You love the idea of transitioning to a 4-day workweek — after all, who doesn’t want a long weekend EVERY weekend? But now you’re wondering how to DO a 4-day workweek when you’re self employed. In this article, let’s go over some key questions to ask to successfully do a 4-day workweek self employed productivity schedule, PLUS common mistakes when home based business owners switch to a 4-day work week…
(This article is adapted and expanded upon from the August 17 2024 edition of the Solopreneur Diary Entries weekly newsletter)
There are MANY benefits to a 4-day workweek: You can get more time freedom and a clearer calendar, you can create more space for your personal life and family and hobbies, you can escape the rat race of excessive and unnecessary hustle…
…Buuuuut it’s not so simple as magically moving a few tasks around and shifting out of a 5-day workweek. It’s VERY important that you do it the *right* way!
Many home-based business owners assume they’ll magically have time freedom when they start their businesses, but years go by and they STILL find themselves trapped in a traditional 9 to 5 schedule.
Home-based business owners technically create their own schedule and set their own hours… yet somehow they’re unable to take personal appointments in the middle of the day or make spontaneous changes to their plans; they haven’t created a schedule that makes sense for their unique lifestyle, goals, personality, brain, hobbies, family, etc.
That is NOT home based business owner time freedom.
(Disclaimer: There’s nothing wrong with a traditional 9 to 5 schedule IF that’s what works for you! In my experience, however, five days a week of 9 to 5 isn’t the ideal schedule for the vast majority of people.)
This gives us a wonderful opportunity to challenge assumptions we’re making — of ALL kinds — and explore all the possibilities that might be available to us…
For example:
Here are 3 questions to ask yourself for getting started with how to do a 4-day workweek when you're self employed:
- Why do you work the schedule that you do? (Ask this question without judgment! What went into your decisions around this schedule? WAS there any intentionality to it?)
- Is this your ideal version of a schedule? (Remove your current reality from the equation, e.g. if you have specific obligations that are cutting into your ideal schedule. What would that ideal version look like, if you didn’t *need to* worry about XYZ?)
- Even if you feel like you are unable to experience your ideal schedule *right now*, what are all of your options for getting closer to it? (This is where you’re grounding that ideal into your current reality!)
I encourage EVERYONE to ask these questions on a regular basis, e.g. a couple times a year — I routinely check in on this for my own schedule, because seasons of life/business change and it’s important to adapt accordingly.
(I’ve been a home-based business owner for 12+ years and these questions continue to be an invaluable check-in)
Asking yourself that very first question above is so powerful, even though it can be a bit jarring. It can be surprising to realize that you made choices because “that’s what everyone does” or because that’s what USED TO work for you, even if it no longer entirely makes sense.
This can pave the way for you to think outside the box. A great example I love is that one of my clients takes Wednesdays off work — it’s such an innovative approach and it works beautifully for her! Most people think of a 4-day workweek as Monday - Thursday, but she works 2 days, gets a day off, works another 2 days, and gets weekends off. How cool is that?
Question #2 can be sticky when you’re too focused on your current reality — but unless you allow yourself to take a step back and imagine a dream version of your schedule and life, you won’t have the space to then pull (at least a small piece of) that into your current reality.
(FYI we can absolutely work on this together in 1:1 coaching sessions)
Question #3 can be challenging when you’re uncomfortable about making things easier on yourself (which is very common! Our society rewards martyrship and unnecessary self-sacrifice). But it can also be incredibly beautiful to witness — sometimes you can bring the tiniest piece of your ideal schedule into your current reality, and it paves the way for you to make more and more and more changes over time.
For example:
- IDEAL schedule: Four-day workweek.
- REALITY: Five-day workweeks, usually with evenings and weekends thrown in.
- SMALL SHIFT *could* look like: Start giving yourself a single 2.5-day weekend every month (which can then become one 3-day weekend each month… then two 3-day weekends each month… then no work in the evenings… etc)
Now, it's not QUITE that easy to magically do a 4-day workweek self employed schedule...
There’s a WHOLE LOT that goes into how to do a 4-day workweek when you're self employed, such as:
- Understanding the root reasons for why you want this vs that (so you work toward the RIGHT-for-you goals),
- Getting your mindset into a good place for this (so you don’t feel guilt or shame or stress about it),
- Strategy to prepare for it (so your business can handle this change without being negatively affected by it),
- Logistics around what makes the most sense (given your unique lifestyle, obligations, etc),
- Taking into account your personality and how your brain works and your productivity style (so it’s fully customized to your needs and feels awesome for you),
- Setting in place audits as you make small shifts (so you’re checking in with how it’s all feeling and to make adjustments as needed),
- Etc.
Read that again.
