I have a question for you. Do you ever work on your business on Saturday or Sunday? Back when I had a J-O-B, many years ago, I would have laughed at you if you asked me if I ever worked on a weekend. Not only did I never do any work on a weekend, but I wouldn’t have even thought about work at all on a weekend. Weekends were the 2 days of the week that I could completely forget about work and pretend it didn’t exist.
But now…with my own business? Things are SO different. I love thinking about my business. It makes me happy. Even when I don’t plan on doing any work, sometimes I end up working. I’ll have a great idea that I want to write down, or I’ll want to work on something that I have on my mind. I don’t see it as “work” but something that I want to do. I enjoy what I’m doing. I want to grow my business, and it doesn’t feel like something I “have” to do.
It’s Better Than Wasting Time
I know the value in taking time off. But there are times that I’ll have planned to take off on a weekend, but then find that I’m just wasting time. I’m looking for articles to read because I’m bored, or trying to find something to watch on TV to make the time pass by. I’m not doing anything fun or productive. If my daughter is busy doing something else, then why should I waste time when I’m not even having any fun? That’s when I realize that I could be doing something for my business. I could be accomplishing something. So that’s what I do. It’ll usually be something small that doesn’t take too long. But it’s something I’m happy to do, and I’m even happier to cross something off of my to-do list!
It’s Fun Time
What I also love about weekends is that since I don’t HAVE to work, I’ll work on some fun things that I wouldn’t do during the week. During the week I plan my time so that I’m working on things that will grow my business the fastest. But on a weekend I can work on anything that I want!
What do I mean by that? Well, as an example, I have a new website that I haven’t finished yet. I will schedule time to work on it, but right now I have too many other pressing things to do during the week. But on a weekend? I consider that MY time…so I have no problem putting some of my time towards that new site. It’s fun, and it’s something that I’m not usually doing during the week, so it’s different and exciting too.
It’s Time to Try Something New
Another thing I’ll work on during the weekend? Something that’s new to me, and I know will take a while to figure out. I know I should be on Linked in and Facebook. Believe me, I know. But I can’t get myself to spend the time to figure out exactly what I should be doing with them. But on the weekend? I don’t feel bad about spending time doing research, playing around, and learning what I should be doing to grow my business on those platforms. And even if I don’t accomplish anything during that time, I don’t feel bad about it. Plus knowing I learned something during that time makes me happy as well.
It’s Time to Get Things Done
Don’t get me wrong. I’ll also do regular work as well on weekends. I’ll write blog posts, work on a product, or even do social media on the weekends. Anything that can help my business. If it needs to be done, I’ll work on it. I have no problems doing that on a Saturday or Sunday.
It’s also a great time to catch up if I’ve gotten behind during the week. I try to plan out every minute of my work week. I don’t get much time, so I feel that I need to know exactly what I’m working on each and every minute. But let’s face it…things come up. It always seems that when I’m in the middle of concentrating on something, the phone will ring. Then there are the times when my daughter ends up with an unscheduled day off of school. Then of course as you know, sometimes projects take a whole lot longer than you expect them to. All of these things happen, and more often than I’d like. Catching up on a weekend makes me feel so much better, because then the next week I can move on to new things. I hate when I have to write down the same tasks as the week before that never got finished.
It’s Time to Get Ahead
Another reason I enjoy spending some time working on the weekends when I can, is that I can get ahead! I never get enough time to work during the day. So if I am lucky enough to get everything done during the week that I want to, and THEN have extra time on the weekend to work and get ahead? That’s just awesome, and makes my next week that much better and easier.
With all of this talk about working on weekends, I want you to know that I strongly believe in spending time away from work. I don’t think anyone should be a workaholic. You’ll be a lot happier if you spend some time away from work doing other things. You’ll also be more creative and excited about your business if you spend some time away from it!
When someone seems surprised that I spend time working on the weekend, and they feel bad that I “have” to do that, I laugh. To me that’s what a business should be. Something that you love and that you WANT to spend your time doing. I know that I’m lucky that I get to spend some time on the weekends working on my business. I hope that everyone gets that chance at some point!
Enjoy,
