During this time of the year many of us take vacations to “recharge our batteries”. I wonder if that catch phrase was coined by an executive from Duracell or Union Carbide. In any case, I think you can do more on your vacation than simply renewing your strength for a week or two.

Vacations are certainly a time to get away, be with the family and forget about the business, but how many of us can really completely forget about the business? How many of us can go away and not leave the phone number of where we’ll be? How many of us can resist the temptation to check our Blackberry or other web-enabled device to see if there are any urgent e-mails to which we need to respond?

Try an experiment the next time you go on vacation. Make it a bit more difficult for your business to reach you or check in less and see if key decisions were made by those left in charge.

Are you afraid to take a real vacation, knowing that all hell will break loose when you’re are gone? Do you find that as your business grows, you’re working harder to achieve the same level or less of a monetary reward? You can solve these problems through effective delegation of duties and tasks. Let go of the compulsion to do everything and empower others to take over some of your duties. Start with less critical tasks and then increase the level of responsibility as they prove themselves.. Make sure they know how important they are to your organization and show your appreciation.

It is important to remember, however, that you are delegating the authority to make certain decisions and perform tasks. You are not delegating the responsibility associated with those tasks. Follow up with your key employees to make sure that tasks have been performed. After awhile, you may be able to manage them by exception. That is, assign a task and have them report back only if there is a problem with the completion of such task.

By learning to delegate to key employees, you will free yourself up to attend to more crucial tasks ... and you might even be able to spend more time with your family or take a real vacation.

Let’s try a second experiment. Instead of letting our minds drift back to the last crisis we solved or the one that we know we will find when we return, let’s pretend that the crises will actually be taken care of in your absence and plan the future of your business. (I know you’re on vacation, but your mind will still occasionally wander back to business, so you might as well make the most of that time.) When you return, look at your business from an outsider’s point of view.

Ask yourself some probing questions:

• Is my business operating efficiently?
• Is my business positioned right in the marketplace to maximize future opportunities, especially when we begin to really emerge from the recession?
• If you are a business owner, you should ask yourself: What is my business worth and do I have a strategy to maximize its value?
• How much longer do I plan on working in the business and what is my exit strategy?

If you are not sure of the answers, it might be time to call in a business consultant to help you formulate some strategies for the future. You may find the brand new perspective to be very enlightening, which could lead to a whole slew of premature vacations.