Time & Energy Optimization: The Real Secret to Sustainable Success
If you've ever found yourself saying, "I just need more hours in the day," you're not alone. As service-based entrepreneurs deeply involved in our businesses, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing more time is the answer. But here's the truth: you don't need more time; you need a better strategy.
1. You Don’t Need More Time—You Need a Better Strategy
One of the most powerful mindset shifts I encountered came from Dan Martell’s book, Buy Back Your Time. In it, he breaks down how entrepreneurs scale not by working harder, but by reclaiming their time and reinvesting it more strategically.
Let me introduce you to a concept that changed how I view my calendar: there are three types of tasks in your business.
Administrative Tasks: Client notes, emailing, paying bills, updating your website, content prep, client communication between sessions, scheduling—these are essential, but they don’t directly generate revenue.
Money-Generating Tasks: These include seeing clients, delivering services, running paid workshops or group programs. You’re trading time for money here.
Business Development Tasks: These are the exponential growth levers: creating a new income stream, designing a program or course, visioning and strategic planning, forming strategic partnerships and referral relationships.
The trap many entrepreneurs fall into is believing tasks tied to clients—like scheduling or payment collection—are money-making. But they’re not. They're administrative. The real money-generating zone is much narrower than most people realize.
When I was full with 1:1 clients and ready to grow, I hit a wall. My calendar was packed. I didn’t have time to build anything new. I would wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. just to get a head start, and I still couldn’t keep up. Even when I got home at 5 p.m., I couldn’t mentally shut off. I was physically present but mentally still at work. It wasn’t sustainable.
That’s when I realized I was the bottleneck.
The approach that got me to six figures wasn’t going to get me to multiple six or seven figures. I needed a new way of working. One of my favorite quotes from a mentor of mine is: "What got you here; won’t get you there."
I started using Dan Martell’s "Replacement Ladder" in my own business. First, I hired an admin assistant to manage my inbox, schedule, and client logistics. Then I brought on a marketing assistant to help with content creation, lead generation, and outreach. That freed me up to focus on what only I can (and want) do: sales and delivery.
Of course, many of my clients initially resist this shift. They don’t believe a better way exists for them. They think they already know how they spend their time. But once we shine a light on it through a strategic audit, they’re usually shocked at how much they’re juggling, how much could be outsourced, and how little time they spend on growth-focused activities.
The magic happens when we map out a strategic roadmap that makes the first hire feel financially doable, with a clear plan to earn back that investment quickly—and then scale beyond it. Once they see the numbers, the logic clicks.
This is how you stop doing more and start working smarter. It’s not hustle. It’s leverage.
2. Stop Doing $20/hour Tasks: Delegate or Ditch
If you’re earning $150K+ annually, your hourly rate is well over $100. So why are you still doing $20/hour tasks?
Dan Martell calls this the "Time-Value Matrix": you can calculate what your time is worth by dividing your annual revenue by the hours you want to work. Let’s say you want to work 30 hours a week and earn $250K/year:
$250,000 ÷ (30 hrs x 50 weeks) = $167/hour.
So every time you're updating your website, proofreading your newsletter, or manually scheduling client calls, you're effectively paying yourself a fraction of your worth.
One of the most pivotal shifts I made was handing off two of the most deceptively simple—but time-consuming—tasks in my business: managing my email inbox and scheduling. I know for many of you, this sounds terrifying. Email feels deeply personal. Scheduling can feel like it “only takes a minute.” But these are exactly the kinds of micro-tasks that eat up massive chunks of your week.
Delegating them felt difficult at first—it required trust and a bit of letting go. But now? My assistant is like a better version of me. She does me, only better! And handing these off bought me back more than 10 hours a week. At a rate that’s about one-fifth of mine, that investment paid for itself almost immediately.
And this isn’t just my story. One client of mine, a gifted leadership coach, was working 60–70 hours a week—regularly spilling into evenings and weekends. She was stuck at $150K and couldn’t see a path forward. She resisted hiring help for months. But once she finally brought in support—starting with inbox management, scheduling, and client coordination—something amazing happened.
Her business got unstuck, yes. But more importantly, she changed. She became more confident. Freer. Finally aligned with the identity of the business owner she was meant to be. Delegation wasn't just about time—it was a deep energetic shift.
So how do you know what to delegate first? I guide my clients through a comprehensive audit that reveals exactly where their time is going, and which tasks are ready to hand off (to whom, in what order, and how). It’s not guesswork—it’s strategy.
Still, fears come up:
“I can’t afford it.”
“I’m the only one who can do this right.”
“It’ll take more time to teach someone than to just do it myself.”
“What if they mess it up?”
“Who am I to get this kind of help?”
As a former therapist and yoga teacher, I don’t bulldoze through those fears. I hold space for them. My holistic approach to consulting takes into account your values, your emotional landscape, your past experiences—and builds a sustainable, aligned strategy for outsourcing that feels good in your nervous system, not just your spreadsheet.
