The Truth About “Making Your Own Hours”.

One of the perks of owning a small business is that you get to make your own hours.

And technically, that is absolutely true.

What nobody tells you is that you will apparently choose ALL OF THEM.

There seems to be this idea that when a small business owner says, “I make my own hours,” what we mean is that we leisurely work for a couple of hours, close the laptop, pour another cup of coffee, and spend the rest of the day doing whatever our little hearts desire.

That is adorable.

Making my own hours doesn’t mean I don’t work very many of them.

It means I have some control over when those hours happen.

And yes, there is flexibility. That’s one of the things I love about working for myself.

I can schedule an appointment in the middle of a Tuesday without asking anyone for permission. I can take an afternoon off because I want to. I can decide I’m absolutely useless before my second cup of coffee and nobody is going to write me up for it.

But flexibility does not mean unlimited availability.

And apparently, those two things are very easy to confuse.

Yes, I’m Home. No, That Doesn’t Mean I’m Available.

This one can be especially tricky with family and friends.

When you work from home or run your own business, people sometimes have a hard time seeing your work hours as actual work hours.

They know you’re home.

They know you don’t have a boss standing over you.

They know you technically could answer the phone.

So when you don’t answer, or don’t call back immediately, people can get their panties in a wad.

Because, after all, you’re home.

What could you possibly be doing?

Working.

I’m working.

If I worked in an office across town, nobody would think twice about the fact that I didn’t answer a personal call at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. They’d assume I was busy doing my job.

But when your office happens to be inside your house, somehow the rules change.

Except they can’t.

Because if I spend half the day BS-ing on the phone with friends, the work doesn’t magically disappear.

Believe me, I’ve checked.

It doesn’t sneak off and complete itself while I’m discussing what somebody’s sister-in-law posted on Facebook.

It waits.

Patiently.

And then at 7:00 that evening, when everyone else is relaxing, there I am doing the work I was supposed to be doing at 10:30 that morning.

That’s why I’ve had to learn to stick to my guns and set boundaries around my work time.

And that isn’t always easy.

Especially with people you love.

There’s a little guilt that can creep in when you see the phone ringing and think, Well, I could answer it.

And yes, technically I could.

I could also fold laundry, unload the dishwasher, run to the grocery store, make an appointment, scroll Facebook, reorganize a closet and watch three episodes of something I’ve already seen.

That’s the danger of working from home.

There are approximately 4,782 things I could be doing.

But during the hours I’ve set aside to work, I need to work.

Otherwise, I’ve traded having a boss who protects company time for being a boss who lets her employee screw around all day.

And unfortunately, I’m both of those people.

Flexibility Still Has Boundaries

Now, does that mean I never answer the phone during the day?

Of course not.

That’s where the flexibility comes in.

If one of my kids needs me, something important comes up, or I simply decide I have time to talk, I can make that choice.

That’s one of the privileges of working for myself.

The important part is that it’s my choice to make.

Flexibility means I can move things around when I need or want to.

It doesn’t mean everyone else gets to decide that my time is flexible for me.

That’s a big difference.

And it’s one I’m still learning to protect.

Because every time I say, “I’ll just do it later,” I’m borrowing time from myself.

Later usually means my evening.

Or my weekend.

Or the time I was supposed to be relaxing.

Which brings me to another category of working hours nobody ever talks about.

The ones when you’re not actually working at all.

The Mental Hours

These might be the sneakiest hours of all.

Because technically, I’m off.

I’m making dinner.

I’m watching TV.

I’m lying in bed.

I’m trying to have an actual life.

And yet, somewhere in the background, the business is still running around inside my head wearing tiny little work boots.

Did you answer that email?

Don’t forget to order that.

What are you going to do about that thing next week?

You should really write that idea down.

And, of course:

You’re forgetting something.

WHAT?

Apparently my brain doesn’t know either.

It just thought I’d enjoy the anxiety.

Business ideas are particularly disrespectful of office hours.

They arrive in the shower, in the car, at the grocery store, and my favorite… at 3:00 a.m.

And because I know myself, I have to write them down immediately or they’ll disappear forever, leaving behind only the vague certainty that I once had an idea so brilliant it probably would have funded my retirement.

The mental load of owning a business is hard to explain if you haven’t experienced it.

Even when you’re not physically working, part of your brain is often still clocked in.

So Yes, I Make My Own Hours

And I wouldn’t give up the flexibility.

I genuinely love being able to structure my own day. I love not having to ask permission to go to an appointment or take an afternoon off. I love being able to rearrange things when life happens.

But freedom and free time are not the same thing.

And flexibility isn’t the same thing as availability.

Making my own hours means I get to decide when I work.

It doesn’t mean I don’t have to work.

It doesn’t mean my workday is less important because my office happens to be at home.

And it definitely doesn’t mean I’m sitting around waiting for someone to call because I have nothing better to do.

Sometimes I’m available.

Sometimes I’m not.

Sometimes I can move things around.

Sometimes I need to let the phone ring and stick to my guns.

Because at the end of the day, the work is still going to be there.

And if I don’t protect the hours I’ve set aside to do it, I know exactly who’s going to have to catch up later.

Me.

So yes, I make my own hours.

Apparently, I chose all of them.

And even when the office is closed, there’s a pretty good chance my brain is still in there working overtime.