I was set to write a light post on best business books. But when I read Joanna’s fabulous article and Stephen’s distressing news, it just didn’t seem right. So here’s my two-part response instead.

In seeking our first break in 14 months, Fonnie and I looked at many places in spa country. Some had little wellness centres out the back. Some had restaurants tacked on. One just did accommodation and had strategic partnerships with other specialty service providers.

We booked this last one, on the premise that if we wanted a health treatment or a decent meal, we could visit the historic, newly renovated spa complex or go to a standalone restaurant.

Our choice was so well validated that I mentally composed a message identical to Joanna’s. When you do one thing really well, the results can indeed be spectacular. Just check out Saltus 1!

Having endorsed Joanna’s point, I can add that finding one’s true path certainly isn’t easy. So I was much saddened to see Stephen’s report. Having laboured to articulate a crystal clear mission, he faces obstacles on the very eve of its execution.

While I know nothing of Stephen’s case, and haven’t even met him, his contributions to this forum have been frank, frequent and fecund. I therefore feel like one of ‘our own’ is in distress.

This leads me to believe that we’ve created a genuine community in which people can seek comfort and advice and report success and failure.

With people like Joanna and Stephen among us, we can only become richer. So my sincere thanks and thoughts go out to you both.

Easter’s coming. I think. Apart from the buns I can’t tell. I work six days every week; seven if I can get away with it. This makes each day pretty much like the next. Weekends mean rising at seven instead of six. Public holidays mean my wife’s home. Christmas means less traffic. Vacations come every few years and barely break my concentration.

Is it like this for you?

I’m writing this on a Saturday. As many of my clients enjoy their weekend, I can work without being bothered by work. The sun is bright and the dogs are hopeful. But I’m hunched over my keyboard with a dull pain in my chest. ‘Lunch’, as usual, was a five-minute wolf.

I’m not unhappy. It took many years of intense effort to build my successful, home-based business. I’m very pleased and grateful. Yet I’m also rather cocooned here at Empire House. No Friday drinks, no retirement dinners, no family picnics and no Christmas parties*. Though content in my company, I do feel a lack of community and structure.

A few months prior to my last vacation, I alerted my clients by email. This brought forward some projects, but I still took a big revenue hit. I felt I’d paid for the trip twice: the opportunity cost mirrored the actual cost. And because the break was my first for three years, it took me half the time to unwind enough to relax. Even then, I still checked my emails.

For the vacation before that (almost last century) I handed the Empire to a brilliant, trusted colleague who ran it flawlessly. So well in fact, that when I returned, some clients stated a preference for dealing with him!

Though I fully enjoy the benefits of running my own show, I know my work/life balance is out of whack. I’m unfit, overweight and highly strung. I find it almost impossible to walk past my PC without checking my ‘world’. My wife is trying to save me with swing dancing lessons and PC-free days. But it’s a struggle.

I do try. Yesterday I was told to expect a call about a 4000-page proofreading job (an intensely interesting and lucrative opportunity). I waited several hours, then did the swim I promised I’d do. The prospect called twice while I was in the water but didn’t leave a message. Now the job’s going to a competitor.

In light of all this, I’m very keen to know how YOU handle time out and time off.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, www.thefeistyempire.com

* Well, almost no Christmas parties.