My Biggest Lessons From Stepping Away from Business

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Table of Contents

Podcast Description

What if taking a break could actually grow your business?

In this episode, I’m getting real about what happened when I ended up stepping away from business for nearly three months. This wasn’t a planned break, but it was absolutely necessary.

From summit planning and family changes to personal burnout, I’m sharing what forced me to pause and the surprising momentum that came from doing less.

If you’ve ever wondered what to do when you’re overwhelmed in business, this behind-the-scenes peek will give you clarity, relief, and a reminder that YOU matter more than any task list.

What you’ll learn:

Why it’s okay to hit pause, even if it’s an unplanned business break
How I prioritized when everything felt urgent
The productivity shifts I’m making to fit this new season
The truth about evergreen content and sustainable visibility
How to avoid burnout as an entrepreneur (even when life’s chaotic)

This is your permission slip to slow down, reset, and rebuild with intention. Because rest? It’s not just allowed… it’s productive.

Links Referenced in Episode:

▶ Join the Productive Entrepreneurs Club for just $7/mo

▶ Grab the FREE Trello Hacks Guide

▶ Ep. 37: More Content Doesn’t Mean More Sales

▶ Ep. 4: How To Prioritize Your Weekly Biz Tasks

▶ Ep. 34 Slow Down & Prioritize

▶ Ep. 58: Rest is Productive

Connect with me:

Website | Instagram

Episode Transcript

(Note: This is a formatted AI-generated transcript to make it easier for you to read through, but is not an optimized blog post. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors and filler words – it’s just how I speak LOL)

Episode Intro

Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, your host of the Cheerful, Productive Chats podcast, where I’m on a mission to help online entrepreneurs like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelm goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online business and impact lives sooner. It’s your time to shine. So let’s get started.

Hey, hey! Welcome back to the Cheerful, Productive Chats podcast. I am back, and I am so, so, so excited because, whoa, this hiatus was not planned. Like, I never planned to stop recording episodes for, I think it was like three months. Like, whoa. I had my plan, I had the episodes mapped out, I had everything ready to go, and then just things started exploding in my personal life, and I was also planning the Cheers to Planning Summit. So that became the main and only priority, and everything else kind of fell through the cracks. And in order to protect my own sanity, my own mental health, to prevent me from going into burnout mode, I had to make the decision to be okay with letting it go. As much as I really wanted to just record one more episode or record an episode to let you know that I was apparently taking a hiatus from the podcast, I couldn’t even get myself to do that because it really added this extra overwhelm to me, and I had to be okay with letting it go. And I put all my eggs into focusing on the Cheers to Planning Summit.

And guess what? I’ve had some record-breaking months with my downloads being on this hiatus, which I’m kind of mind-blown by. Like, I haven’t even. I normally track my stats every single month religiously. Like, on the first of the month, I’m checking on my previous month’s stats, and I haven’t done that for two months. I’ve gotten the general idea of it, but for two months. So that, for me, is saying a lot because that just shows how much there really has been going on and how much I am having to prioritize. Like, okay, what do I really, really, really need to get done right now? And what can I just be okay with letting it go for now until I get into a space where I am better, where I feel more equipped, where I feel like I have the bandwidth to take on some of these things that I let go?

So I’m back. I’m so, so happy to be back and kind of share a little bit of what the heck has been going on behind the scenes, but I’m going to do that through also telling you some of these lessons that I’ve learned from taking this break, this much-needed break that I, at the time, didn’t even know I was going to take, that I didn’t know I was going to need. Like, yes. When I didn’t record the next week’s episode, I was thinking, oh, it’s fine. It’s just going to be two weeks. I’m going to bring the episodes, like, every two weeks. And I had already said that previously, so I was like, okay, I’m just going to stick to that. I’m going to record an episode every two weeks. And then that became three weeks, and I was like, it’s okay. All right, I’m gonna record one next week. I got this. And then the fourth week came, and then I was like, okay, I should probably record to let them know that I’m not going to be recording because I can’t. And then I couldn’t record because I can’t. And then by then I was like, they probably already figured it out by now. I’m on a hiatus.

