Episode #98 Can You Build A Business in School Hours? Project 4/4/40

Over the last few years, I’ve been slowly building my coaching experience as I share my slow living message in the pockets of time I’ve had available. Now both my kids are at school, I’m ready to take it bigger.

Project 4/4/40 is my focus for 2023

Project 4/4/40 has the aim to answer one question: Can I create a thriving coaching business that supports both me and my clients in 4-ish hours a day, 4-ish days a week, 40-ish weeks a year? (Roughly school hours!).

One that feels good, ethical and right? One that has a lot of ME in it (not passive income) because if I’m expecting my clients to bring their WHOLE self, then I have to be there too! And equally importantly, allows me to be a present mum, work in a way that sustains me and also allows me to live the slower life I desire.

I believe it’s possible and this is my plan for how I’m going to approach it.

Here are 3 things to know if you want to create your own 4/4/40.

1. Slow Living requires a schedule Here’s mine

It’s important that the schedule is flexible and moves with your day to day life as needed but start somewhere. This is your chance to reconnect to your inner nature, the season and honour your energy ebbs and flows. The 5 colours on the weekly flow are only top level. If you drill down into each you will find that almost everything I ever do is captured in the 5 categories.

Side note: If you want a slower life, you have to make peace with saying no to a lot of things that sound awesome. You don’t have to focus on only the things I’ve chosen or the way I’ve set things up.

Maybe one of your categories is flight radar monitoring and you want to spend 3 hours a morning watching planes fly overhead. Do you

2. This is really about boundaries. Become the kind of person who you can trust to work when it’s work time and play when it’s time to do that. Do the work to decondition your belief that your value comes only from how much money you earn or your job title. Another part of the mindset work is to let go of the idea that hours at the desk equals commitment. It doesn’t.

3. Be honest about how long you can sustain your concentration. 16 hours of work a week if you are properly focussed is equivalent to working probably close to double that or maybe even full time. Parkinson’s law plays a huge role in your productive output. When I have too much time to do something, it generally doesn’t get done effectively.

There are some things that occur in traditional jobs that take up a significant portion of your day.

Here’s an example from my own business.

Things I rarely have to do now that I spent a lot of time on as an employee

meetings
Stop to chat to co workers
Commute
Lunch break

Things I do have to do in my business, in order of importance

Client calls
Content creation
Admin/finance
Learning / skills / reading

If I limit myself to 16 hours, I can focus more because I know that there is time allocated for the other parts of my life.

I work with my energy ebbs and flows so admin might be afternoon when I’m tired and creative time gets priority if I have the urge. It changes with the weather, my menstrual cycle, if the kids have been sick, if I’ve been in a high ‘selling’ mode and need more rest etc.

I assume that as my client books fill up that I’ll have a squeeze on hours available for other tasks. So I’m taking my time now while the business is ramping up, to refine my processes and develop my own good habits like idea capturing / notes, automated emails etc. My reading and learning time might spill out to evenings more, and since I don’t watch tv during the week then that suits me fine.

So that’s Project 4/4/40!

Download the weekly flow for living slow here

In this episode:

What is Project 4/4/40
Who it benefits and why I’m doing it
Beliefs I’ve changed that will benefit you too
My weekly flow for living slow
The practical ways I’m making 16 hours of work, work.

Let’s work together to create your own version of Project 4/4/40 (or any version of a slower life).

My client roster is now open for bookings and I have 2 ways to get started. Join me for a single 1hr session or a package of 4 x 1hr weekly sessions. (If you choose the single, it’s easy to upgrade into the monthly later)