When self-employed you become very aware of what you do with your time. Whereas my business model prefers not to rely on billable hours typical of attorneys and other professionals, my model involves focusing on clients, their needs, and business development activities during the week (and then some). That means some tasks once squeezed in during the week now wait for the weekend.

And when you already program activities such as weekend basketball and usual errands that wait for such times, it becomes interesting how to find time for certain activities of the Spring. Most important for me, that means getting the deck ready. Before the tables, chairs and umbrellas get deployed, power-washing the deck must get done.

And getting the deck ready creates a very nice option – an outdoor office in nice weather – for this professional. Moving outside only requires the cell phone and MacBook Pro that often go where I go anyway. A portable phone lies just inside the back door. I store an external monitor and surge protector in a bench sized bin on the patio.

So one eve last week, I set up and connected the power washer. That left this weekend plugging it in to power and turning the water on. I thought I might need to do it over two days. The machine remains noisy so it's not for early morning – not that noisy power blowers and movers stop those commercial gardeners at inappropriate times of day (I wrote on that – and even proposed regulation – but you'd need to read my ebook for more on that.) Alas, I got it done in one afternoon after several vigorous full-court games. And since the covered furniture needed to be moved to wash where they sat stored under cover, I even placed most of the chairs out. Perhaps umbrellas and cushions this afternoon.

Some people make it a tradition to make decks/ patios/ yards ready by Memorial Day weekend; others by Father's Day; and some may wait for the end of the school term and the approach of Independence Day.

Do you set up for summer?

If you set up for summer, when do you get it done?

What does set up for summer mean for you?