Sound Familiar?
Pesky Problem
You never take intentional vacation days off from hosting.
You have a very reactive approach to days off from any hosting responsibilities. You wait to see whether guests end up booking your Airbnb, and then, if no reservations happen to come through, you do your best to enjoy the unexpected time off.
But the problem with this approach is that it leaves you in a perpetual state of limbo. “Will folks book? Won’t folks book?” There are days where you’re secretly hoping guests don’t book so that you can enjoy something else—a holiday, a birthday, an evening out with friends—but the looming possibility of guests booking keeps you from being fully present.
Let's Try This
Bite-Size Solution
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.
5 Minutes
Here's Your First Step
Look through the next six months for important dates and block them off.
The key to sidestepping hosting responsibilities when you want them least is to plan ahead. Take a look at the next six months, and think through the days you want to be responsibility free the most. Are they holidays? Family events? A best friend’s wedding?
The priorities on your personal calendar get to be priorities on your hosting calendar too. So identify the upcoming dates and block them off without guilt. Remind your boss that you deserve days off work just like anyone else.
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