It’s a common problem facing small business owners and entrepreneurs: working weekends and the inability to have a break from pressing matters. How many times have you been out on a day’s excursion with your family or friends, only to be interrupted by an urgent work-related cell-phone call, or a deadline looming in your head that prevents you from enjoying the moment? If you want to make progress in better defining your workweek, and making sure you actually have a true weekend, then here are some tips that might help: Communicate your intentions. Be consistent with alerting customers and colleagues by updating your voice mail or e-mail messages. State the days you’ll be unavailable, as well as the time and day you’ll be back in communication. Make it a habit to do this every Friday, if that’s how your workweek is scheduled. Let the weekend go without obsessing about your messages, and then hit it hard on Monday morning. Turn off your beeper. You know that little noise that goes off every time someone leaves you a message? Turn it off. Even though you may go through withdrawals, make a habit of tuning out alerts of incoming messages, and set aside a time to address them. This will cut down on your interruptions and help those around you feel like you really are relaxing and enjoying the moment. Adjust your workweek approach. Those who work Monday through Friday often look at Monday mornings as the time to plan the week ahead, organize the workweek and set deadlines. Sometimes adjusting that way of thinking can make a big difference. Try making Thursdays the deadline day to have all the weeks major tasks completed, and leave Friday for your day to plan the next week, tie up loose ends, clean up your desk and wind down. Then you’ll have a clear head for the weekend, and be prepared to hit the ground running on Monday morning. Schedule a check-in time. If you simply can’t go for a full Saturday and Sunday without checking messages or work-related issues, then set aside a specific and limited amount of time each day to do so. Maybe each Saturday and Sunday afternoon, you can schedule work time between 4 and 5 p.m. to check messages, return phone calls and send out e-mail messages. Set yourself limits, and only respond or attend to critical matters. If you don’t set these limits, then your co-workers, employees or colleagues will get the impression that there are no boundaries on the weekends when it comes to work. Stick to it. Once you’ve gotten in the habit of setting boundaries and getting away from work for the weekend, make sure you maintain them. Once you make regular exceptions for frantic colleagues or needy employees, you’ll find yourself back to ground zero. Maintaining a healthy distance from your workweek is vital to your personal growth and the success of your organization. With a few adjustments, you can make sure that you enjoy a little time off! | 
