I am of the opinion that those of us who run our own home businesses often forget that we can actually hang up the sign, leave a message on our voice mail, and set up the auto-return on our e-mail and actually step out of the office. We can get so focused on work and juggling all the balls, that we don’t allow ourselves the “mental health day” (as we used to call them in the 1990’s) of letting ourselves get “out of the office!”
Now, I am taking some definite liberties and making grand assumptions here. I imagine there are plenty of home-business-ers who are seldom in the “office” and keep rather loose schedules. But, most of the people I know who are working family folk seem to be like me—working ALL the time! It does not dawn on me until I’m past the point of exhaustion that a sane person would actually just take a day off and do something completely non-work-related. When I am called away, it is usually to deal with another work-related activity or to take care of family and parenting things. Even taking time off for a work-related workshop or to attend a conference is tough for me to justify.
So, I am giving us all permission (I know I should really just start with myself and tend to my own work-a-holic stresses and issues) to actually get out of the office. It is perfectly professional and entirely allowable for us to be “Out of the Office Today” even if we do not have an official office and most people don’t think we’re actually working anyway. Who knows, we might actually come back from our out-and-about day more refreshed, with a clear-mind, and some renewed energy for the realities of running a home-based business!
See Also: Are You Taking Full Advantage of Freedom and Flexibility? and Taking Holidays Off