How to Take Full Control of Your Time While Earning More

Not too many people are really making as much as they’d want to; some are just over laboring themselves but aren’t getting paid as much as they’d want. They hardly keep up with the bills. There’s too much work to do, so little time to deliver, and the worst of all, the income is the tiniest thing you can ever imagine.

Have you been in this situation before or are still trapped there?

It’s hard, having so much work pile up on your desk or computer. A truckload of emails to respond to and your bills keep increasing by the day! Anxiety is creeping in gradually – but you still don’t have a solution.

You’re not alone. In fact, quite a lot of entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and those in the corporate world are down that rabbit hole and can’t find their way up.

As of 2016, I was there too: dying slowly, I had 3 jobs and I was a business owner on the side. The stress was bigger than I could handle and I was seriously burned out. My health was something of huge concern; I fell sick multiple times in a month and I developed A.D.D! I was getting paid, but I wasn’t enjoying the money, as it was channelled back into solving health complications. I didn’t have time for family or to keep up with other important activities in my life.

I became so sick and my schedule became even tighter than ever, I had to be on the phone more than 5 hours at a time, attending over 3 virtual meetings during the day and more than 3 physical meetings daily with prospective clients for the companies I worked for. Still, I wasn’t keeping up, my CRM backend looked like a waste bin, there was so much to move from one phase to another.

And upon all of this, I wasn’t as rich as I’d expected I would be in about a year or two. I then realized that it’s not all about how much work and stress or sleepless nights you have that matters, it’s about putting the right strategies in place and working smart.

Working hard in a smart way is different from working hard and stressing out all your muscles and system. That’s the difference between those who are more successful and average people.

For anyone who is reading this and is wondering how I was able to gain back my life, time, and happiness, it’s not magic. I’ll share with you 3 solid ways to gain back your life, time, and earn more while maintaining a minimal work level.

 

#1 Prioritize

Try as much as possible to choose what is important, I mean “what really is important”, and ditch the others that are just clutter. Sometimes, we attach ourselves to things that seem to be important, but in the real sense, they aren’t truly contributing to our growth. Rather, it is only creating more clutter, and more clutter means more complication. That equals more stress, which we don’t actually want. Simply make a list of what is really contributing to your business or personal growth, a very sincere list. Then remove the other things immediately.

 

#2 Automate: Employ and Deploy

Once you have created your ordered lists of the important things, it’s time to automate the rest. If you are in business, this is so important, you can’t handle everything yourself, so start automating some or most things you know you can’t handle on your own. There are apps and tools of all kinds these days that can help carry out tasks swiftly, employ, and deploy them.

While these are available, humans are also in the same niche too. There are people who can help you with tasks that are beyond your control or that would slow your productivity down and chop more time from your day.

If you are are working in the corporate world, try to make your boss know/understand that there are tools that can help increase the quality and efficiency of your work, tools that improve your productivity as well, and see that they get them installed. This way you can cut down the hours you work on one project and quickly move on to another while you save a better amount of time to relax.

*Note: Part of cutting out unnecessary things means that your worth has to increase too, because you now operate on a premium level. It is easier to charge a higher fee for your service and get to filter in clients who are willing to pay for what you are really worth.

During the past year, I have been focusing more on my business and how much work I do. I have also earned more than I used to because I’ve invested more in the right tools. I have also picked the right kind of clients I work with, and I don’t sign up with new clients out of desperation anymore.

Usually, I’ll just take any client that comes, without thorough evaluation of whether they are a real fit for my work style. I’ve also learned how to charge better fees and not go back and forth about pricing. There is now a fixed price for everything. If you employ this strategy you’ll move from cheap jobs to great ones.

 

#3 Charge More

In order to earn more money, you’ll have to charge more. For people like me who run a subscription model kind of businesses, it’s easier to compound income and earn more money; but if you are in the one-off payment model kind of business, the only way is to charge higher fees or else you won’t be able to run a sustainable business. Or, better still, if possible, remodel your service and start charging on a subscription level.

I’ve met people who tell me they feel ashamed or guilty to charge for their service. Well, that’s terrible for your business because you aren’t doing yourself any good. Also, most people will just want to make it more affordable while it’s hurting them in so many ways. It’s not a good business strategy. Charging a lower fee than what your service is really worth makes you work extra hard to sign up new clients, and it becomes overwhelming to manage them, especially if you’re a solopreneur. And your business can’t possibly grow that way.

 

*Final Thought: If you truly want to enjoy the work you do, save time, and make more money, it’s time to revisit the drawing board and take a look at these important elements that’ll allow you to free yourself from being a slave to your job. If they are missing, then start working them out now so that you can save yourself the hospital bills (unlike me, who had to spend an outrageous amount to recover my health).