Free Up 10+ Hours a Week as an Independent Business Owner in the UK

Do you feel like you spend more time working in your business than on it's growth? Are you struggling to balance client work, admin AND enjoying your hobbies or spending time with family? You're not alone. Many business owners, especially consultants, wellness practitioners or therapists find themselves overwhelmed with daily tasks that never seem to let up. Today I want to share my top tips for managing your time better, and options you have to free up 10+ hours per week so you can spend more time doing the things you really love.

Figure out where you spend your time

Before knowing where you can save time, you need to know exactly where you're spending it. As someone who is easily distracted, I know how time can get away from you and you're left wondering, "what did I actually accomplish today?".

For 1 week, track your activities to the nearest 15-30 minutes and see where all that time has gone. The easiest way to do this is to write notes in your phone but the trick to tracking time is to do it as soon as you switch activities. Otherwise you will struggle to remember what you did when looking back at your day.

Reflect on your notes at the end of the day to think about if you spend most of your time doing business growth tasks, or low-value tasks like admin or emails.

Streamline & Automate Your Daily Tasks

Now that you know where your time is being spent, we can analyse and optimise! The idea is to reduce as much time as you can doing low-value add tasks such as email management, scheduling, invoicing, or social media scheduling.

• Use Stripe, PayPal or QuickBooks to automate your invoicing
• Set up email templates for common responses
• Stop scheduling your meetings over emails, set up Calendly or Acuity to streamline appointment setting
• Use AI powered tools to edit your social media content, or come up with new ideas for your next post

You can find YouTube videos online on how to set up any of these. If you prefer speaking to a real person, Virtual Assistants or Online Business Managers are your go-to for support through this process. They can offer ad-hoc support (pay for what you use), or a one-time set up fee so you don't have to worry about learning the ins and outs of setting up these tools.

Set Boundaries & Eliminate Distractions

It's so easy to sit on the sofa with the TV in the background to complete your admin work, believe me, I know. The simple act of sitting at a desk or a table can boost productivity; a 30 minute admin session becomes 15 because you are able to focus on one thing - getting the task done! Another easy distraction to eliminate are your phone notifications. Commit to the task at hand by switching on do not disturb, or leaving your phone in another room altogether. Studies have shown that even having your phone in the room or visible can decrease productivity. So do yourself a favour and lock it in a drawer in the kitchen.

With distractions eliminated, we need to set some boundaries and targets.

Use the Pomodoro method to enhance productivity and not over-work yourself. Set yourself a 25 minute timer, and commit to one task for the duration. After 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break, step away from your computer or make yourself a cup of tea. And repeat.

This has worked so well for me! Knowing I only have to focus for 25 minutes before having a break saved me from spending hours at a computer but not really achieving anything. Change the duration depending on your activity - I used to use 20 minutes because it was easier for me cope with. There is no right or wrong answer here, try it out and see if it works for you.

Create Repeatable Systems & Processes

If you are constantly doing the same thing every week, it's time to create a step-by-step process. This doesn't have to be anything fancy, it could be a OneNote list, or it could be a PowerPoint filled with screenshots and captions - it doesn't matter! What's important is that you can refer to it in future, and understand exactly how to do the task (and even hand it over to someone else to do!). Writing down your processes takes one step of 'thinking' out of your admin.

Templates and checklists will be your best friends for reducing administrative hours. Create checklists for onboarding clients, templates for common emails or social media posts. This avoids having to create everything from scratch every time you make a new post or get a new client.

Delegate or Outsource Non-Essential Tasks

Finally, remember that you don't have to do everything yourself. All of the tasks and activities I've talked about in this blog can be outsourced to skilled professionals who do this day in day out, such as Virtual Assistants or Online Business Managers.

Check out this free checklist to help you identify tasks that a VA or OBM could take off your plate.

If you need help delegating, talk to me for some useful tips and tricks.

Conclusion: Small Changes, Big Impact

Freeing up 10+ hours a week is about working smarter, not harder. By auditing your time, streamlining tasks, setting limits, and delegating, you can create more time to spend doing what you love.