult your success forwards in ways that you just don't expect, in ways that you just can't see are possible.
11:28
CEO Breaks are especially helpful when you find yourself stuck on a really critical project or you need to make a significant advancement in your business, because you can use that interruption-free time to get deep, to go deeply, brainstorming and planning and create in ways that you just cannot do when you're juggling client work and family life and all the day to day stuff involved in running your business. And one important thing to factor in when you're planning your CEO break is the location. If you just do it in your normal workspace, whether that's whether you work from home or in an office or wherever it is that you work, you simply will not get the full benefit of the break. You actually need to leave your normal environment and go somewhere completely unrelated to your normal working life, or it will not work. You'll get distracted, your daily habits will take over, and you won't even realise it, but you'll be doing what you do every day, and you won't get the benefit of your CEO Break. So when you're selecting the location or your CEO Break, have a think about what is going to best support your work goals. Remember it's not a holiday, but it is important to choose an environment that will calm your nerves, where you'll feel comfortable, where you feel you can be creative and productive, and also to take some time for relaxation in amongst all of that hard work that you're going to do.
13:15
For me, I find that by starting my CEO Break with a relaxation element, it really allows my brain to de-stress and open up all those wonderful neural pathways of creativity and productivity. Because when you're constantly bombarded by all the minutae of each day, it can actually shut off and overwhelm that part of your brain. So you need to show yourself some love and some kindness and do what you can to maximise the impact and the effectiveness of your time away so you don't waste it. By giving yourself some downtime to recharge at the beginning of your CEO Break, you will be amazed at how free and focused you'll feel. You'll actually remove a lot of the congestion that clouds up your vision, and you'll open up some beautiful, clean space for deep work that allows concepts and thoughts to come through that might otherwise be blocked. You'll create some really good work by doing this. Now, for me, my favourite CEO Break location is a hotel by the beach.
14:35
For me, the ocean, the sound of the waves and having that easy access to get my toes in the sand and be in nature, it immediately clears my mind and fills me with a beautiful sense of calm and positivity. I can literally feel the stress and the daily grind wash away in those first moments of arriving. Also, having a gym and a lovely restaurant or coffee shops and natural food stores close by is really important to me, because fueling my body with clean food, having exercise and somewhere quiet for meditating is a power boost that elevates my mind and emotions to a very high level. It raises your vibrations and is a powerful way to connect with yourself and the purpose of your time away. And practicalities matter too, like making sure you've got all the tech you need. You need amazing Wi-Fi connection. You need to make sure that your tech works, because you negate the entire experience if everything is hard and not working as it should. So you can save yourself lots of headaches and frustration simply by having backups of your documents on an SD card or an external hard drive, just in case that Wi-Fi gets all glitchy and you can't rely on your cloud documents. So that way you're not facing unnecessary challenges or being slowed down while you're trying to do that lovely deep work. So that leads into what do you work on during your CEO Break?
16:25
I think it's really important to decide what you want to work on before you go on your CEO Break, so that you don't waste your precious time and energy going round and round in circles trying to decide what you're going to do when you get there. You need to have that all sorted out before you go, have a little agenda for what you want to achieve and ideally select tasks that are directly tied to financial results. CEO Breaks are not for creative dabbling or vanity projects. They're for making substantial progress within your business. So try to keep your focus on what is going to grow your business and give you more financial freedom and time freedom. It's helpful to choose one to three projects that need immediate attention and that are aligned to your overall big-picture view and focus on those things during your CEO Break. So keep your annual big picture plan in front of you and just break it down into chunks, workable chunks. You might like to focus on the quarter's activities that are in alignment with that quarter's goals. If you've got time, you can then drill down even further and think about who you need on your team to help you achieve your goals and the specific processes for each activity so that when you get back, you can allocate out those tasks and you'll have a proper plan in place to make sure everything is completed and implemented so that your business is constantly moving forwards and achieving your big picture goal.
18:12
Other things you can do could be just say you're creating a new course. You could map out your entire curriculum for each module and each lesson. You can strategise and plot your sales and marketing activities for the quarter. You could plan your next three months content creation, which is directly related to the services and the programs that you're focusing on promoting over the next few months. You could even do boring things like preparing for your tax return or batch filming your reels and podcast episodes to get ahead and remove some of the overwhelm around your content creation. This is what the break is all about. Basically any large time consuming tasks that need high focus with minimal interruptions. They are what you need to focus on.
