The benefits of taking time off work
Rebecca's Thoughts on . . .

7 Quick Ways to Improve Work Performance Over a Holiday or Vacation (Without Really Trying)

Improve Personal Performance – Even While on Vacation or Holiday

Most American Entrepreneurs find it difficult to step away from their work, I know, I am one of them. However, one thing I have learned over the years is that taking time off is not only good for relationships with family and friends, but good for business. The Europeans are very good at stepping away from work to take time for family and friends. Americans, not so much.

Here’s what I’ve learned over the years – let me know if I’ve missed anything…

1. It Can Wait

It doesn’t matter what comes up, there will always be more to do. A crisis may require some delegation. However, for the most part, you already know that there will always be something new that requires your time and attention. So, taking a day, or two, or ten, isn’t going to get you caught up. Your work will never be done.

2. Taking Time off is Good For Your Business

Time away from the business is healthy. It enables the team you left behind to step-up, exercise their problem-solving talents, and appreciate your contribution – that is if you have built a good team and are a good leader. The alternative of course is that all hell breaks loose. In which case you have a new priority when you return: to build a new team.

3. Taking Time Off is Good For Creative Thought

You know I’m right. Sometimes extracting yourself from the day-to-day routine is the only way to invite creative thought. You must turn off the automatic-pilot your brain operates on in a typical day to create space for new thoughts, fresh perspective and new ideas.

4. Time Off Provides Fresh Perspective

This is true for any aspect of your life, but taking time away from the business exposes you to new people, places and ideas, which can give you fresh perspective on a specific problem or solution.

5. Taking Time Off is Good for Your Body

Time away from the business can be stressful for some. However, when you commit to truly stepping away from work, your stress levels go down, you relax, and may even find yourself enjoying the company of humans in conversation that has nothing to do with business.

6. Taking Time Off is Good for Relationships

If you are reading this, I am pretty confident that you have been told, on at least one occasion, that you work too much. Probably by a family member or friend. So, do yourself a favor and turn off the devices, turn your attention to loved ones and give them your full attention. I promise you the rewards will be worth it!

7. Taking Time Off Creates Balance

The more balanced you are as a human, the easier it is for others to relate to you, in the board room, on the soccer field, or on your next business trip. After all, we are all human, and we learn how much we have in common with others, when we take the time to notice.

And, if you still need a business reason to take time off – balance makes us more real and relevant to those we influence, and are influenced by, in every aspect of life.

Give yourself permission. Take the time off, and enjoy yourself..it will do you wonders!

 

 

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Media Room

Tips from Rebecca Murtagh Featured in Women’s Magazine Article on Facebook Marketing

Rebecca Murtagh interviewed for Magazine article on Social Media Marketing

Women @ Work, a magazine feature of a NY Capital Region newspaper recently interviewed Rebecca Murtagh, recognized thought leader and CEO of Karner Blue Marketing LLC regarding social media.

Womens Magazine article features tips from Rebecca Murtagh

The magazine feature article highlighted tips from Rebecca Murtagh in the context of Facebook as a business marketing tool.

Facebook and Social Media Marketing Tips

Murtagh provided tips related to social media marketing as an overall topic, emphasizing that Facebook is not right for every business, stressing “The most important thing is to put everything in context and understand that Facebook is effective when you target your audience,” Murtagh says. “You have to understand who you’re trying to reach and you have to have a plan in mind.”

Most important tip: Have a plan before you invest valuable time and resources into Facebook or any social media platform with the intent of promoting your business.

Click to view the entire article.

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Retail & Internet Shopping

404 Page Humor: Amazon.com Keeps it Light While Losing $4.8 Million

Amazon.com Goes Down, 404 Message Offers Light-Hearted Apology While Losing Millions

On Monday, August 19th, 2013 Amazon.com went down for approximately 40 minutes, resulting in an estimated $4.8 million loss in sales.This is based on an estimated $120,000 in revenue generated for every minute of the day.

Of course with that kind of sales volume, chances are customers will notice. And, boy did they. The observation was widely reported on social media.

Twitter updates covered Amazon website going down, and its recovery.

Twitter users react to Amazon.com being down

Amazon itself was not very visible in the stream of tweets about the site going down. Fast company, Business Insider, Mashable, as well as internet personalities Barry Schwartz, Brian Clark, Danny Goodwin (and yours truly) chimed in to share the news.

A Light-Hearted Alternative to the 404 Error Message

However, if one tried to visit Amazon.com during the outage, they were served up the following graphic, which revealed an apologetic, funny error message, in lieu of the traditional 404 error message.

Amazon.com posts funny apology while site is down
Amazon.com 404 Error Page:

The titles displayed with Amazon’s apology displayed books titled “I’m Sorry…My Bad!“, “Oops!” and “Grave Mistake“, which added a little levity to the situation. Although I am quite confident there was not much levity behind the scenes while Amazon attempted to identify the problem and recover the website to full functionality.

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