Who Said You Have to Work 5 Days a Week?

August 16, 2010 By Jackie Lee 25 Comments

Yesterday I was chatting with my niche marketing accountability partner Frank Dickinson. He was saying how he felt unmotivated and like he had been at his desk for way too long. I totally understood where he was coming from, I frequently feel the same myself. (especially during times I’m doing activities that aren’t incredibly energy promoting ~ like link building)

We talked for a while about it and juiced up his energy level a little bit, but it wasn’t until later in the day when I had a sudden desire to clean the house (which let me tell you ~ doesn’t happen very often) that something came to me.

Who ever said we have to work 5 days a week?

I have no problem (minus some interruptions throughout the day) sitting at my computer for 12 to 14 hours a day. So who said my work week had to be 40 hours broke up into 5 days? Or who said I needed to spend 40 hours at all?

Most of us entrepreneurs, who are now working from home, at one time spent time punching a clock for someone else. That whole 9 to 5 mentality ~ you have to work 40 hours a week and it has to happen Monday through Friday ~ is kind of ingrained in our minds and psyches.

Well guess what! This business doesn’t necessarily take 40 hours a week (after you’ve got things rolling ~ it can take a LOT more during the beginning stages) or maybe I’m not inspired for 40 hours this week, but last week I was on a roll and banged out 60 hours?

There is no one at my office door glaring down over me, pointing a finger telling me I can’t get up from my desk until I finish my 8 hours Monday through Friday.

I think it is something to look at. I know Fridays are not super productive days. I seem to lose energy around noon ~ well that’s most days lol.

However, it doesn’t matter if it’s Saturday or Sunday ~ I’m usually excited and motivated to work on stuff in the morning. So who says my schedule needs to be all day and only on weekdays? I’m my own boss. I get to make the damn rules. What if I want to work from 9 to 1, 7 days a week. I can do it. What if I wanted to bust my ass 3 days a week and take the other 4 off? I could ~ if I could fit what needs to be done in that time frame (and I wasn’t a person who would have an overwhelming feeling of *something I’m not sure I want to identify* to be in front of my computer lol ~ but hey maybe that’s what Frank needs to look at?)

The only caveat I would make on this is to make sure you can get done what really needs to be done for your business in the time you decide to make “work hours” I do also believe in the idea of identifying “work time”. That time where you have your timer out, and a specific task at hand, that belongs only to that task. No twitter. No facebook. No TV. No kids if you can swing it. No email. WORK. Whatever that looks like in your business.

So yeah, maybe this post is an essay in the obvious, but I think it’s pretty easy to forget that you’re in control of this journey and that means how you schedule your time too.

How are you scheduling your work hours? Is it working for you? Would an unusual work schedule work better for you? Maybe give you more energy and excitement to make the “work time” you do spend more productive? I’d love to hear about it… leave me a comment.