I Thought Owning a Business Would Give Me More Control Over My Time

One of the things that appealed to me about working for myself was flexibility.

I liked the idea of having more control over my schedule. I could decide when I worked, where I worked, and how I structured my day.

Technically, all of that is true.

I have an enormous amount of flexibility.

I can schedule an appointment in the middle of a weekday. I can move things around. I can take a random morning for something personal and make the work up later.

The problem is hiding in those last five words.

Make the work up later.

Self-employment has given me much more control over when I work.

It has not always resulted in working less.

Sometimes those are very different things.

Flexibility is not the same thing as free time.

If I leave the office early, nobody is going to ask where I went.

There is also nobody who magically completes the work while I'm gone.

The deadline is still the deadline. The email still needs an answer. The meeting I moved still needs to happen somewhere.

The flexibility is real. So is the responsibility.

Your calendar becomes a negotiation with yourself.

When you work for yourself, you get to create the boundaries.

This sounds wonderful until you realize the person negotiating both sides of the agreement is you.

“I'll just finish this tonight.”

“I can squeeze that in tomorrow morning.”

“I'll take care of it this weekend.” Tomorrow's version of you is apparently extremely capable and has unlimited availability.

Good for her.

She will be thrilled to discover what you've planned.

There is always something you could be doing.

The work is never actually finished.

You could update the website. Work on marketing. Follow up. Organize files. Improve a process. Review finances. Plan next quarter.

There is no natural point where the business stands up, turns off the lights, and tells you to go home.

At some point, you have to decide you're done.

Success can make the time problem more complicated.

When you're trying to grow, getting more work is the goal.

Then you get more work.

Excellent!

Now you have the work.

There have been periods where I've looked at my schedule and realized that almost everything on it was something I had actively chosen.

I built the busy.

Past me is enthusiastic.

Current me would occasionally like to have a word with her.

Control over your time requires actually controlling your time.

Having the ability to control your schedule does not automatically produce a schedule you like.

You can own a business and still let everyone else determine your calendar.

If flexibility is one of the things I value about self-employment, I have to protect some of it.

Otherwise, I have simply created a job with a very unpredictable manager.

Unfortunately, I know the manager personally.

I still wouldn't trade the flexibility.

The goal isn't to have a completely empty calendar. The goal is to have more say over what fills it.

I thought owning a business would give me more control over my time.

It did.

What I didn't realize was that then I would have to learn what to do with that control.

I'm still learning.