Long-time readers might know that I do something somewhat unusual each August. For the last two years (and I am doing it again this year), I take off the month of August. Each year, I refine it a bit, and I am making some changes again this year in my approach. In some ways, it feels harder for me to take off in August than ever, even though I know that I need it and i know that it will turn out very well for me in the end. It’s still a little bit scary to do, even though I have done it twice before. No, wait—maybe it is scary because I’ve done it twice before.
The first year that I took off for a month, this blog went silent. I didn’t have many contributors, and everyone just went dark with me. I am sure that it didn’t help our subscriber counts, but I did need it and I came back refreshed.
Last year, I refined it a bit. Frank Reed wrote three posts a week that were posted throughout August, so although I went dark, the blog kept the lights on. And, honestly, I thought that Frank kept it going better than I do.
This year, we’ll have posts from a few different contributors, but none of them me. I bet they are good.
But I am making a big change this year–after two straight Augusts of being dark on Twitter, this year I am going to post one tweet a day, but by remote control. In recent months, my marketing manager, Eileen Cosenza, has begin compiling short tips from my writings over the years, and crafting them into 140 characters. She’ll continue to do that while I am out, so there will be a few tweets flying around even while I am resting. She might say thanks to a few people, too.
Eileen has been instrumental in getting our monthly Biznology Webinars off the ground, and I will relent from vacation on August 30 to do our August broadcast. (It’s about persuading upper management to invest in search marketing, if you are free at 11 am ET that day.)
I’m hoping that by next year, someone else will be editing this blog and we’ll have enough contributors that I can disappear and the blog will keep running. Each year, I try to do a little more throughout the year so that I can do a little less in August.
I suspect that most of us struggle with these same problems. How can we meet the expectations of our always-on digital audience without being always-on ourselves? It’s not easy, and I won’t pretend that I’m not peeking at e-mail throughout August, because I can’t bear to think about what will happen if something really important came in (nor the idea of catching up on several thousand e-mails in early September).
In fact, this year, it is tougher than ever to take the time off. Several of my clients could really use me over the next few weeks as they work through big opportunities, but they understand what I am doing. They know that I need to recharge and that I don’t have too many more years when I can enjoy my kids. (I have one trooping off to college at the end of August and another who just got behind the wheel for the first time this week.)
You might have similar challenges, whether it’s spending time with your spouse, your kids, or your aging parents. Or catching up with friends that have been strangers for too long. We all need to get a break and I know that we all aren’t as lucky as i am to take one this long. But I hope that we can take the pressure off ourselves to never take a break, because it just isn’t healthy. I am as guilty as anyone of working too many hours, but this month, I want it to be different.
I’ll let you know in September how I did. Wish me luck.
