When Kevin asks how to avoid burnout, for starters you need to be somewhere without wifi. Ben goes to the footy and is thankful there’s no wifi there and I understand why Ben and Kevin need to be unwired to escape… in today’s world, if you can get online and you’re running your own show, there’s no doubt you’ll spend the majority of your time working. We all need to have breaks to avoid burnout. Ben discusses the downside of entrepreneurship and gives some valuable insight and it becomes clear how easily burnout can occur.
My fave type of holiday and my preferred way to get unwired is camping on the coast. Sure, I live five minutes from the beach, but unless you’re unwired you never spend enough time there. When you’re camping with friends and/or business partners you can surf all day, cook and drink together at night and have an awesome bonding experience. There’s no way to get online so you can leave your work at home. It’s no reason to leave your laptop at home though; I fondly remember a pre-Japan-snowboarding-trip-psych-up in a tent, on the NSW coast, watch Pop on an iBook.
As for a shorter, quicker escape, another great way to avoid burnout is going to the footy like Ben or getting along to a gig. Shut the laptops down early, hit the pub with your colleagues, have some dinner and enjoy the gig or game together. Just make sure you leave the Blackberrys at home.