David Squires

The Most Productive Thing You Can Do for Your Business Is … Disappear for Four Days

David Squires makes a case for the annual “solo retreat” — and why every independent retailer should take one.

Published

1 month ago

March 11, 2026

David Squires

The Most Productive Thing You Can Do for Your Business Is … Disappear for Four Days

This guy is doing some of the most valuable work he’ll do all year. IMAGE: GENERATED BY GOOGLE NANO BANANA

These notes were originally posted, in a somewhat different form, on David Squires’s LinkedIn account. Follow David on LinkedIn.

ONE OF MY ALL-TIME TOP PIECES of advice to jewelry retailers:

Take a solo retreat. Once a year, at the very least.

Not the family beach trip. Not the trade show. Not the “working vacation” where it’s just you answering emails from a nicer chair. This is something different — four days alone, somewhere quiet.

It could be a house on a beach during offseason. Or a cabin next to a mountain lake. Even a small town Airbnb with river view, shaded porch, and terrible Wi-Fi. (For some reason, my best solo retreats have all been near water. So let’s make water-adjacency and low connectivity contractual stipulations of a successful solo retreat.)

Bring your Kindle, loaded with at least a couple work-focused books you’re genuinely excited about reading. Bring a notebook and pen. Leave the rest at home. (I’m not even 100% sure you should bring more than one change of clothes.)

Walk. Sit. Read. Interact minimally with others. Let your mind go quiet enough to actually hear itself. Your notepad should always be next to you. If something you read gets you thinking, follow it naturally. Write down whatever comes up. The goal is just to let all the good ideas already inside you bubble up to the surface.

You need the break. You need the chance to breathe. Our guarantee? You’re going to come back to work with at least a couple good ideas. And maybe, just maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll come back with THE big idea that truly makes a difference in your career arc.

David Squires

David Squires is the Group Editorial Director of SmartWork Media. He believes that the first role of business media is to inspire readers.

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