Prevent guests from booking the days you want off the most.

Regardless of whether you’ve just started accepting bookings or you’ve been an Airbnb host for years, boundaries are essential to avoiding hosting burnout. (It’s a real thing.) Just because you technically could accept guest reservations 365 days a year, doesn’t mean you should.

Swap out the reactive waiting game for a proactive strategy, and block off the days you want to be fully engaged in your non-hosting life. There should be no guilt or shame in preventing bookings when you don’t want them. Remember: hosting is meant to enhance your life, not control it.

When you work for someone else, it’s very easy to expect important days off work. But when you work for yourself, it’s easy to always prioritize the possibility of a little more revenue over pretty much anything else. (You might find yourself thinking: “Yikes! Am I my own tyrannical boss?” The answer may well be yes.)

Unending, uninterruptible work is a fast track towards burnout and aggravated personal relationships, along with many other undesirable things. If you want hosting to be a long term boon to your bank account, then you have to keep it sustainable or it will inevitably implode. And sustainable includes days off work, whether you hire help or simply block those days off your calendar.