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2021: Working 50+ hours/week, burned out, drowning in busywork.
2022: Working 25 hours/week, happy, doing mostly creative, high-leverage work.
Here’s how I went from busy to leveraged in less than a year (and how you can, too)
2022: Working 25 hours/week, happy, doing mostly creative, high-leverage work.
Here’s how I went from busy to leveraged in less than a year (and how you can, too)
My journey hasn’t been linear.
I’ve tried so many different hacks, tips, tools, techniques, systems.
Some worked, most didn’t.
But after a lot of reflection, I realized there were 4 key things that made all the difference.
And that’s what I’m going to share with you.
I’ve tried so many different hacks, tips, tools, techniques, systems.
Some worked, most didn’t.
But after a lot of reflection, I realized there were 4 key things that made all the difference.
And that’s what I’m going to share with you.
My 4-step framework to go from busy to leveraged:
1. Set an aspirational hourly rate
2. Get automation-pilled
3. Learn the fundamentals of automation
4. Make automation a regular practice
Now let me walk you through each step:
1. Set an aspirational hourly rate
2. Get automation-pilled
3. Learn the fundamentals of automation
4. Make automation a regular practice
Now let me walk you through each step:
On paper, everyone understands that time is their most precious asset.
But in practice, few people act accordingly.
The reason for that:
Time (and our relationship with it) is too abstract.
But in practice, few people act accordingly.
The reason for that:
Time (and our relationship with it) is too abstract.
You need to make the value of your time tangible.
And the best way to do that is to set an (absurdly high) aspirational hourly rate.
When you assign a crazy high $ value to each of your working hours, the way you allocate time changes forever.
And the best way to do that is to set an (absurdly high) aspirational hourly rate.
When you assign a crazy high $ value to each of your working hours, the way you allocate time changes forever.
Say your aspirational hourly rate is $1,000.
Suddenly, you find yourself thinking…
“Am I really going to spend $1,000 on email?”
Every day you’re forced to face the harsh reality that you’re underutilizing your time.
And this pain, in turn, forces you to look for a solution.
Suddenly, you find yourself thinking…
“Am I really going to spend $1,000 on email?”
Every day you’re forced to face the harsh reality that you’re underutilizing your time.
And this pain, in turn, forces you to look for a solution.
There are only 3 solutions for busywork:
You either eliminate, delegate or automate.
But some tasks need to get done - no matter how boring or low-impact they are.
So “elimination” is not always a choice.
But... how about delegation?
You either eliminate, delegate or automate.
But some tasks need to get done - no matter how boring or low-impact they are.
So “elimination” is not always a choice.
But... how about delegation?
Delegation (hiring an assistant) costs money.
If you’re just starting out, you might not afford it.
And even if you can, hiring an assistant becomes a new project in and of itself.
Which means: more friction
procrastination.
If you’re just starting out, you might not afford it.
And even if you can, hiring an assistant becomes a new project in and of itself.
Which means: more friction
procrastination.
So we only have one option left:
Automation.
This is the easiest, fastest, cheapest, most reliable way to outsource work consistently.
Using tools like @zapier, you can have your own army of digital assistants…
Taking care of all your manual, repetitive work 365/24/7.
Automation.
This is the easiest, fastest, cheapest, most reliable way to outsource work consistently.
Using tools like @zapier, you can have your own army of digital assistants…
Taking care of all your manual, repetitive work 365/24/7.
Now you're probably thinking…
“Hot damn, how can I learn more about this automation thing!?”
No worries...
I'll share some free resources to help you get up to speed at the end of this thread.
“Hot damn, how can I learn more about this automation thing!?”
No worries...
I'll share some free resources to help you get up to speed at the end of this thread.
Your next milestone after learning the fundamentals:
Making automation a habit.
As Naval says: all the returns in life come from compounding — and this is also true for automation.
But let me make that more concrete.
Making automation a habit.
As Naval says: all the returns in life come from compounding — and this is also true for automation.
But let me make that more concrete.
You can boil down the process of automating anything to 3 main steps:
Ideation: Finding an automation opportunity
Execution: Actually building the workflow
Review: Assess if it’s working as intended
And you want to turn each of these steps into a daily or weekly habit.
Ideation: Finding an automation opportunity Execution: Actually building the workflow Review: Assess if it’s working as intendedAnd you want to turn each of these steps into a daily or weekly habit.
How to turn automation into a habit:
Ideation: Build the habit of capturing your automation ideas.
Execution: Proactively block out time to execute on your automation ideas.
Review: Once a week, review the workflows you built and your list of ideas.
Ideation: Build the habit of capturing your automation ideas. Execution: Proactively block out time to execute on your automation ideas. Review: Once a week, review the workflows you built and your list of ideas.
@csmikecardona and I are creating a FREE, 7-day email course to help you get up to speed quickly.
You can learn more here: https://busytoleveraged.carrd.co/
You can learn more here: https://busytoleveraged.carrd.co/
In the meantime, here’s another free resource that can help.
A 250-word, 101 introduction to No-Code Automation: https://twitter.com/dbustac/status/1487097385239007237
A 250-word, 101 introduction to No-Code Automation: https://twitter.com/dbustac/status/1487097385239007237
Want to learn more about this idea of setting an aspirational hourly rate?
Highly recommend checking out this post by @naval: https://nav.al/hourly-rate
Highly recommend checking out this post by @naval: https://nav.al/hourly-rate
Almost forgot:
You should also check out @EricJorgenson and @jmikolay’s Building a Mountain of Levers course.
It has a super actionable, step-by-step lesson on how to to set your aspirational hourly rate.
Super helpful! https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
You should also check out @EricJorgenson and @jmikolay’s Building a Mountain of Levers course.
It has a super actionable, step-by-step lesson on how to to set your aspirational hourly rate.
Super helpful! https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
Looking for real-life examples of how to start leveraging automation?
Here are 18 ways you can use it to up your content repurposing game: https://twitter.com/dbustac/status/1497590280349908992
Here are 18 ways you can use it to up your content repurposing game: https://twitter.com/dbustac/status/1497590280349908992
