I’m in the middle of a two-week "creative hiatus," which means no appointments and the mental freedom from my responsibilities as a biz owner.  Time to dive into the dozen or so unread books in my office that still seem relevant, time to blog and read blogs. Time for hikes, bike rides, yoga classes, and afternoons at Water World, a water park near Denver, with the kids. Evenings in the backyard and errands for back-to-school supplies. My creative muse is enjoying cutting flowers from the garden and arranging them for a birthday bouquet for my sister.

In the middle of all this space that I’ve carved out for myself, I’m noticing that it’s still hard to be unplugged, to not pick up the phone when it rings or to wait two weeks to reply to an email. Setting boundaries with voicemail and out of office replies is easy. Keeping to them is hard.

I’ve tricked my "business as usual" self into thinking I am in an exotic location, far away from phones and email and access to Quickbooks.  Typing away on my patio, underneath a large, leafy, Purple Ash tree, I’m protected from the afternoon Colorado showers. It’s the adult version of a tree house. The thunder just adds to the ambience.

Unplugged means space to dream, to notice what brings me alive, to go back to square one in thinking about things I thought were solidly formed, just as scientists thought about matter for centuries until someone figured out that atoms were mostly made up of nothing.

I can see the benefit of taking a creative hiatus once a quarter. I picked up this concept from Andrea Lee and am learning the wisdom of her words about taking MORE time off as you grow your business. It’s a radical idea whose time has come.