How taking solo retreats away from work benefits you and your business

The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.

A while ago I flew from Minneapolis to Panama City and then took a water taxi to a backpacker resort. Before I knew it, I was swinging from an aerial circus hoop suspended from a sailboat above the sparkling Caribbean Sea. Although it wasn't technically a work trip, I considered it good for business. I embraced the game and disengaged, breaking some of the permanent conventions of entrepreneurship by taking a brief break from my clients - as an entrepreneurial-focused mental health professional, podcaster, speaker, writer and mom.

I escaped for an "aerial and sailing" retreat organized by the Paper Doll Militia. As an entrepreneur, it was exhilarating to suspend my responsibilities and spin, twist and squeeze, doing the aerial arts, a hobby of mine. If you were watching, you would have seen me jumping along the sandy beach with a huge smile on my sun-dappled face.

I'm a big proponent of solo retreats for founders and entrepreneurs. But I find that most of my clients—primarily business owners—put their needs aside and think first about sending their team on an off-campus mission to build culture, cohesion, or the next big idea. They see organizing a retirement for their employees as an excellent investment in the long-term success of their business. But a retreat for themselves? Indulgent. Ordinary. Logistically impossible.

Related: This Founder Makes Sure He Has a Life-Changing Solo Trek Every Year

Business leaders find it difficult to retire. A Harvard study of CEOs found that those who managed to take a break worked 70% of their vacation days, leaving little room to recharge or reconnect with family, let alone pursue professional or personal goals. /p>

I've often been asked: what is the ROI of a Founder's Retirement? It is more difficult to answer, at first glance. The importance of corporate retreats is constantly reinforced as a business priority. Entrepreneur.com, for example, has at least a dozen stories on its site about corporate retreats, including ones on why and how to host one.

A quick search for "Founder's Retreat", "Solo Retreat", or "Entrepreneur Retreat" yields relatively little. There's an interesting article for business travelers and senior executives who want to find a place to disconnect, and another on the benefits of getting into nature for a 20-minute break here and there (which I highly recommend). But I would like to add something else.

Entrepreneurs are a primary business unit. We are core functions of our business, and we also deserve to be invested in, tweaked, and recharged. If we are in top shape, it helps our businesses run.

A body of evidence shows that restorative experiences, such as vacations, bring increased focus, mental clarity, and inspired ideas. An oft-cited study commissioned by New Zealand Air in 2006 found that a few days of vacation increased people's reaction time by 80%. And if you want a creative solution or a new perspective,