WORK LESS WEDNESDAY

WLW #54

November 09, 2022

❌ 1. All The Things I’m NOT Doing Right Now

f you want to work less, you must learn to say “No.”

Sounds obvious.

But obvious doesn’t equal easy.

This is the story of how I planned out my next 3 months to make progress on my goals, while still working 20 hours a week (and taking two weeks off for vacation!)

How Much Time Do I Really Have?

After Cohort II of How To Work Less, I took some time to reflect and plan out my next few months.

What I realized…

I don’t actually have that much time.

Here’s what the next 3 months looks like:

If I want to work no more than 20 hours a week (my goal), here’s the breakdown:

(Note: I’m traveling for a week in November & December, which removes a week)

⏰ 60 hours total available for work (3 weeks x 20 hours)

🎨 Subtract 22 hours (Design Agency work)

📬 Subtract 8 hours (Writing Work Less Wednesday)

💬 Subtract 8 hours (Creating Social Media Content)

= 22 hours left (per month!)

That leaves me with JUST 44 hours to work on new stuff over the next two months.

(The other 78 hours are committed to maintaining the systems and business that brought in $500k last year.)

So often when we plan, we ignore the constraint of time.

We pile on more and more things and tell ourselves “I’ll make time.”

As you’ll see below, that never works out the way we want it to.

How Should I Spend Those 44 Hours?

First, I made a LONG list of all the things I COULD possibly do in this period.

It included:

  • Create a small product
  • Writing a book
  • Redesign my Notion setup
  • Bring on a course manager
  • Bring on social media support
  • Upgrade How To Work Less for Cohort 3
  • Start posting on LinkedIn
  • Start posting on YouTube
  • Grow on Twitter
  • Start doing daily Reels

All of these SEEM like good ideas.

But let’s remember: I have 44 hours (~7 hours a week).

5 years ago, I would have said “YES!” to all of them.

And what would happen?

I’d 10% progress all of them and then give up.

Now I work backwards.

I have about 44 hours to play with.

So I picked these:

  • Hire & onboard on a course manager (contractor)
  • Hire & onboard social media support (contractor)
  • Upgrading How To Work Less for Cohort 3

Why did I pick these?

  1. They fit the time constraint. Two months is not a lot of time. Bigger projects like a new product or book are better saved for when I have a full 3 months next year.
  2. They are aligned with my goals. Delegating by hiring contractors makes sense with my goal of creating freedom. Upgrading the course is aligned with my goal of making How To Work Less the best course possible.

The Lesson: Say No to the Good, for the Great.

Anyone can say no to crappy opportunities.

Only a master will say no to good opportunities.

If you don’t say no to good opportunities, you’ll never have the time to pursue great opportunities.

When you say Yes to everything, you go a little ways, in a lot of directions.

When you say No to most things, you go a long ways, in a single direction.

🪜 2. The Ladders Of Wealth Creation – Article by Nathan Barry​

This awesome article was shared by my student David Roma in my private coaching group, 🌴The Work Less Group.

(Want to join? You have to be a graduate of 🏖️How To Work Less first!)

The article details the process of creating wealth for a solopreneur.

It goes something like this:

⏰ Time For Money → 🏢 Your Own Service Business → 🛍️ Productized Services → 💰 Selling Product

💬 3. How To Talk To Expensive Clients – Twitter Thread By Me

We all want better customers.

We all want less stress.

We all want to work the same amount, and make more money.

The answer to all of these? Figure out how to charge more.

How to do it? Learn these 6 rules ⬇️

🖥️ 4. Your Desk Is Destroying Your Body – Twitter Thread By Kieran Drew

Here’s the problem with sitting all day:

You can do it for a really long time without any (major) issues.

Until one day you wake up, and there’s a big problem.

​This Twitter thread is a masterclass on how to save your body from sitting.

Some things mentioned I currently use:

  • ​This standing desk​
  • ​This desk mat​
  • Cycling between sitting and standing every hour (I set a timer)
  • Monitor stand (raised to eye-height)
  • The chest/thoracic stretch he mentions

🇫🇷 5. Help Me Plan My Paris Trip!

My wife & I are going to Paris in December for 6 days.

Our first time.

We are looking for recommendations.

If you live in France or have been to Paris, help me out!

Reply to this email and let us know what we should do, see, eat, or buy! 🙏


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