Running your own business gives you freedom: freedom to say what you want your business to say, work in the way you want to work, and call the shots as you want to call them.

Or does it?

Think about your non-work life: chances are, you give yourself the freedom to schedule your non-work lives how you best see fit: time for exercise, eating, cleaning the house, reading books… whatever is important to you.

But do you do the same thing in your business? Or are you letting the conventions and norms of society dictate how you work?

Ask yourself this: regardless of how it turned out at the end of the week, did you have the intention last week to work around 40 hours? Monday through Friday? Nine to five, or thereabouts?

Do you check your email when you want to, or when you think you should? How about your phone messages? When do you schedule clients?

Whatever your “sacred cows”, it’s time to barbecue them.

You Can Work Any Way You Want To

When most of us think about work, it’s a 9-5 (or 8-6), Monday-through-Friday affair. Maybe your schedule is a bit different, depending on your profession, but the point is the same — the vast majority of your work life is probably dictated by outside circumstances (i.e. expectations), and not based on what would really work for you.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with working a standard, typical workweek — unless it doesn’t represent the best way for you to work. And chances are, it doesn’t.

For example, are you a morning person? One of my clients, Julie, is, and so she schedules her “creative time” for the mornings, when she writes her best. She now has a “no clients before noon” rule.

Or, do you have a focus in your life that requires attention at a certain time of day? Another client, Michelle, is an avid gardener. Her most productive time in her garden is in the mornings, before it gets too hot — and so, she shifts her workday to accommodate her passion for digging in the soil.

And why not? Why not arrange your schedule in a way that works for you?

You Don’t Want To Be A Dog

There is a saying in Sufism that I don’t get to quote too often… but it sure is poignant here:

All the world is carrion, and those who seek it are dogs.

Okay, so it’s a bit strong, but point is sure: if you set your rhythms by the “outside world”, you’ll be forever chasing something that, even if you caught it, wouldn’t give you much.

It’s far better to set your own pace, to know what’s true for you, and allows you to perform at your best and brightest.

(And before anyone lynches me (or Sufis in general) for being anti-canine, there is also a wonderful teaching in Sufism about “The Seven Qualities of The Dog,” which include loyalty, honesty, etc.)

How To Set Your Own Pace

The best determiner of your work schedule is obviously not so-called “popular opinion”, nor is it the status quo. The best way to choose what works for you is to take the questions you have into your own heart, and feel what resonates for you there.

(For more help with this process, be sure to check out the “Silencing Overwhelm” ebook you get when you subscribe.)

But what are you asking about? What questions do you even ask?

When it comes to setting your own schedule, there are many parameters you can play with to determine what’s best for you.

And while I teach the entire system in my Inspired Productivity course, I’ll give you a simple one to start playing with now, that can revolutionize your workweek all by itself. It’s called “On/Off.”

On/Off

On/Off is about when you work, and when you don’t. Now, right away you probably have thoughts coursing through your mind, thinking, “Monday through Friday… all day… off weekends…” Maybe. And maybe not.

Instead of defaulting to those voices, try this:

1. Connect to your heart, and breathe. Get in touch with your inner, quiet rhythms. Let go of those other thoughts, all the ones that want to infringe on your quiet space within, and just be with your authentic voice within.
2. Choose a day. We’ll start with Monday.
3. Imagine Monday morning; see it in your mind, as you would see it in your calendar. Now, breathe your heart-connection into that space, and ask, “On? Or off?”, and see what you notice.

If you get the sense from your heart that you should work then, then work then. That’s an “On” time.

And if you get the sense from your heart — not your doubts or fears, but your heart — that you should take Monday mornings off, then don’t work then; that’s an “off” time.

Go through your entire week, Monday through Sunday, mornings and afternoons. Trust what your heart tells you, and run with it.

The first time I did this, I got to take Thursday afternoons off. Scared and shocked the heck out of me. But, I trusted it.

Did I get any complaints from my clients? No; they just thought I was busy then. But it worked out swimmingly with my family’s schedule, and became a great time to get things done as a family during the week, and spend great quality time with my daughter (I only had one back then).

It Can Ebb and Flow, too…

I work Thursday afternoons now (my heart told me to). But a few years ago, I decided not to see clients on Mondays. I still work Mondays, but they’re “genius” days — days set aside to work on projects without the interruptions of scheduled events.

Well, my inner voices had a field day with that one — “I’ll lose clients! People won’t understand!” — but do you know how many times it has been an issue? Zero.

I made it my way of working, and the world revolved around it, just fine. And when I made Fridays a “genius” day, too? Not as much as a whimper.

When you work and when you don’t is up to you. Same for when you answer the phones, check emails, or respond to the world’s requests.

Because in truth, there are should be only one sacred cow when it comes to your business: your heart’s guidance about what is right for you.

And the rest of those cows? Barbecue them!