19:07
For example, in my last CEO Break, which was at the end of last year, I planned the entire rebrand for my business. I went over the reasons why, my focus, the service offerings, how I wanted to update those, considering my new pricing, the new marketing focus and just the big, high-level overview of how I would put it all together so that when I came back, I could then get into the nitty-gritty of how I was going to make all that happen. So it was quite difficult to do this effectively when I was in my normal day-to-day environment, surrounded by constant distractions and client work. But when I took the time out, it was very easy to find the clarity and the confidence I needed to see things through the CEO lens rather than like a busy worker bee who was just focusing on that day-to-day activities. And next weekend, I'm going on my July CEO break, and this time it's an organised business retreat where we're going to be focusing on mindset and energy and money blocks and moving our bodies and drilling down into all the different facets of the business, having a look at what's working, what's not, the new programs and plans I have in place, or am planning, how to move forwards in a way that's actionable and measurable and achievable, which is so important because you need to be able to put a KPI against these things to make sure that you are moving your business forward, so that you can look back and track your progress, because it has a plan. Without tracking your progress quite often it doesn't happen, so you've got to put that little bit of pressure on yourself. So regularly taking time out to do these activities is really important so that you don't stagnate personally or professionally. And so, what does an average day of a CEO Break day look like?
21:29
As I said for me before, it's important to have clarity before I go so that as soon as I arrive, I know what I'm doing. There's no fluffing around. It helps to have a rough agenda just to keep you on track and make the most of your CEO Break. So when you're doing concentrated, high-level work like this, it's important to not just have a focus on the deep work you're going to do, but to also have a focus on the relaxation elements and the mindset work that you're going to incorporate and schedule in breaks to avoid brain fatigue. So for me, I like to schedule two to three three-hour blocks of focused work throughout the day, because that's what works best for me, and during the day, I'll change locations within the hotel, I'll take time for exercise, meditation, journaling or even just having a swim or listening to music or getting into nature for those 20 minutes before and after each session, and that just helps keep my mind really fresh and alert and engaged, which gives me better productivity during my focus sessions.
22:46
If you're anything like me, it's really easy to get so fully immersed in what you're doing that you forget to come up for air. You just get so bogged down and in the zone that you can't see outside of it. So I need to set myself a timer. So using a time is a great way to make sure I'm continuously nourishing my mind, my body, and giving it room to breathe. So it's simple. I just set the timer on my phone, I turn off all the other apps and notifications, and as soon as the timer goes off, I get up and stretch or do whatever activity it is that I have planned for that 20 minutes, and then go back to my focus work, and that works really well for me.
23:34
That doesn't work for everyone. Other people like to use productivity apps where you set the intervals for focus work and breaks. Some people like to use the Pomodoro technique. That's where you work solidly for 20 minutes and then take a five minute break and keep repeating that throughout the day. So you work for 20, break for five, work for 20, break for five and keep going. That doesn't work for me because I can't get deep enough into the work, but it works really well for other people. So it doesn't really matter what approach you use, as long as you choose what's going to work best for you and that you stick to it, because no timer, no app and no technique will work unless you make it work.
24:22
So you need to commit and just get stuck in and do it. It takes discipline. So when you go into the weekend or whatever time it is that you've allocated for your CEO Break, if you're determined to stick to being open and productive, you will achieve more in that concentrated period of time than you will in months of juggling all the balls every day in your business. CEO Breaks can truly be a game changer for your productivity and provide you with the space and the focus that you need to tackle critical tasks. So, regardless of whether it's a trip to a nearby hotel or an out of town getaway, a CEO Break can help you overcome procrastination and achieve really significant results in your business. Because perpetual busyness does not translate into higher productivity. In fact, it can lead to reduced productivity where you find yourself completely overwhelmed and you're just staring at your computer, your mind's gone blank, you're feeling all panicked, and you do not know what to do first.
25:40
So if you're stuck or struggling with a project, consider trying out a CEO Break and experience that magic of increased productivity and the accomplishment that it will bring you. So get out your calendar and plan your CEO Break today. Literally, plan it today. Block out that space, and do not let anything push you off course, and you'll be so glad that you did. And when you do it once, you'll become addicted, and I guarantee you'll be booking in the next one too.
26:16
As always, thank you for listening in, and I hope you've been inspired to book your CEO Break, and I'll see you next time on the Brilliant Business Life Podcast. Thanks so much for listening. I'd love to know your biggest takeaway from today's episode, so leave me a comment below or send a DM on Instagram. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button wherever you listen to the Brilliant Business, Beautiful Life podcast, and feel free to share it with someone else who'll love it too. I look forward to seeing you for the next episode, and remember, the time is now for your Brilliant Business and the Beautiful Life you adore.
