How to Create Time for What's Important

Read time: 3.5 minutes

One of the suggestions I'm going to make today led to my mom looking at me in judgemental disgust.

It's easy to get caught up in thinking you have to do everything in your business as an entrepreneur. Especially when you're starting out. But if you're not careful, you'll find yourself overwhelmed with tasks that neither fill you up or move your business forward. 

Sure, you're busy.

But it's rarely with the stuff that energizes you, brings in new clients, makes your current clients happier, or prepares your business for the future. You're stuck in the business. Like an employee who built their own mouse trap.

You know the routine...

• Managing your inboxes on multiple platforms

• Making images for your posts in Canva

• Editing videos and adding captions

• Scheduling your newsletters

• And trying to figure out half a dozen other techy tools that are supposed to be making your life easier. 

It doesn't leave much time for the good stuff.

Coaching your clients, big picture thinking, writing, learning new skills, or launching that new podcast, book, or program idea you've been sitting on for months. And when you start getting overwhelmed, the first things to go are often the healthy habits that keep you sane and the quality time with those you love. It sucks.

Isn't one of the reasons you started on this path was to have more freedom?

That's why having clients paying you hundreds or even thousands per hour, while you spend time on tasks that drain you and could easily be done by someone else for $10 to $40 an hour is crazy town to me.

Here's what you can do to start shifting that.

If You Can't Yet Delegate, Template + Automate

What if you really can't hire help yet because you're earlier in your journey with limited revenue? In that case, templating + automating will let you get more done with your precious time without increasing your stress. Where do you start?

Look for things that you do, write, or send on a regular basis and make templates so you don't have to create them from scratch every.single.time.

That can be:

• The onboarding email you send to new clients outlining what's next and what to expect.

• The message you send clients when you're requesting a testimonial.

• The response to any question that clients regularly ask you.

And because we live in the future with abundant and inexpensive automation, I recommend getting the robots working for you.

• You can automatically collect + assemble your testimonials with a tool like Senja

• Skip the back + forth messages, playing timezone twister, and manually creating Zoom links with Calendly

• And if you're still doing your own bookkeeping (probably one of the first things you should outsource imo) using a platform such as Dext or Quickbooks automates loads of the admin work. You can sync your bank account and have expenses automatically added just by uploading pictures or forwarding emails.

It doesn't have to be all manual.  

Don't Limit Yourself to Low-cost Help

When you are able to begin paying for assistance, the obvious place to start are the tasks that cost the least to hire for: the various forms of admin work. That's great. 

But you can go beyond basic admin tasks.

You can hire people who kickass in areas that compliment you and your skills. One of the things I'm great at is thinking creatively and coming up with big ideas. What I'm not particularly good at are all the smaller details involved.

It's why one of the most impactful things I've done in the last couple years is hired Moriah Bacus.

She not only helps me break down my big ideas into project plans that can be executed, she keeps me accountable in bringing them to life. My best-selling book either wouldn't exist, or would've ended with way more grey beard hairs for me if it wasn't for her expertise.

She's excels in areas that I stink in.

Moriah is so good at helping people with habits, breaking down big projects, and keeping people accountable to making them happen that I've hired her as one of the coaches supporting people in my new hybrid program.

Go Beyond Business Tasks

One of the mistakes I see people make is thinking that this only applies to your business. But what if you looked at the tasks you have on the home front, too? Just because you've always done something, that doesn't mean you should continue to do it forever.

You can...

• Have someone clean your house.

• Have groceries delivered to your door.

• Take it a step further and have prepared meals delivered on a weekly basis.

• If you live in a major city, there's even same day pick-up + drop-off laundry services available.

Depending on your upbringing, these ideas could be rubbing against old beliefs.

They might be "who am I to be hiring help around the house?". That's for snobs. That's for people who think they're "better than others".

If this is you, how are these old beliefs serving you?

This brings us to how I ended up with my mom looking at me in judgemental disgust. If you've been following my journey for a while, you might know that my parents struggled with money when I was growing up, and I, not too surprisingly, previously had my own challenges with money. A decade ago, I was drowning in debt and had a hard time providing for my kids.

But I've been re-writing my beliefs, changing my reality, and carving a new path for myself.

If you really love dusting the house, mowing the lawn, mopping floors, or cooking everyday, go for it. If these things bring you genuine joy....keep doing them! But if that's not the case, it's totally OK, and probably even awesome for you to get help here.

And while my mom is an incredible women that I am deeply grateful for, contrary to her beliefs, having help around the house doesn't make you stuck up.

One of the best decisions we've made in the last couple years is hiring someone who does a deep cleaning of our place every two weeks. It's dreamy. The fantastic part about getting help with tasks at home is these tend to be the things that open you up for more quality time with family, friends, and the people you love.

Now go template, automate, and delegate so you focus on the most important stuff and help more people (without losing your mind on this wild journey of building your own business). 

See you next week.

-Robb

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When you're ready, here's 2 ways I can help you

1. Clarity, Clients, + Confidence Workshop: Want to learn exactly what you need to consistently grow your coaching business with clients you love to serve, without the BS? Check out the free workshop here.

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