A Day Off with Billy Wickens

My 6-year-old daughter just told me “you can’t just be on your phone when your kids want to play with you”.

I really took this to heart. Being a contractor means talking to 20 + potential clients at the same time – putting in bids, dealing with the dynamics of people everyday. I try and put my phone down when I come home or when I wake up in the morning, but being someone who is using tools most of the day means I’m unable to communicate or multi-task well like most of the tech world does. My administrative needs bleed into the quality time my kids need from me.

I mean, my emails always say “sent from iPhone” and my laptop is barely open if ever. People always tell me you need to hire the people to do the physical work so you can deal with your business, but for me, working with my hands and doing the work myself is why I started Billy Builds Studio in the first place.

By the time a day off comes I’m usually so physically and mentally exhausted that all I want to do is watch a Padres game on the couch and veg out. But every time I remember to pack a cooler full of snacks on a day off and I take my time to catch a few waves, the worries I have from my week and the feeling that I need to “veg out” actually disappear. I find my self playing in the sand with my kids and my presence to them is felt. The beach and really the Pacific Ocean has always had its way with me especially with my mental and physical health.

While I love the work I do and will always feel the need to keep my hands busy, the most important project that I’m meant to do always presents itself over and over again – it’s the time invested in my family. Work projects will come and go and there will always be work to do, but the moments with my family are as fleeting as the waves I catch on a Sunday morning.

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Billy lives in San Diego with his wife and 3 children. He is a traveling carpenter and goes wherever the woodwork wind blows, with his family in tow. Outside of family and work his passions are surfing, music and a good ole backyard BBQ with friends and family.

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