Set Your Time Goal First, Work Backward and Calculate It

What steps can you take now to free your time far into the future? Long-time listeners know this is one of the central questions and strategies throughout Free Time, my book that helps you build the muscle of continually freeing more of your time. Today I’m sharing three strategies to set your time free in 2023. For added accountability in freeing your time in the year ahead, I encourage you to check out the Free Time Leader Kit—you can work through the sections of the book with your team or in a mastermind group (or join us in BFF!) for even more support.

🎁 Give the gift of Free Time! Buy the book for your team members and business besties. We’ve reopened our BOGOGO promo for the holidays: Buy One, Get One, Give One. 

🌟3 Key Takeaways:

• Set a Time Goal first, then work backward. How much is your time worth? Calculate it. What is your billable rate if you break down your income on an hourly basis? Here is how I estimate:

1.     How much would you be *thrilled* to earn this year? ________________
2.     How many work hours per week is *ideal* for you to achieve that? ____
3.     Multiply that number by 42 weeks (to account for time off) = ______
4.     Divide line 1 (a) by line 3 (c) to get your ideal billable hourly rate: _________

• Fill in Strategic Goals within your time framework: How can you achieve them in half the time? Identify a friction area, then work through the Free Time Framework: Align, Design, Assign
• Design your Calendar for the entire year ahead (now) with DNS Blocks: Parkinson's Law is the old adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion, first coined by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay he wrote for “The Economist” in 1955. 

📝Permission: Aggressively block off time for the entire year ahead, only making exceptions in the moment for what’s joyful from week to week.

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Pick one area that’s important to you but where you’re experiencing friction. Fill out the Free Time Framework guide to work through improvements resulting in greater flow, joy, and ease. 

📘Books Mentioned:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business 
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One 
• The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss

🔗Resources Mentioned: 

• Free Time Toolkit, Leader Kit, Free Time Framework Quick Reference worksheet
• Private BFF Community
• Holiday BOGOGO promotion—Buy One, Get One, Give One
• Parkinson’s Law
• Paul Graham on Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule

🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 

• 148: How to Build a Business Operations Dashboard
• 149: Tips, Tools & Must Have’s for Content Creators with Kim Kaupe
• 126: Creating Time Buffer—7 Strategies for Spacious Scheduling
• 134: How I Prepare for In-Person Speaking Engagements
• 056: Set Your Compass—Systems vs. Goals
• Pivot 277: Expansive Impact and Spacious Scheduling with Sarah Young

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