I have been preaching for sometime that entrepreneurs need to take more time off rather than less. But how do you get started?

Well for a start, try taking weekends off and spending time with your family doing things you enjoy.

If you are interested in making this weekend one of the best you’ve had here’s a way that works for me.

Mostly, I make no client appointments on Fridays. Fridays are a clean -up day for me. They are for working on the business, for getting organized and for planning.

Each Friday, I begin planning my calendar for the week, preparing my “to do” list for all the tasks I know will have to be completed. I prioritize them by deciding their strategic importance and their urgency. I look to delegate any tasks that are not mission critical; even if I know I could do them better my self. This by the way is not often. There are so many people better at a lot of things than me.

I also plan my Monday, so that I am ready to run as soon as I start work on Monday. The rest of Friday, I work on plans for the business, things I need to delegate, odd errands I have to run, but didn’t have time for during the week. It’s also a good thinking day.

My Fridays are busy days, but when I am done, I can take off for the weekend knowing that most of what I have to get done next week is at least planned. More importantly I don’t have a backlog of administrative things hanging over me like a cloud, nagging at me because they haven’t been done.

Working this way takes some practice and doggedness but the bottom line is:

  • I am more effective during the week, because I know what I need to do and don’t worry about dealing with anything but building the business.

  • I don’t worry on the weekend about what’s going to happen on Monday. I already know, and am properly prepared to take care of it.

  • On a rare occasion, like this weekend past, I still do some work on the weekend – but it’s more relaxed and often its fun stuff that I don’t mind doing.

  • I am productive the moment I start work on Monday morning. What’s more if your week is properly planned you can be more productive all week, even if the odd day gets screwed up.

Try it; you’ll be glad you did. You’ll come back to work on Monday more energized and better able to cope with what your business throws at you.