Working long hours under a terrible boss…

Answering emails from a manager every 49 minutes…

Clocking in at 9am sharp every morning…

Enjoying a whole 12 vacation days in the year…

Always under financial pressure…

Feeling like you’re one wrong move or economic shift away from losing your job... 

Who wants that? 

Most of us start freelancing to escape this.

But, the reality is a lot of freelancers are still a “slave” to the hamster wheel.

They’ve somehow managed to become their own terrible boss.

So, how do we fire the bad boss and break free to enjoy the benefits of freedom and flexibility?

How do we create a business around the lifestyle we want, rather than trying to squeeze in a watered-down version of that lifestyle around our business?

One word: Intention.

The reality is, we all have the same amount of time each day.

What we do with it is what matters.

If you aren’t intentional about how you run your business, your business will end up running you.

I’m not saying you need to work 2 hours a day and chill the rest of the day.

For some people, that might be what you want.

Personally, I enjoy working 4-8 hours a day.

But here’s the main difference:

I want to be in control of my time.

If it’s a nice day, I want to play tennis.

If I want to go for an evening walk, I do it.

And sure, it’s not ALWAYS like this.

Some days are busier than others.

But the point is you need to create an actual plan for how you spend your time. 

First, you need to sit down and ask yourself what you want to do and who you want to be doing it with.

Second, you need to decide how you’re going to structure your days and weeks.

Then use time blocking and discipline to stick to the plan.  

Here’s what helps for me:

• No meetings or calls on Mondays and Fridays.

• Batching specific tasks on certain days.

• No client work on weekends.

• No laptop from Saturday evening to Sunday evening.

Practically, this means I need to outsource or automate tasks to help me stick to the plan. 

So I work with a few contractors to handle some client work, content creation, development, etc.

I pay them to save me time.

To avoid frustration.

What I’m really paying for is more freedom and flexibility.

Could I do most of the work myself and earn more income by not paying them?

Sure.

But that’s the point: I don’t want to be a slave to my work.

I value my free time (my freedom) more than earning $X more every month.

This is how I run a business around my desired lifestyle.

Is it perfect?

No...

But it makes me happy, grateful, and fulfilled.

So, what needs to be done for you to change things around?

• What do you need to focus on?

• What do you need to say ‘no’ to?

• What do you need to be intentional about?

Sit down, make a plan, and be intentional about it.