Next week my ‘out of office’ will be on as I’m taking myself away for a business retreat; I’ve never done something like this before and I’m very excited.

The Preparation

I’ve booked a holiday cottage that has good wifi, a comfy bed and a dining table to spread out my work. It also has amazing surroundings so I can get out in nature and make the best of the slightly longer days.  

I’ve made a list of the things I need to take with me for work, rest and play. I’ve also made a shopping list for the food I’ll need. 

I’ve spent time writing intentions for the week and I know what the outcomes need to be to make it a success.

I’ve talked it over with biz buddies and got new perspectives to sense check and to see wh\t i might have missed in the planning.

All that is left is to pack and put fuel in the car, then Monday, straight after delivering a safeguarding session, I am off!

The Why

I’ve been away alone before but I’ve never given myself time away to work on my business. As I’ve previously shared, being self-employed emerged out of a shitty situation (redundancy) and grew almost organically. For the past 2 years work has ticked over and I’m grateful for what I’ve been doing but it’s not been very creative or got me fired up. I needed something to change but working at home all the time and seeing the same view wasn’t sparking what that needed to be. I started heading to different places to work, even just for a couple of hours and that sparked the idea of taking myself away. 

The What

I’ll be spending some of the time plotting out some new ideas and some of the time will be for thinking about what next for the book (for once it is published). I intend to create a few things to be shared with the world in different formats. Most importantly, I will be open to what might emerge whilst I am away in new surroundings. 

I intend to walk everyday and have a bubble bath or 2 (we don’t have a bath), I have a book I’ll take to read and there’s a tv I never saw that is on the list for the evenings. 

I’ll be recording what I do each day along with what I notice about the way I work and what happens in this new space. However, I don’t plan on sharing that, not straight away! I mentioned I have good WiFi but that is so I can research, and save everything I do in the cloud not so I can be on social media all week. If you see me there – call me out and tell me to get back to work.

The What Next

Once I’m home, I will be sharing some of the things I create and I will share what I learnt about myself from the experience. I’ve planned in some time to implement the new ideas that I’m working on so they’ll be shared when the time is right too. If it is productive and successful, I’ll plan another retreat too.