Like, it is what it is. And it took a while for me to really get okay with letting this part go because I truly, truly do love recording episodes. I love sharing all of these takeaways and lessons learned and tips, and I just couldn’t do it. So it’s really, really sad. But I did learn some takeaways from it, and I want to share those with you because we’re literally getting into one of the busiest seasons of the year. There is also so much going on in the world that is really, really heavy. And sometimes you just have to make decisions that are not maybe the quote-unquote best decisions for your business, but they’re the best decisions for yourself, and you matter. There’s no business without you. So you have to protect yourself, your sanity, your mental health through all of these tough times, whether it’s the world or your personal or even, like, with your business, too.

So one of the main takeaways or lessons learned is that it’s okay to temporarily let go of things or even permanently let go of things to help you avoid overworking, to help you avoid getting to that place of burnout. Like, it’s okay if things fall through the cracks. Like, even for me, I’m a perfectionist, so it is really hard for me to let little things go. It’s really hard for me to not keep up with my own schedule. It’s really hard for me to create some Canva presentations and not mess around with the design and try to make it perfectly even on both sides for about 30 minutes. It’s really, really hard for me to do that. But I have to acknowledge that, especially in times like these, I have no choice. Like, I literally have no choice. And if I kind of use that same mentality on the times when I do have choice, I would be saving so much more time, so much more effort. Right?

It is really okay to take a break, even if it was unplanned, even if it’s kind of feeling like a forced break, like mine was. It’s okay. I know that many times we go into our own heads and we start to spiral and think that everything else is gonna stop working. Like, oh, my gosh, if I don’t do this, and this is gonna happen if I don’t do this, they’re not gonna buy from me if I don’t do this. Like, they’re gonna think I forgot about them. If, like, you might spiral at least. I know I do, but that’s not what happens. I just mentioned I haven’t recorded a podcast episode in about three months, and yet I’ve had some record-breaking months as far as my downloads. And yes, I know that that is because of the momentum of something else that I was working on, which was my Cheers to Planning Summit.

It is a massive project, so I’m not entirely, like, super shocked by it, but what I am shocked by is that it has been bringing in more downloads consistently. Even. We’re about two weeks after the summit has ended, and my downloads are still going strong. And that’s because of the momentum that I built with that summit, even though I haven’t been recording podcast episodes. Right? Like, whenever. Whenever we are talking about specifically long-form content that you have created to be evergreen, let it be evergreen, let it work for you forever. Like, that is why you created it. You don’t always have to be creating brand new content all of the time. You can definitely leverage what you have already created, especially in times like this when you just need a break. And stepping away can actually be super beneficial with helping you get some fresh perspective of some of your existing projects, some of your existing task lists, or your existing ideas.

Like, when I came back and I was like, okay, the summit’s over. I can finally breathe again. I can finally work on some of these other things that I have going on. I started to spiral again because I was like, oh, my gosh, like, I have it felt like in a cartoon where there’s just, like, so many ideas swirling in your head. Like, that’s how it felt. Like, it felt like I had stepped out of this world where I was planning the summit and stepped into this other world. And then I was bombarded with all of these ideas, and I was so overwhelmed, I had to bring it to my business coach to be like, I have too much in my head. I have too much in my head. I want to work on everything. Clearly, I cannot work on everything, even though technically I could create task lists, workflows, and get the tasks realistically done pretty fast. But it’s probably not the best decision. It’s probably not the best business decision. So I wrote it all out.

I wrote everything out. I just brain dumped everything on a Google Doc, and it ended up being over seven pages worth of notes, thoughts, ideas of things that I wanted to create, to bring to the shop to do in the next few months. So many ideas. And truthfully, I don’t know if I would have had these same ideas had I not stepped away from the business in some capacity. The past, like, two to three months, I have been fully focusing on the summit, because that’s all I had the bandwidth to focus on, because I had other things happening in my personal life. And the summit was like a done deal. Like, I’ve already. The ball’s already rolling. It’s not just a new project. It’s a project where I’m collaborating with over 20 other amazing experts in the space. It has to happen, like, it’s a priority. And so that became my sole focus.

