How to Create a Habit of Taking One Day Off Work Each Week

In this post I will teach you how to take one day off each week so you can experience more creativity, clarity, and enthusiasm in your life.

I’ve been utilizing this method for over a year and have experienced significant positive breakthroughs in my work as a business owner, as well as in my personal life as a father and husband.

But first, why is taking time off important for improving our creativity and clarity in work and life?

Why does taking one day off each week improve our creativity and clarity?

Our mind settles and identifies patterns when we intentionally give it time off

In my experience, completely detaching from work one day a week allows our minds to settle and identify patterns.

Once, I was going through a major struggle in my one of my coaching businesses in which profitability had completely plummeted. I had been hyper focused on this topic for months and when I intentionally chose to step away from emails and meetings about the topic, I had a clear vision of exactly what I needed to do and how I needed to communicate the plan, which I was able to quickly jot down on a piece of paper.

This plan which seemingly appeared out of thin air, was the catalyst for a business turnaround that revitalized a business I thought might need to end.

It forces us to sit with ourselves and stop being workaholics

Additionally, it forces us to think about what we would do if all our business goals came true — how would we spend a day?

Often, we work hard with the notion that once we reach our business goals we will then allow ourselves to rest and relax. But people who do this end up just developing habits that lead to burn out, divorce, and failed personal lives.

By taking one day off a week from work, we get to know who we are and what we would do if work was no longer necessary or an option. This can be very revealing.

We learn to do things that energize and fulfill us beyond work

Lastly, it functions as a mini-vacation to help us rest and recharge so we can return to work and our personal lives with more energy and focus. It’s during these “no work” days that we discover what we are interested in beyond productivity and accomplishment.

I’ve found that taking things slow on these days by going out to breakfast, enjoying the first sip of an oat milk latte, and spending time in nature with my children is what creates joy in my life.

Why do people struggle to take time off work each week?

There are many reasons that people struggle to take one day per week. Let’s start with the most common ones.

Lack of knowledge

Many people just don’t know how to take time off. Instead of resting or relaxing, they fill their weekends with more work like laundry, exercise classes, appointments, and more. For many of us, our second jobs start on the weekend. And unless you’ve worked with a coach or are part of an organized religion that teaches you how to take one day off a week, you may not have been exposed to this idea.

Pressure from the larger culture

We live in a culture that prides “hustle” and pushing ourselves to the brink of exhaustion. Because we don’t value rest as a culture (it’s not profitable), there is not a lot of external messaging that encourages us to take a day off in which we don’t spend money on things. Like the water a fish swims in, it’s hard to disconnect from the larger culture.

Lack of structure

Many of us yearn to take time off, but do not have clear rules for time off. If we were not born into religious families that celebrate the weekly Sabbath, we may not have a system. Without a system, any attempts at taking time off may be met with challenges that We don’t have a plan for taking time off

We procrastinate (the one day mindset)

Many of us live for “one day” rather than today. We tell ourselves that when we have enough money, years accumulated, or some other arbitrary metric, that then we will begin to enjoy our lives to the fullest.

But life repeatedly shows us that “one day” never comes and tragically many of us who wait for one day may see our lives end before that day comes.

The lesson?

Creating the life we want to live starts now, in incremental steps.

A step-by-step process for taking one day off work each week

Step 1: Choose your “do nothing” day

Start by choosing a day of the week that will work for you and your family. For me, Saturday has been the ideal day as I choose to have very few meetings on Fridays and can use Sunday to do key household tasks that need to be completed before the weekly shuffle begins.

Once you choose your “do nothing” day, make sure to discuss your vision with your partner, as well as any key business contacts to set clear expectations. You may want to do this after completing step two of this process in which you determine your guidelines for your off day such as whether or not you will use your phone, attend events, or any other considerations.

Step 2: Determine your guidelines for your “do nothing” day

Next, determine what amount of technology you will utilize on this off day. Some things you may want to consider:

Will you have your cell phone on or off?
If you have your cell phone on, what can you use it for?
Are you allowed to use any screens? If so, for what?
Can you go to exercise classes? If so, what type?
Are you allowed to read? If so, what types of books?
Can you spend money? If so, on what?

As a rule of thumb, my aim is to be reflective, but not productive on my weekly off day. Thus, I run things through the lens of “am I doing something productive or reflective?” If I notice that my intent is to be productive, I try to let go off that activity.

Here are some of the rules I follow on my “do nothing” days:

No exercise classes
No self-help or business book reading
No watching shows on screens
No checking email
Phone off unless absolutely necessary*
No doing laundry or house chores
No cooking

*If someone in my family is sick or there is an urgent reason I will need to be contacted, I leave my phone one.

Lastly, determine the length of your “do nothing” day. My “do nothing” day starts at sundown on Friday evening and ends at sundown on Saturday evening

Step 3: Prepare for your “do nothing” day

As an ongoing thought process, ask yourself what you can do to ensure you need to do in advance so that you can truly do nothing on your “do nothing” day.

Here are some tasks I’ve learned to start earlier in the week so that I am not pressured to do them on my “do nothing” day:

Ensure the laundry is washed and dried by Friday afternoon
Purchase food for the upcoming week on Friday or plan to do it on Sunday
Purchase pre-made meals on Friday so that I do not need to cook on Saturday

Additionally, I highly recommend asking your partner or significant other, “Is there anything else besides (share how you have prepared) that you would like me to do to ensure I can fully take the day off on Saturday?”

I have found that having this type of conversation in advance reduces friction and ensures a team approach to this type of day. Additionally, if you have children, it’s important that you set expectations in your home about what will be allowed and not allowed on these types of days.

Step 4: Get back on the wagon when you fall off

Naturally, when you attempt to make a drastic shift like this in your personal life you will encounter some obstacles. Here are just a few that have come up for me while implementing a weekly “do nothing” day:

Family members become sick and need support
You have an urgent work deadline that requires you to be available on your off day
You have friends or family visiting and need to do work
Travel plans make this approach unfeasible

The aim here is to establish a system to helps bring clarity and renewal to your life, not to be dogmatic and rigid about this. So if it doesn’t work one weekend for one reason or another, don’t give up; rather, try to anticipate these barriers and do better the next week.

Change is a result of the accumulation of incremental gains over extended periods of time.

Step 5: Self-evaluate your “do nothing” day

My last step at the end of each “do nothing”day is to ask myself the following questions:

What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
What can I do so my next “do nothing” day goes better?

During this reflection practice, I also scale myself from 1 to 5 in the following areas at this time to determine if I am practicing a balanced and meaningful life:

Health
Hobbies
Spirituality
Friends
Love
Finances
Mission

The Bottom Line

Taking a day off each week is a key ingredient to increasing levels of clarity, joy and creativity. However, without a clear plan and system for taking time off, it may not work out.

Here is how you can get started:

Choose your day off
Create your rules for your off day
Prepare for your day off in advance
Stick with your plan when you fall of the wagon
Reflect on how your do nothing day went by journaling

Hope this helps 🤙

Hi, I'm Sean McCormick 👋

Me in my hometown of Petaluma, 2024

After building three successful businesses in five years, I felt a strong pull to create a broader impact—not just within my businesses but in the larger community.

I struggled with balancing my desire to share my expertise with my commitment to raising two young children and running multiple businesses.

Creating a mastermind group of accomplished entrepreneurs helped me realize there’s never a “perfect time” to start sharing your knowledge—the time is always now.

Guided by the wisdom and accountability of my mastermind peers, I began publishing and helping others, turning my expertise into a source of value for those navigating similar challenges.

If you'd like to contact me, you can connect with me via my LinkedIn page.