Staying On Track by Taking Time Off

Maybe if you want to become super efficient at the office, you should get rid of it.

Catherine Nomura, director of business development at The Strategic Coach, a Toronto-based coaching firm for successful entrepreneurs founded by Dan Sullivan (see his comments on hiring people this month), says many people go to work, see the papers and documents piled up on their desk, and freeze up, paralyzed by indecision of what to tackle first.

So, when you have a client meeting, she recommends leaving all that behind and relocating to a conference room, caf?, or restaurant.

“If you take a client out for lunch, you can be very focused. Everything is taken care of by the restaurant. Make your whole day lunch. You won’t be distracted by the messes around you,” she says.

Nomura says advisors can further improve their efficiency by separating their days into three categories: free days, focus days, and buffer days.

A free day is just as it sounds, free of work, free of phone calls, and free of stress. She recommends taking about 150 free days a year. That’s right, 150.

“For a full 24-hour period you’re not thinking about work. You’re not reading The Wall Street Journal, you’re not checking your e-mail or Blackberry.” Ideally, she says, you should be doing something totally rejuvenating like playing golf, going to a vacation spot, or spending enjoyable time with your family.

Upon your return from a free day, Nomura predicts that you’ll feel much more creative, can get things done in a much shorter period of time, and that your colleagues will like working with you better.