After 5 or less hours of sleep most every night last week, I admit that it’s caught up with me. I’m exhausted and needed to take a couple of naps today. That’s what I get for attending a conference all day and then trying to do a full workload in the evenings.

I’m fine with that though. The good thing about being an entrepreneur is the flexible work schedule where I don’t have to work 9-5, Monday to Friday like most people.

Instead, I usually work more hours per week, but get to schedule it when it best suits my energy levels and other things I want to do. For example, I rarely do face to face meetings in the morning.

I actually started this work habit in the final two years of my last job. By spending my mornings focussed on my strategic work rather than everything my team needed me for, I was finally able to reduce my night and weekend hours because I wasn’t getting interrupted so much.

Now days, I also tend to start later than most people and end my workday about midnight unless I have something scheduled at night. In between, I’ll usually get a workout in too.

This routine doesn’t change much regardless of what day of the week it is or if it’s a holiday. In only changes if I’m travelling. That’s probably what made me so tired today since last week I needed to catch 6am flights for meetings and start my days much earlier for the conference.

I know my schedule is a luxury for most. I don’t have kids. I only have a bossy, 18 year old cat that wakes me up several times a night to put her on the bed and then again around 7am to feed her.

My schedule will have to change when my products are available for sale, and I need to be available for customer service etc. during the normal work day. For now, I’m glad I can experiment with my work hours to know that I’m giving myself the most productive and healthy schedule that works for me.