Sunday Fundays are a must.

Doesn’t that really say it all?

When I started my first company when I was a Senior in college, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  My father + grandfathers were all entrepreneurs.  I was raised in the culture of a small business owner.

It is a different world than the 9-5.  I knew that much.

But what I didn’t realize at that time was that I was establishing routines + values that would carry me into more than a decade of business-ownership.

My father worked his butt off.  He worked before we woke up, while we were at school, and after we went to bed.  He worked when the market was good + when it was bad.  Hot + snowing.  He worked.

But the important part isn’t when he work – it is when he didn’t work.

He didn’t work at dinnertime – we sat down as a family every night at 5pm – and he didn’t work on the weekends.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  He did work on Saturdays, but usually with my brother while my mom + I did something together.  He did not work on Sundays.

In 2000 when LSI was born, I just made up my mind that dinnertime was the end of the workday.  I did not work on weekends.  Period.

Thirteen years later, my routine remains the same.  I’d be a liar if I said that I never pick up my computer on a Saturday morning or while I am cooking dinner, but for the most-part, I guard my calendar like a hawk.

Here’s how I do it.

I calendar everything.

Calls I need to make, errands I need to run, projects I need to complete.

It sounds simple – or crazy, depending on who’s reading this – but when I take the time to input what I “need” to do, you’d be surprised how many things I find really aren’t that important.

I complete revenue-generating tasks in the morning:  client work, sales calls, and the like.  I handle to-dos/nice-to-dos in the afternoon:  follow-up phone calls, grocery shopping, tasks without a deadline.

Nothing gets added to my calendar that I don’t intend to tackle.

So guess what, I hear myself saying “no” a lot more than I use to.  And that’s because I really, really value my time.  I appreciate making money doing things that I love.  I relish in the afternoons that I can catch-up with a good friend.  I dig Sunday Fundays.

My Juicy Glad-I-Caught That:  You can take better care of yourself + your business thru your calendar.

Are the things that you are planning to do today of service?  Will they add to the betterment of your life?  Does it hold the vision of your company or family?

If not, it’s a no, and it needs to come off of your calendar.

It’s going to feel strange at first.  And it might even put some people off.  But by creating space on your calendar for things that bring you joy – making money, picking up your kids from school, connecting with a great referral partner – that “strange” feeling will quickly dissipate.

I promise.

I work with small business owners to find the space on the calendars.  Perhaps the goal is to make more money – add it to your calendar!  Maybe it’s to disconnect – add it to your calendar!  Then, guard it.

What will you commit to adding to or removing from your calendar moving forward?

I want to hear about it!

In love,

N

xoxox