up in the air

I feel like Scrooge.

Ebenezer Scrooge is famous for hating Christmas, holiday cheer, children, presents, and the list goes on and on.

No, I don’t hate children, presents, or happiness. But I find myself increasingly at odds with my employees and even my leadership team over holidays and weekends.

I don’t consider myself a workaholic – not because I don’t work enough to qualify –but because I honestly don’t feel like I’m working most of the time. To put it a different way, I love what I’m doing, am surrounded by amazing people, and every day brings new challenges and awesome opportunities. I wake up with a smile.

Except on holidays. Holidays are roadblocks to my world domination plan. They disrupt workflow and lead to schedule inconsistencies, product delays, and general pause in “mojo.”

I’m pretty sure my team looks forward to holidays. Like other “normal” people, they talk about their labor day, forth of July, and other holiday plans. They look forward to three day weekends. And they plan trips around these special days many months in advance.

I’ve been out of the country the past two Fourth of Julys and the past two Labor Days. This isn’t on purpose – I don’t hate holidays that much – but I’ve found that I truly love being able to be productive in a different part of the world, while the US is taking a break.

Bottom line, I need to feel like I’m moving my company forward at all times. Holidays (and even weekends) disrupt this. I know people need breaks (myself included) – but it’s a different need for entrepreneurs. When you don’t feel like you’re “working” then you don’t have the same need for breaks. I want to instill this same purpose and mission in my team, and insure they get up each day with a smile on their face. And I promise to not bug them on holidays… that much.