Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning. This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that everybody needs at least some time off work.

So if you don't get paid time off, schedule unpaid time off.

It is not realistic to plan to work every single weekday of the entire year.

And it is usually not realistic to make up all the work you would have done on a work day

you're off by squeezing

it into the cracks of an already busy schedule. So, plan some PTO, even if it is UTO for you.

So I have long been fascinated by the concept of paid time off, as it has never been a part of my life.

I have been self-employed since my early 20s, and I have always earned money based on what I produce,

not based on a negotiated long-term salary, where I accrue a certain amount of paid time off per year.

So you can imagine that the general incentive is not to take time off, or since that is not

actually possible, to take it off, but not plan for it to be off, which makes life feel harried.

So after two plus decades of self-employment,

I have realized that I need to schedule unpaid time off just as someone else might plan paid time off. My life goes more smoothly. Travel and holidays are more enjoyable if I plan days off in advance.

For me, planning days off doesn't involve submitting paperwork to a boss or tracking how much PTO I've used.

But I do need to get my days off on the calendar, so I don't schedule appointments for those times,

or take on so much work that I can't take time away from my desk. I also need to be sure that I am

earning enough to meet my income goals for the year, based on the amount of time that I am actually

working.

If you are self-employed or an hourly or temp worker with no PTO benefits,

or if you don't get PTO for some other reason,

...