What A Snow Day Means To The Self-Employed

I write this on what will be called from this day forward, The Blizzard of 2016.

The only sounds interrupting my writing this morning are the wind gusting by the window and the heat hissing through the baseboard.

The social networks are full of people exchanging photos of what it looks like from where they sit, pictures of what they’re cooking up in the kitchen and suggestions for movies to watch and television shows to binge on.

Snow days are excuses to stop.

That’s what makes them so great. And if they were a wonderful break in a busy world when I was a kid and life moved at a much slower pace, they’re even more precious in a world where everything moves 24/7 at breakneck speed.

Except of course if you’re among the self-employed, part of the gig economy, and/or an entrepreneur.

Of which I am one.

In that case, a snow day does not instantly equate with staying in your pajamas, finding out if Mozart in the Jungle is really as good as they said and if The Martian really deserved that Golden Globe.

A snow day is just another day you can work.

Especially if your office is situated in your home.

Before you can indulge in any of those treats one equates with a snow day, if you’re like me, you know you must get something accomplished first. There has to be at least one, if not two or three things you can check off of your list before you can crack open the adult beverage of your choice and wrap yourself in a blanket on the couch.

Some of you might read that and immediately suggest I take a break.

Forget about those two or three things I want to finish up and read a chapter or two from Gloria Steinem’s, Life on the Road.

But don’t.

As much as I love snow days and all they signify and as much as I have fond memories of blizzards past when I was not self-employed, this is how it works when you’re an entrepreneur.

You take the breaks when you want them and when you need them. You learn to pay attention to yourself and not the structures others create for you. You don’t need the excuse of a snowstorm to stop and refuel.

You rely on you to know when you need to do that.