I took a day away from clients yesterday, uninterrupted by any phone or Skype/Zoom calls, no meetings with other people, no contact with my support team – complete solitude.

After my “morning ritual” of checking social media and overnight email activity, I enjoyed a 15 km training run up to Highgate and across the top of Hampstead Heath, before the working day began in earnest.

Amongst other things, I :

• completed my slides and handouts for this year’s Practice Plan Business Theatre at The Dentistry Show;
• created a full marketing plan for my prospective lecture tour in Australia next August;
• completed some complex follow up on a few client meetings from last week;
• sent off all the handouts and spreadsheets from Monday’s Extreme Business Workshop, so that we can set them up as cloud-based downloads for the clients attending;
• finalised the details for my upcoming Client Retreat this weekend in Marylebone;
• continued some detailed research on a suitable platform for a new client membership site I want to establish;
• stayed on top of 70+ emails, writing the last one at 18:30 last night before I switched off.

Mid-afternoon, I took an hour’s walk down through the new King’s Cross urban development area around the Regents Canal and watched the crowds out enjoying the Spring sunshine.

Many years ago, Michael Gerber described this as working ON your business and not IN your business.

Days when you meet nobody but you move everybody forwards, most of all yourself.

Why is it that, every time I book one of these days, I wish I had booked more?

One of my clients, in conversation on social media, described the day as “heaven”.

Solitude is certainly heavenly, when you enjoy the company you keep whilst you are alone.

I do plan them in – we do need to plan more of them.