Even though usually on a day where I don’t have all these other things happening in my personal life, I would have been able to work on the summit and the podcast and social media and probably another side project, too. But I couldn’t this time, and that’s okay. Like, I am fully okay with it. And the other thing that taking this break really helped me realize is that my time is so valuable. Like, let me rephrase that. I’ve always known my time is valuable. Your time is valuable. That is what I tell you guys is that your time is so valuable. But what I learned is that even though I know myself, I know that I can do things really fast. I can really take on a project and implement it, like, within the same day, within the next day, I can move really fast. But even then, there are some things that I don’t want to do. There are some things that even though I could do it really fast, it’s still taking up time for me doing something else, right?

So another thing that I have ultimately decided is that I’m going to start switching up the way that I do some things. I am going to do things a little bit differently. So that way it fits the season that I’m in right now. Not to say that it’s going to stay this way forever, but one of the things that I decided I’m going to do is not record an intro for the episodes anymore. That is something that definitely took me a lot of time because I would have to figure out my outline, and then I’m like, okay, from this outline, where should the intro of my episode be when I haven’t even recorded the episode? And then I would really take some time to think. I would use AI to try to brainstorm. Like, how could I put this into a summary that’s intriguing? And that would take maybe 15 to 20 minutes, which may not seem like a lot of time, but I can do a lot of other stuff in 15 to 20 minutes. And so for me to come back and be able to record episodes, I’m like, okay, I’m still in this busy, busy state. Like, I am still super busy with a whole bunch of stuff. I need this process to be as easy as possible.

What can I do? What is something that is really going to make or break my business? Is what something that is like, a nice to have? And the intros to the episodes, in my opinion, are like, that nice to have? I do like letting people know what the episode is about. So that way you can decide whether you should keep listening or not instead of me just diving right in and going into the episode. But I think it’s more of a nice to have. I listen to a bunch of podcasts. I am a super, super podcast listener, and not everyone has intros. And I listen to the episode anyways. And yeah, if midway, I’m like, ugh, no. Like, this isn’t for me. I’m not, like, annoyed because it was still in the description, it was still the episode title, and I’m just, like, moving on. And so I was looking at my own self and how I was reacting to things that I do. So that way I can adjust what I do as a task. And so that’s one thing that I have decided to let go of.

There’s still other parts in the podcast process that I’m kind of going to be shifting as well. I haven’t fully decided what that’s going to be like yet. I will probably have a much better idea once I have finished recording this episode and I start to complete the task and I’m like, okay, what can I take off? What can I really just fully delegate it off to my VA? What absolutely needs to stay? And that’s fine. Like, I’m gonna figure it out after this episode and that is totally okay. But with this one key point, I did want to mention more content, kind of bringing it back to this philosophy that we think that we always have to be pushing out. Content, content, content. I have an episode, episode 37, where it talks about more content doesn’t necessarily mean more sales. So if you do feel like one of these things that has been really making you feel overwhelmed is creating this weekly, bi-weekly content, definitely go check out that episode because it might just be the breath of fresh air that you need.

Okay. The next lesson learned is that you really need to prioritize because everything is not urgent, even though it seems like it is. And this is something that I hear all the time. I hear all the time, like, everything in my business feels urgent. So that means I have to do everything right now. But the truth is, no, just no. Like, you have to prioritize. And even me, like, I had all of these projects that I was working on and they were mapped out on this plan. I knew exactly what I was going to be promoting when. So, yeah, it feels urgent because the deadline is there, but things happen and the deadline had to get moved or just completely scrapped or I just wasn’t in the mood anymore. And I really had to prioritize. I really had to prioritize because the past few months, it has been draining to even work at certain times. So I couldn’t do everything. I couldn’t do everything. And I really had to take a big look at what is actually going to help my business right now.