This is an art ♥
And it starts with asking yourself those 3 questions I posed to you earlier in this article. Reflect on them this weekend and see what comes up for you!
By the way — Challenging assumptions, exploring new options, and integrating your ideal life into your current reality is one of my favourite things that happens for you in the Productivity Powerhouse e-course:
That brings us to today’s PSA regarding common mistakes when home based business owners switch to a 4-day work week 😉 You already know that it’s not enough to just take the action — as we outlined above, there’s a lot more that goes into your new 4-day workweek self employed schedule and productivity plan!
But there’s one more important mistake far too many home-based business owners make when switching to a 4-day workweek…
The #1 mistake to AVOID when you’re transitioning to a 4-day workweek:
Cramming the exact same tasks and amount of work into 4 days as you currently do in 5 days.
…AKA, just working longer days during those 4 days, so that you’re still working the same number of hours each week.
For example, if you currently do a 40-hour workweek and work 8 hours/day, 5 days/week, then in this case you’re making a big mistake if you work those same 40 hours but as 10 hours/day, 4 days/week.
Here are a few reasons why this is a mistake…
- You aren’t actually improving your time management at all — you’re just adjusting your schedule slightly.
- This won't necessarily increase your energy — which means you might be too exhausted by the time your day off arrives that you aren’t able to use that free time the way you want.
- You won’t be making any changes to improve your efficiency, productivity, or task/project management. If you struggle with boundaries, deadlines, feelings of overwhelm, procrastination, or overworking yourself, this isn’t going to fix ANY of that.
In other words… The whole reason for WHY you want a 4-day workweek as a home-based business owner will not be what you GET — unless you are strategic, mindful, and intentional with how you approach your new schedule ♥
Productivity Powerhouse helps you overcome this crucial mistake!
Here’s what you learn in Productivity Powerhouse:
- Freelancer productivity tips and how to save 5 - 10 hours/week (or more!), EVERY week, so you can have real home based business owner time freedom.
- Energy management techniques (so you can enjoy your newfound time freedom to the fullest!), so you can avoid toxic productivity hustle culture.
- How to design the perfect-for-you schedule and calendar system for your solopreneur business and your lifestyle.
- Time management, project management, and task management skills.
- How to navigate procrastination, overwhelm, perfectionism, overworking, and tricky deadlines.
- Best practices for communication and boundaries.
- How to best plan ahead so you can take sabbaticals for passion projects or spontaneous days off work.
- Solopreneur success tips for enjoying a true lifestyle business.
- Burnout management AND prevention.
- What you REALLY need to do in order to effectively switch to a 4-day workweek that you love.
Ready to enjoy a 4-day workweek that actually SERVES you?
Join Productivity Powerhouse today:
“But I don’t have TIME… I’m too busy to add this onto my plate.”
Productivity Powerhouse is specifically designed to free up your time and to get you really fast results! It is absolutely doable for you to start now — even though you've got a lot of other things on your plate.
You don’t need to set aside hours upon hours each week to go through the program! You can get results very quickly simply by starting the first lesson.
This is the #1 program for home based business time freedom.
Here’s the thing: I know how busy you are. I know how hectic your life and your business are. I know how stressed out you are.
I created Productivity Powerhouse exactly for YOU.
And I know that you're probably thinking, “I just need another week, another month, another year, and then I'll be ready” — in that case, I want you to know that Productivity Powerhouse is *still* designed for you.
It is designed for you if you feel like you have so much on your plate, if you feel like “After next week, things will be less busy. The timing isn't quite right at this point. Soon the timing will be right,” — If that is what you were thinking, then you need Productivity Powerhouse NOW.
Not tomorrow.
Not next week.
Not next month.
Not next year.
Now.
You need it now because it is designed for you to get your time back. It is designed to give your home based business time freedom. It is designed to help you so that you don't NEED to keep on saying “Next week, next week, next week.”
All those weeks or months turn into years, don’t they?
→ Productivity Powerhouse gives you back your time and your energy.
Productivity Powerhouse features freelancer productivity tips, solopreneur success tips, and the strategies and mindset to escape toxic productivity hustle culture for good — making your life and your business feel so much easier and more enjoyable along the way. We are going to REMOVE things from your plate on the road to home based business owner time freedom! We are going to decrease your overwhelm, and we are going to improve your clarity and your focus when you join Productivity Powerhouse.
Your business, and your life, don't need to be such a challenge anymore.
Now that you know how to do a 4-day workweek when you're self employed and how to avoid common mistakes when home based business owners switch to a 4-day workweek, you’re ready to make your dream schedule HAPPEN:
BY THE WAY...
Did you enjoy this article? It was adapted and expanded upon from the August 17 2024 edition of the Solopreneur Diary Entries weekly newsletter.
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