How I shifted my focus to get more done in less time (and why business growth is not at the top of my list)
About two years ago, I shifted my focus from “working part-time” to “project management.” As a self-employed, one-woman business, I have a complete luxury (and complete responsibility) of running my business in a way that fits my own unique goals. This means no one is asking me how many hours I work, no one knows if I take a day off, and no one cares about what I get done other than my own paying clients.
Before this shift, I used to read every article about doing more in less time, about how to grow my business, and about how to “run it the right way.” Then, I had a mindset shift — this is my business and I can run it however I damn well please. My husband and I are on the same page about how much money I need to make and more importantly, about how this business fits our lifestyle of me also being a mom to two school-aged boys and someone who needs ample time to take care of my physical and mental health. Business growth is not at the top of my to-do list because I’ve decided that where my business is right now — it’s completely okay. It’s balanced. I work when I want to, I take the project I want to take, and I don’t feel guilty about saying no. I don’t dread working and my priorities are in line with my beliefs — it’s the dream balance and business growth doesn’t even factor in most days.
This mindset shift has been really wonderful. I’ve made the same amount of money (and sometimes more), I work fewer hours, and I’m generally happier with how my business is going. I still get tempted to click on those “how to launch your next course with six-figure results” or the abundance of similar empty promises that are just disguised as “work your ass off seven days a week so you can take a few vacations a year” but mostly, I scroll right on by them. My system works for me and I’m sharing it here today in case it might work for you, too!
So, here are four key mindset shifts I made that have opened the door for me to work fewer hours and make the same amount of money.
Sit down with a specific task list
I do not sit down to work. Ever. I sit down at my desk with a specific task to do or a list to complete. When the list is done, I’m done. Period. Occasionally, I’ll use a time tracker for a project just to make sure I’m still charging appropriately for design and creative work but other than that, I don’t really worry about how many hours I’m working.
My to-do list items are action-oriented, always. For example, I don’t write “blog” on my list. I write “draft, edit and post blog on productivity.” This makes it clear when the task is finished. Or, I’ll write “build three website pages for XYZ client.” By putting an action word in front of the task, I’m making it super clear what I expect of myself and when I can be done.
Use every automation tool you can
I’ve blogged about automation a lot in the last year because these are the tools that have helped me the most in my business - the ones I invest time in upfront to set up and perfect and then set and forget. I use Dubsado for all of my creative work (everything from lead generation, to project management, billing, and offboarding) and I use MailerLite’s awesome automation features for email list building. I am less consistent with automating my social media content but that’s only because social media is way down on the list of importance for me. I post on my Facebook page so people see that I am an active, growing business. Period. If I get engagement, great. If not, I’m not out much.
Explore live chat solutions
The key to productivity and doing less for me is that other people really have no clue if I’m working or not. If you’re a business with a decent amount of website traffic and not seeing great results with driving people to engage with you via requesting a quote or reaching out via your contact form, you should consider using a live chat company like click4assistance.co.uk.
Using a professional live chat solution gives you the confidence and peace of mind of knowing that you are benefitting from live chat agents that are properly trained and armed with the right knowledge and live chat software. This enables them to take responsibility for a big chunk of your sales and customer service, freeing up time and resources to help you get back to doing what it is you want! Expanding your team is always an option as well but of course, that means taking on additional expenses like wages, tax and pension obligations, training, reliability, and so on.
Stop worrying about the hours and just do the work
I hope there will be a time where I focus less and less on how many hours I worked and more on just creating quality work. The truth is when you focus on the work at hand and putting your best effort forward for every piece of content you create, the hours you spent creating become irrelevant. And by all means, don’t charge by the hour — remember, you’re being paid for the years of experience and education it took you to learn how to create great work — not for the hours you worked to create.
Until next time,
Andrea
If you’re not on my email list, let’s get you on there today! You’ll be able to see these tips put into action and hopefully get some inspiration to grow your own list, too!
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