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Do you take summer off, or do you keep working?

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July and August are approaching. The months when pretty much everyone in Europe takes time off. So I'm curious how other founders here handle it.

A lot of founders end up taking their break during this window simply because it's when their kids are out of school and their partner's schedule lines up too. On top of that, many B2B companies see slower activity during these months anyway, so it makes sense to step back when there's naturally less happening.

Personally I prefer to take time off either in May to mid-June, or in September. Fewer crowds everywhere, and honestly the heat doesn't agree with me. Europe has been hitting record temperatures lately, with some places crossing 45°C, which is something we've genuinely never seen before.

So I'm curious:

  • Do you take a real break in July/August, or do you keep building through it?

  • Has becoming a founder changed how and when you take time off compared to when you had a regular job?

  • And if you don't take summer off, when do you actually disconnect?

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Taking breaks in april may or whenever NOT in Jul Aug is smart... but a real foinder always sleeps with one eye open anyway

 hahah true. It's really hard to not think about your business.

Everyone's posting vacation photos. I'm posting commits.

 nice! GitHub summer edition 2026. :lol: Hope it will bring you great business results.

 Ha, GitHub summer edition, no sunscreen required. Appreciate it, we'll see if the commits turn into customers.

For me it's all about balance. I never disappear for a whole month or weeks, but I do take time off all year round. Sometimes it's a few days, others, a week or so. The best part, I can avoid peak season.

When I am away for a few weeks during the summer or end of year, I work at specific times so I keep shipping.

 Finding balance it's really important. Do you work solo or you have a team?

 Mostly solo, but I hire people when I need people with taste do it better than me :)

 great approach!

We're lucky to be a big enough team that we can disconnect whenever we need to. Personally, since I'm more on the sales side currently, it's harder to fully stop over summer, even though realistically nothing major is going to happen (like signing contracts) during that period anyway. The thing is, I still need to keep the pipeline filled, because if I don't put the work in now, I'm unlikely to see anything come of it 6 months down the line.

So overall I just take it more relaxed rather than fully switching off. It's unlikely a project will suddenly kick off and force me back into dev mode, so I can slow down without fully checking out, but I can't just disappear either.

Unlike AI, the human brain isn’t a machine. We really do need proper rest.

So yes, I’m definitely planning to fully switch off in July. Like, actually switch off. I’ll be in the mountains for almost a week with barely any internet — trekking, cold lakes, long walks, silence.

For me that’s the real reset. Not just “taking a break,” but giving the nervous system enough space to come back to work with more clarity, energy, and better ideas.

I keep building through the summer. But planning a proper break in September, family time, no laptop, just disconnect.
Actually looking forward to it.

I think becoming a Founder changed my perspective on time off.
I was all up for having a break and coming back fresh, but then there was no space for time off.
It was a week off ( not really) in 6-8 months.

Now I firmly believe space needs to be made; I am still working around a tight schedule and am hoping I end up incorporating a month off at least.


My "summer off" is just me answering Slack from a nicer chair near water. Does anyone actually pull off the full disconnect, or is that a founder myth like inbox zero?

I will try to handle it in a hybrid mode.

In the July/Aug – I am travelling to Munich for work purposes. My vacation happened during the first two weeks of June (but a friend of mine is asking me about a September trip to 3 countries or so) :D

But I definitely want to work and improve my plugin :)