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Writer's pictureMandi Graziano
Jun 29, 2023

A Week Off--Why??

Twas' the night before vacation and all through the home,

Not an email was stirring, not even in my dome.

My brain is so full, I can't finish the poem.


I am taking one week off work. This means:

-no looking at work emails,

-no allowing work thoughts into my brain,

-no taking work phone calls.

-no reading business books or business magazines


Why? Because I need it. We all need it.

Being an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur is a 24-hour news cycle and taking a week is good for the soul.


Dr. Wall taught me about the AON--Art of Nothing. This is a practice she suggests everyone do several times a day--

Take several 5 - 10 minute breaks where you stare, stay still, and be silent--this is supposed to clear the mind and make space for other things, and create space between your brain and your thoughts.

I feel like Dr Wall would be proud of me for taking a full week to do AON!


The last time I did this was last August but it was for 3 days.

I took a picture of my face on day 1 and day 4.

My face physically looked different at the end of the 3 days.

Here's a before and after pic from last year.

Check out my eye holes before!

Those bags under my eyes are no joke.

I even smiled differently after having 3 days off.


What I learned at the end of those 3 days:

--My businesses aren't so fragile that they can't survive without me for a stretch of time.

--My clients aren't so fickle that they'll abandon me if they don't have 24/7 access to me for 3 days.

--I am better, kinder, more thoughtful, fun, and way more interesting without a pack of work constantly jammed in my brains.


It went so well last year, we're trying it again this year.

I am not going anywhere. I am staying in San Diego.

I plan to write, work out and have various adventures each day.

This time I am taking a pic of my face each day to track the daily transformation of mean/angry/stress face to happy/relaxed/refreshed face.

Watch it with me and see what you think.




Also, when I loaded this pic into the blog the suggested hashtags were :

"middle-aged woman"

"40-something"

"hotel maid"

and "Hotel robe"


I felt so A.I. violated.

It shamed me for stealing a hotel robe and called me old all in 1 artificially intelligent fell swoop.


I am going to have to sit on that one during an AON session over the next week.


It wouldn't be an escape from work without a proper out-of-office message.

I wrote an out-of-office poem hoping to make people laugh and give me some grace for not being available for a week.

I worked til 7 pm, popped my OOO ON, and slammed the laptop closed.

In hopes to save people the time of writing their own OOO, I shared it on Instagram offering people to steal mine for their upcoming vacations. A friend of mine noted a typo.



I said I'd be back for the second half of 2024? WHAT?

Poor 2023, just washed away without any notice.

2023 ain't so bad. Why did I shove her to the side so flippantly?

I eventually went back and changed the OOO poem to say 2023, but left it up on Instagram as an example of why we all need to take time off every now and again.


Here it is:




Let's see if I can do it.

Can I NOT be on work emails for 1 week?

Will I be able to do the Art of Nothing?

Will my brain waves be elongated?

Will I write, read and work out?

What adventures will be taken?

What fun will be had?

How refreshed will I really be at the end of this thing?


Time will tell. Stay tuned for details.......


Burnout is a real thing and the only way to stay unfried is to take time for yourself and be proactive about it.


FUN is the answer to burn out but you have to plan for fun before burnout gets you first. If you are in need of time off and don't know how to do it, or if you want to experience more fun with your team at work, Mandi will help you. Reach out to Mandi Graziano, anytime at coach@mandigraziano.com (she won't get back to you until after July 5)







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