And what is, again, a nice to have, what is a must do, what is something that I can delegate, what is something that can be postponed, what has to be done right now. And for the past few months, it was anything related to the Cheers to Planning Summit. And that’s it. Like, even the launch portion where I was launching the System Savvy Society that comes right after the launch, even that for me was something that it didn’t feel like a priority at the time. I was like just the Cheers to Planning Summit tasks. And that’s it. Once that portion is over, I’m going to reassess what is happening and see how I’m feeling, if I even want to go all out on this launch, and I wasn’t feeling it. I wasn’t feeling it, which means I didn’t get the results that I wanted, which is totally fine because I kind of knew going in, like, I’m not even feeling this right now, and it’s not my priority because I have all these other things going on.

So I keep talking about all these other things that are happening. So let me kind of just loop you in on a couple of the things. So, of course, we have our normal curveballs that always happen. Like, someone was sick and then they got better, someone else got sick, then they got better, then someone else got sick, got better. So we had a bunch of illnesses the past few months, right? And on top of that, my sister is, or was eight months pregnant. She was no longer able to work for a bit. They were put into this financial situation, rut, and their current living situation was not ideal for, you know, my sister being eight months pregnant. And so we, me and my husband, we had a conversation, and we decided to invite them to move in with us while I, you know, she was this late in her pregnancy, which meant it had to be super fast. It’s not like we had an extra room in our house. We definitely had to, like, make the space in our home to be able to accommodate them.

We had to buy a bunch of essentials to make my son his new room, to make sure that he’s good in his room. They had to move in and get their stuff situated, you know, get their room kind of as soundproof as possible, because, you know, it is a shared space, and they’re about to have a newborn. And then there was the whole adjustment of having two people living with us that we’ve never lived with someone before in our home. And so it was a big adjustment, right? It was a big adjustment for everyone trying to figure out the new cooking routine, the noise, you know, having to figure out how I’m going to be doing certain things in my business, knowing that they’re here, when I’m going to be recording, how I’m going to let them know, like, all of these things, like, what are we going to be sharing, like, just so much?

And this process was very, very overwhelming for me, which made it overwhelming for me to work on the business. So that’s, like, one thing. So then, of course, we get into this routine, we get into this rhythm, and they were like, okay, it’s coming up time. She’s due any day now. And that those few weeks of the possibility of having a baby come. A due date, especially in my home, was very, like, I don’t want to say anxious, but it definitely was very distracting because I didn’t know how to plan. And as a planner, it can be hard for me to move forward when I just don’t know. It’s like, I can plan, but it could change. And sometimes that stops me. And I don’t think that’s so much like me being a planner. I think that’s kind of like the ADHD in me where I’m just like, you know, I’m. It’s hard for me to get my thoughts onto action sometimes.

And with these extra circumstances that I can’t even control, it’s even harder. So there was a couple of weeks where we were like, okay, well, the max date was like September 20. That means three weeks prior is like, baby is due any day now. So every week we’re like, oh, okay, no. Oh, she’s coming. No, okay. And then her due date come, came, and she still wasn’t here. It was pretty stressful, not just for myself, but for my sister. So I’m obviously comforting her as well. So she was about a week and a day late, and then that was the week right before the summit. So I was already like, okay, now I have to change up the plans because her. Her boyfriend was also going to be home for about two weeks to help take care of the baby. So I’m like, okay, having to adjust my plans. Okay, not only is my sister going to be here with the baby, but there’s also going to be a third person while I’m trying to run the summit, while there’s a newborn baby, when everyone is trying to figure out the new routine of the household. And it was a lot.

She was born and she didn’t get to come home for a few days. And that part was super distracting for me as well, really trying to see, like, what is going to happen with my niece. They finally come home on the first day of my summit. As you can tell, it was a very, very stressful time for me. Just mentally, mentally, it was draining. Like I said, this is like, one portion my life outside of this is still happening. My kids still have football practice, dance lessons, football games, you know, these illnesses, school things that are coming up. Like, my life is still going on. Much to say. It was a lot. It was a lot for me personally, as someone who hadn’t dealt with it before, as someone who likes to plan and likes to know what things are going to be happening and if they’re going to change in the moment.

