The Time Inventory That Convinced Me To Start My Own Business
Jun 20, 2024
Hey y’all,
Have you ever done the math on how many hours you have in a day? Like really?
Because, supposedly, everyone has the same 24 hours every day. But when you get right down to it, most of those hours aren’t yours or don’t count for a whole lot. Try this with me and write it down.
If you’re a healthy adult, odds are you’re at least attempting to get eight solid hours of sleep (if you’re me, you’re attempting to get nine hours, but lying awake for at least three of those).
And if you have a job? Well, those hours don’t belong to you. From 9-5 your time belongs to bosses or clients or students or customers. Even your lunch break which feels like it’s yours is often too short or sandwiched between hectic moments so that it also becomes time spent shoving a sandwich into your face and mindlessly scrolling on social media.
If you’re a parent, a lot of the remaining hours are consumed by supervising children, playing, homework, bedtime routines, and more.
Heaven forbid you just have a moment to yourself to read a book, have an adult conversation, or sit in complete silence for five minutes.
So where does that leave you time-wise? Did you write it all down?
I did this math in my own life a few months ago, and the results honestly shocked me.
After everything was said and done, and all the preplanned things in my day accounted for, I had a total of four hours every day that I could call my own.
I don’t know how you feel about that, but it hurt my feelings!!
It also did a few other things for me...
1. It helped me give myself grace.
I’m an ambitious person. I have big goals. I try hard and I like to see results. And when I’m not getting there as quickly as I think I should, it’s hard for me to extend grace and compassion to myself.
But seeing that number, helped me to lighten up.
Four hours out of 24 in a day is not a lot. And looking at it from that perspective helped me understand what I was truly working with and why I was coming up short in some areas. I just didn’t have the time to devote to them.
2. It put things in perspective.
Having four hours and understanding that you have four hours are very different things. With the perspective that my time is finite (agonizingly so) every day, I realized there were some changes I needed to make in how I structured my life.
Suddenly, taking time to scroll on TikTok didn’t have the same appeal. (Don’t get wild; I didn’t give up TikTik – I could never! – I just couldn’t quite bring myself to dive into that rabbit hole for more that five minutes at a time) I started prioritizing things that were going to be more beneficial in the long term: spending time with my partner, investing in hobbies that bring me joy, and building a business.
3. It forced me to make a plan.
I’ve always been told that having a job is trading time for money. It’s something that is easy to understand, but I don’t think it really clicked until I did my time inventory. Once I saw the number of hours that truly belonged to me, I realized that I didn’t want to continue to live that way. I wanted more freedom and flexibility and the ability to structure my life around what worked best for me and my family.
So I decided to start a business.
(Jury’s still out on whether or not this was a great plan or the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life.)
I designed something that worked for me —
- It gives me time to write
- It allows me to work from anywhere
- I can work fewer hours and still make what I need
- I have the flexibility to do what needs doing within my workday
- I get to connect with fabulous clients who are doing amazing things that I want to be a part of.
If I had never really looked at my life, I don’t know that I would have ever been brave enough to make a big change, but I think that’s exactly what I needed.
Your Turn
When was the last time you sat down and wrote out your life? What takes the biggest chunk of your time, and does it bring you joy? If you were designing the life of your dreams, what would you change?
XOXO,
E
