Celebrating free time is something we have elevated to an art form in my family, and I wanted to share a little about what our weekends look like.
One of the best things about business ownership is getting to be really intentional about the way you spend your time.
And if you’re doing it right, that means deciding how to spend your free time too.
I’m a mom with a teenager and a toddler at home, so between that and my business, free time is pretty sacred to me.
I love both of those aspects of my life, but I also love solitude.
As an introvert, I CRAVE it.
Ever since 2020, we’ve all been at home full time. Nick, Aralyn, Jack, and I all occupying our tiny 2 bedroom home day in and day out.
I know we’re blessed in many ways to be able to just stay home.
I know my perspective is incredibly privileged.
It’s just not an option for so many people.
But being surrounded by people 24/7 (even my most beloved people) is EXHAUSTING.
And knowing I have a day to myself gets me through the week sometimes.
It is what it is.
But being able to build free time into my schedule has only been possible because of the systems I have in place, and the boundaries I put around how my time is spent.
Not just my time, either.
Nick takes care of the house and day to day running of the family.
He deserves time off.
Aralyn is on track to graduate early and babysits.
She deserves time off.
So we came up with Family Free Weekends.
The idea is that we each get a full day off. Free of responsibilities and schedules.
No cooking.
No cleaning.
No chores.
No work.
You stay up late, sleep in, and then binge whatever book, show, or video game your heart desires.
You hang out with the family if you want.
Or… you revert into a hermit and no one sees you all day.
It’s YOUR (glorious) free day.
To be able to swing a 3 day weekend every week requires a lot of forethought and planning in my business.
Because my day off is Friday.
And yeah, I love the hell out of what I do so it’s tempting to work anyway.
BUT NO WORKING ON YOUR DAY OFF!
Because if I work, even on passion projects, then I don’t get a day off at all.
So I had to reinforce this boundary with myself more than anyone.
Which means you can’t reach me on Friday.
I’m OOO.
This caller is not available.
I’m off saving the world in Thedas or scavenging in a post-apocalyptic wasteland (playing Dragon Age or Fallout).
And when my day off is over?
I’m refreshed.
I’m excited.
I had a chance to miss my family, miss my routine.
And so I appreciate it all even more.
So maybe you’re in a similar “always surrounded” position and are wondering how to broach this topic with your own family but you’re not sure how to say it without sounding like an asshole?
It helps if you have open communication lines to begin with, so you can tell your partner you need a break from them and the fam without them taking it personally.
And yeah, they might take it personally.
But when you come at it from a place of partnership, “I deserve time off and so do you” it’s going to land differently.
Another thing to consider is that it does change the workload for everyone involved.
If all of your kids are very young, you may not be up for an entire day of single parenting. Your partner may not be. Nick and I are lucky that Aralyn is here to help with Jack.
Once you get in the swing of things, you’ll see that having a system for your family to prioritize each individual by dedicating an entire day to their recuperation and mental health is worth the extra work so they can have a free day.
And what if you’re always surrounded but haven’t figured out the systems side of your business to even be able to take time off?
I can help with that too.
I do these Free, 15-Min System Audits for 1:1/DFY service providers. There is NO PITCH (not a sales call!) – where I look at your existing systems (website, CRM, PM, emails, or whatever you’ve currently got going) and give you a customized next-step strategy to scale your services so that you can create more free time in your life.
And then if you are curious to find out more about working with me (offers, payment plans, details – etc) – we can hop on a separate call for that.
OR – you can just take what I give you on the Systems Audit and implement away.