Okay, fine. But planning, knowing that it might not happen is a little bit harder for me. So, yeah, I had to prioritize. I had absolutely no choice but to prioritize and make sure that at least my bare minimums will get done. And they did. So if you need help with not only just prioritizing, but, like, slowing down and prioritizing, there’s two episodes that I want you to go back and listen. So, episode four, one of the very first episodes that I recorded for the podcast, is talking you through how to prioritize your weekly tasks. And then episode 34 talks about how to slow down. Because if you’re someone that’s, like, always on the go, like me, you gotta learn how to slow down. So that way you can prioritize.

All right, and the last reason here is, or the last lesson learned here, is that you need to remember why you started a business in the first place. Many times we start a business to, you know, make more money for our family or to be able to spend more time with their family or to be able to travel more. You know, why you started a business. But sometimes when you start to work on the business, that vision that you had really starts to seem so far away. It seems so far away because you get caught up in this hustle of trying to do all of the things right now, and you’re trying to work, work, work, because you’re thinking that, okay, if I just get as much done right now as I can, I will reach that vision sooner. But as you know, as someone who’s been in business for a couple weeks, a couple months, a couple years, your task list is ever-growing. It never goes down.

You’re never caught up with the things that you have to do. So how long are you really going to hustle for before you reach your goals? Like, it’s not going to happen that way. So you have to keep it top of mind. Keep it top of mind. Why you started a business to begin with. You gotta rest. You’ve got to take care of yourself. You gotta do the things that you wanted to do when you started a business. And for me, family has always been one of the most, if not the most important thing for me. I just didn’t think that it was going to be like my extended family too, living here when I started the business, but that’s what it is. And so for that change to happen, that is kind of where my focus shifted, because my family needed me in this wonderful time of theirs and still does.

Because, you know, my niece is two weeks old. No, three weeks. Two to three weeks old right now. And this is gonna be a thing. And I’m having to make these decisions of choosing to let go of some things, choosing to not overwork just because I’m making even more time to spend with my family, taking even more time away from my desk. I’m choosing to still take care of myself in order to be able to come back to my desk every single day, rested and have the most productive day. Whether I’m working for 4 hours, whether I’m working for 2 hours, whether I’m working for 6 hours. Not all together, may I add, like, different side note, but whatever amount of time that I have, I can’t work that amount of time and truly be productive if I’m not taking care of myself, if I’m not well-rested.

So this final bit that I wanted to share with you is to really, really make sure that you are taking care of yourself and remember that rest is productive. Listen to episode 58 if you really want a pep talk on that, because I truly think that it. I truly know it’s not an I think I truly know that this is so, so important for you, and it might be something that’s hard for you to do because of your upbringing, because of what you’ve been told to do. You know, I have a whole other episode talking about how we, especially me, growing up, you’re instilled this thought that you have to be busy, otherwise you’re lazy. And that’s not really true. So rest is productive. Listen to episode 58 if you need a pep talk on that.

And now this episode has definitely gone way longer than I had initially planned. But what’s next for me? Like, now I am back, I am ready to go and ready to move on to the next projects for the rest of the upcoming months because it’s almost the end of the year. Like, I’m so, so excited. So be on the lookout for this new pocket coaching experience that I’m so, so excited to share where I’m literally going to take you behind the scenes on my life and business and how I manage it. Also, that way you can get inspiration on how to do it, too. But I’m going to share more details on that next week if you’re listening to this in real-time, so definitely stay tuned. Of course, we have a Halloween sale coming. Of course, we have a Black Friday sale coming. Of course, we have a Christmas sale coming.

And they’re all going to be different and all super exciting. So definitely, definitely, definitely make sure that you are on my email list so that way you can stay in the know with all of these things that are coming up. So if you’re not on my email list yet, then go ahead and grab my Trello hacks guide by visiting cheers to productivity.com hacks. Or if you really just want to dive in and learn how you can be productive and really find a productivity strategy that works best for you, I invite you to join my $7 membership called the Productive Entrepreneurs Club.

You can learn all about how to take small actions that lead to big results inside of this membership by visiting cheersofproductivity.com club. I hope to see you inside and I’ll be back soon with another episode. Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful, Productive Chats podcast with me, Lucy Reyes. To get the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today’s episode, go visit the show notes where everything is linked there. And before you go, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening so you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success.