Because when you stop doing $20/hour work, you unlock the freedom to do your $500/hour work—the work that creates impact, builds legacy, and truly moves the needle.
3. Hiring Myths (And How to Do It Successfully)
If the word “hiring” makes your palms sweat, you’re not alone. Most of my clients come to me with a head full of fears and zero idea where to start. I get it—I've been there.
When I made my first hire, I was terrified. What if I couldn’t afford it? What if I didn’t know how to lead or manage someone? What if they made a mistake, dropped the ball, stole my proprietary information—or quit just as I started to rely on them? I didn’t even know how to handle it for tax purposes.
But once I did it—once I handed things off and saw those tasks not just getting done, but getting done better and faster—everything changed. My business doubled its gross monthly income in the first 30 days. I only wish I’d done it sooner.
The Myths That Hold You Back
Here are the three most dangerous beliefs that keep entrepreneurs from scaling:
“I can’t afford it.”
“No one can do it like me.”
“It’ll take too long to train someone.”
Let’s bust those right now.
First—you can’t afford NOT to. Hiring is an investment, not an expense. One of my clients recouped her initial hire’s cost in under three months and grew from $100k annually to over 7 figures in just under three years.
Second—you’re not supposed to find someone just like you. You’re supposed to create a "mini-you," only better—someone who thrives in the role, complements your strengths, and allows you to stay in your zone of genius. With the right onboarding, they’ll be able to take over tasks you hate and free you up for high-impact work.
Third—the training doesn’t have to be complicated. I give my clients a repeatable, step-by-step process to find the right-fit hire, onboard them with clarity, and set them up to succeed.
How to Hire the Right Way
The proven hiring framework I use centers on four key elements:
Skills – Can they technically do the job?
Experience – Have they done something similar before?
Culture Fit – Do we get along? Do we share values?
Wiring – Are they naturally wired for this kind of work?
Most people hire based only on the first two. But the real long-term success comes from the second two.
That’s why I teach my clients to start the interview process by screening for culture fit and wiring. Ask yourself: Do I like this person? Do we vibe? I use structured assessments like the Kolbe A Index and CliftonStrengths to match roles to natural strengths.
Once the hire is made, we integrate them into the business using:
Clear SOPs
Weekly check-ins
Daily Reports
Project management systems
Communication protocols
Scorecards
No “drive-by delegation” allowed. Everything has structure, clarity, and a feedback loop.
Hiring isn’t about losing control. It’s about building a system that extends your impact while preserving your energy.
When done right, the ROI is exponential. And the best part? You don’t have to figure it out alone.
4. My Favorite Time Audit Technique (And What It Revealed for a Client)
Before you can delegate effectively, you need clarity. One of the most effective tools I use with clients is The Clarity Audit—a deceptively simple yet deeply revealing exercise that transforms how you relate to your calendar.
Here’s how it works:
Track your time for two full weeks. Log what you're doing every 15 minutes. Yes, it sounds intense, but once you get into the rhythm, it becomes second nature.
For each task, rate:
Its value to your business (on a scale you define)
Your energy while doing it (positive, neutral, or negative)
After two weeks, we sit down and audit the data together. Patterns emerge almost immediately.
👉 I have a downloadable audit worksheet I use with all my clients. You can download it for free here.
One of my clients, a brilliant group facilitator and coach, discovered she was spending at least 5–10 hours per week on email, scheduling, and client communication—and another 10–15 hours preparing materials for her workshops and group programs. That included updating slides, printing handouts, tweaking worksheets—tasks that drained her energy and took her away from revenue-generating work.
She was skeptical about outsourcing, but once she made the leap, everything changed. Her new assistant not only matched her standards, but did the work faster and better than she ever had. Suddenly, she had hours of space each week—and she used that time to follow up with leads, nurture relationships, and close more deals.
She doubled her income in six months.
Common Surprises (and Strategic Decisions)
Almost every client I’ve worked with thinks their administrative time “doesn’t take that long.” But the audit always tells a different story. Most discover they’re spending at least 10 hours per week on tasks that could be outsourced—and often it’s closer to 15–20 hours.
That adds up to over 500 to 1000 hours a year! Imagine what you could do with even half of that time back.
We don’t stop at awareness—we act on it. We:
Eliminate the lowest-value, lowest-energy tasks first
Determine how many roles will be needed over time (because one assistant can’t do everything)
Prioritize hires and delegation based on what will buy back time and create income between each step
This is strategic time optimization—not just productivity for the sake of it, but a plan that builds your business and preserves your energy.
Final Thoughts: It’s Time to Own Your Calendar
When you shift your mindset from "doing it all" to strategically investing your time, everything changes. You scale sustainably. You avoid burnout. You make more money and have more impact.
The best part? You don’t have to figure it out alone.
Book a free, 45-minute Strategic Clarity Call and let’s uncover where your time is leaking, what’s holding you back, and how you can step into sustainable, profitable growth.
