Guilt-free day-off

by simonacampli

simonacampli
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

When you work for yourself one of the most common struggle could be finding the time to enjoy a day-off and doing it without guilt or stressing too much for the time you’re spending away of the -mostly imaginary- desk.

With no 9–5 boundaries it is easy to fall in an endless vortex of to-do lists and extra-curricular activities; when your job is also your passion, even more this spiral of duty really doesn’t feel, at least at first, as an obligation.

Another curios recurrence is the fact that people around you quite often expect you to work all the time, or at least to be on call. Since you don’t have an established and set number of working hours, clients and partners usually feel they can call you at any time and you kind of agree too that you should be available if you don’t want to pass on good lucrative opportunities.

We’ve discussed in the past the many reasons why breaks actually facilitate better, long-lasting and more creative productivity, let’s see today a quick exercise to actually do it and, most importantly, enjoy the positive beneficial effects of it.

  • Create your own structure: the fact that you don’t work 9–5 doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t set a structure and while doing it that you can’t do it following your own favoured rythms while also minding the amount of work you have. Also, think about all the things you need to make it really productive, always including time off. As any other job when you sign the contract on the first day, create your own contract with the most desired structure you could think when imagining “if I could wake up tomorrow to the best and most balanced working-week of my life, what kind of organization it would have?” Break down the week into days and into hours and then go back and extend the exercise into months and, finally, a year plan. Think of all the things you give value to, as personal health, sport, family and fun time, personal growth, professional growth, networking and so on including the day to day working duties only as part of a larger plan.
  • Make it visual. Create the plan as a map and have fun in using different colours for different areas of your life. The amount of one colour needed in one particular period of your life might need to change and that’s ok, since you’re your own boss you can predict changes and make adjustments in time if you plan for them.
simonacampli

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Promoting Best Strategies toward problem solving and well-being. Creative innovation and Sustainability instigator. Have a weakness for miniature things.

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