I just got back in the office from a nice long weekend. My wife and I went up to Minneapolis to see a great concert, visit some friends, check out some art, and just kind of get away for a break in the old routine. It’s really hard to think about taking a break from the crazy, hectic schedules and deadlines that we’re all trying to meet on a day-to-day basis. After having done so, it is all the more apparent why it is so important to make time for NOT working as well.

Any time things become so hectic or routine that you’re not thinking about what you’re doing or not able to do it as well as you can, it’s time to take a break. Time to step back and get in touch with the things that really do matter in life. This applies to work, play, relationships, and just about anything else you really care about. Take a minute. Breathe deeply. Relax a bit and check in with where you’re at.

After having a 6 hour drive to kind of decompress, we arrived in downtown Minneapolis. We got a great deal on a room at the Graves 601 Hotel, which is smack-dab in the heart of the action. Target Center is right across the street, First Avenue is next door, and if you really lack something to do, Hooters and a Hard Rock Cafe are flanking the hotel as well.

Those attractions were not the enriching part of the trip, however. The real pleasure came in slowing down and doing things differently. Since we were so centrally located to the things we wanted to do, we were able to park the car and walk everywhere. Yeah – walk. I love walking places. It takes longer. You get to see things. You get to smell and hear things. I don’t think there’s a better way to get to know a place than to walk through it.

So from our home base we plotted out our course on Google Maps using our phones. The walking directions were right on and we determined that anything in a sub-two-mile radius was  easily what we would consider walking distance. Over the next two days, we enjoyed walking from place to place. Talking, taking time to pop in and see things we wanted to see. Watch and listen to people. Investigate interesting things. Look at art. Eat dinner for three hours. All the stuff that for one reason or another, we don’t take the time to do on a regular basis.

That’s what made the trip memorable. We didn’t pack in all the things we had said we wanted to do. Forget Ikea. Forget driving across town to get to that one store, restaurant or bar that people said was essential to visit. If we couldn’t walk it, we simply skipped it. What we got in return was two and a half days of time that seemed like four. The weekend didn’t fly by because every moment was packed with things we “had to” do, even if it sure wasn’t long enough.

When is the last time you removed things from your list or schedule in order to get LESS done, but to really focus on what it is you’re doing? Culturally, the United States doesn’t embrace that concept. But it’s something to seriously think about. Are you rushing to get one job done just so you can start the next? Do you have three jobs going on right now that all suck because you can’t do any of them as well as you’d like? How thin have you spread yourself and your commitments that you’ve set yourself up to always feel less than effective?

How willing are you to say no to things in order to be better at what you say yes to?

Try taking a break and slowing things down a bit. You may be amazed at how it can help you be better at what you’re doing and enjoy all of it a bit more.

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