The Weekend

Most people work for the weekend. You start hearing TGIF on Thursday afternoons. And this is true for the majority of America that works a 9 to 5 job. Self employment, on the other hand, plays by a different set of rules. Your 'weekend' is going to vary drastically from the established weekend everybody else follows. Let me explain. This particular weekend, I have to go look at a job this afternoon. These folks are in a hurry to get their bathroom whipped into shape so they can put it on the market to sell. Once we iron out a few details, they're going to pull the trigger, which means the ball has just been putted on to my green. If my work load were a little heavier at this moment, I would be there Sunday morning, tearing their bathroom apart, getting it ready to put back together on Monday. Self employment is not bound by 9 to 5, Monday thru Friday. You tackle it as it walks through the door. The work comes and goes in waves. Sometimes tsunamis. I hardly ever work a 40 hour week. If we're slow, 30. If we're busy, as much as 70 to 80. Holidays are just another day. I have, at one time or another, worked on every single holiday. It's not that big of a deal to me, but the people who are enjoying their day off with their families, you would think the last thing they would want, is to hear power tools being run in their house on their holiday. Self employment can bring some rather big challenges concerning work load. There has been stretches where I've worked 35 - 40 days straight, with no days off in between. Unfortunately, there have been days where I did not see my children. Up and out the door early, home by 11 PM. On the flip side, there have been weeks where my children are sick of seeing me and ask, "When are you going back to work Dad"? Then there's the dreaded paperwork. I hate paperwork! My desk is a constant clutter. I feel as if I'm shifting piles from one location to another, just so I can feel like I've accomplished something at my desk. Computers were originally designed to greatly reduce the amount of paperwork involved in running a business. I think its just added another layer of work to the secretary, namely me. You have to record things in a computer, and keep hard copies in case your computer crashes, or, the IRS wants a peek at what you've been up to. Many times, weekends are spent, what I like to call, 'Doing my homework'. So now that I'm finished ranting about 'Living the Dream' of being you own boss, I'm putting on my game face for the day. Enjoy the weekend all! It is Saturday, right?