How to Work Less in 7 Steps (Earn more & get more done)

Want to work less without sacrificing your productivity or earning potential?

Because whenever you take a break, you feel guilty because there’s always more to do. You never vacation and miss out on important moments with family and friends because you’re always busy with work.

If this is you, you’re in the right place.

Today, you’ll learn key strategies to work less so that you can:

Work smarter, not harder, and achieve better results in less time
Have more time to travel and enjoy life without constantly thinking about work
Spend more meaningful time with my loved ones and pursue hobbies I’m passionate about

Ready to change everything?

Let’s go!

How to work less:

Plan your week
Prioritize your tasks
Track your time
Automate and delegate
Set boundaries
Take breaks
Take care of yourself

How do you work less?

About 15 years ago, I became one of the youngest senior equity analysts on Wall Street.

Now, I’d worked hard to get where I was. I regularly put in 80 to 100 hours each week and worked nights and weekends.

But the problem was…

I wasn’t taking care of myself.

I was gaining weight, sacrificing relationships, and fighting a mysterious but intense autoimmune disease.

Still, I worked until I burned out, collapsed, and woke up in a hospital bed – complete system failure.

The doctor told me that the only way I would get better was if I started to work less.

And because my life literally depended on it, I found ways to work as little as two hours a week.

Put simply, my health crisis changed everything.

Even though I was working less than ever, I was getting more done while earning more money and securing a huge promotion!

How?

By developing the Winning the Week framework, which Carey and I still use today.

It’s allowed us to travel all over the world, grow our family, and spend about 20 hours each week building and growing our business.

In other words: It’s allowed us to design our ideal lifestyle.

And you can create the lifestyle you want, too.

You just need to have the right strategy.

That’s where we come in!

The tips I’m about to share are ones that we still use to this day.

They are:

Plan your week
Prioritize the right tasks
Track your time
Automate and delegate tasks
Set boundaries
Take breaks
Take care of yourself

Let’s dive into them in more detail.

1. Plan your week

Planning your week might sound obvious, but less than 1% of people actually do it!

Why? Some people find it to be overwhelming or too time-consuming.

But it really is a huge part of being able to work less.

Let’s think back to that framework I came up with in the hospital. I call it the Winning the Week Formula.

Using it lets you set the stage for a highly productive week in just a short amount of time.

And it really works. In fact, Carey and I still use it every Sunday – and it only takes us half an hour!

Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Review last week. What went well? What didn’t? What can be improved?

Step 2: Get clarity. Determine what’s most important for the coming week.

Step 3: Take an inventory of your time supply. In other words, take a look at your calendar to determine how much time you have available.

Step 4: Review your time demand. Your time demand is your to-do list – think of each task as a bid competing for your time.

Step 5: Match your time supply and demand. Often, this means you have to take a few tasks off your to-do list, so you’re only considering the most high-yielding bids.

Struggling to plan your unpredictable weeks? We’ll talk you through it in this video:

Next up: Prioritizing your to-do list.

2. Prioritize the right tasks

If you have a lot on your plate, you need to work out what needs tackling first.

In other words, you have to prioritize your workload in the right way.

Now, most people instinctively try to get the small tasks done first.

But it’s important to remember that those urgent tasks are never going to stop coming.

So, all you’re really doing here is putting off the bigger, more challenging to-dos.

The ultimate problem with this? You’ll run out of time to finish tasks before you’ve even completed the small ones!

Instead, we recommend you approach them with leverage.

Figure out which task will make everything else easier and finish that one by Tuesday so you can spend the rest of your week on the less important tasks.

And if you need a little extra help, try the Champagne Moment exercise. Simply ask yourself – which task would you celebrate finishing with a bottle of champagne?

3. Track your time

Knowing how you spend your time is key to working less.

But a general idea won’t cut it.

You need hard data.

And that’s what you get with a time audit.

By tracking your time, you’ll learn:

Where your time goes
What matters most and least
What gets your attention
Which processes could be improved

However, for this to work, you have to be dedicated.

That means keeping a time diary and recording everything in thirty-minute intervals for two weeks.

Where you record it doesn’t matter – a task manager, Excel sheet, or piece of paper all work fine.

Ultimately, you’re looking to identify and eliminate the parts of your routine that are causing you to work more instead of work less.

4. Automate and delegate tasks

Our next tip? Learn how to automate and delegate tasks.

Chances are, there’s at least one task on your to-do list that can be automated, delegated, or outsourced.

When you automate, you use technology to streamline the more time-consuming or repetitive tasks. There are literally hundreds of tools designed to handle the tasks you don’t want to deal with!

Here are a few we love:

Zapier for tracking sales calls and meetings
ChatGPT for writing detailed SOPs
Fathom for taking notes during and summarizing calls with clients

But you know what works best?

Asana.

When you automate with Asana, everything changes. Even if you can’t set up your own processes, you can just tag a colleague in the comment box and create an almost email- and meeting-free workflow!

☑️ Learn more: Asana Mastery Course

And if there’s anything you can’t automate? Delegate.

I know this is a hard sell, especially if you want to be in control or believe that outsourcing creates more work.

But here’s the thing:

Delegating certain tasks to team members or virtual assistants will free up your time and allow you to focus on the tasks that make a measurable difference.

Think of it as a way to work less while getting more done than ever before.

We’ve used virtual assistants for years, and they’ve changed how we work and grown our business for the better. Learn how to hire them effectively here.

And if you want to learn more about delegating, we talk about it a lot over in the Lifehack Tribe.

I also share more in this short video:

5. Set boundaries

Now, another thing you’ll need to do to work less is set boundaries around your time, work, health, life, and even family.

Boundaries are the key to prioritizing your well-being, taking control, and lowering stress and anxiety.

And they’re what will help you stay productive without getting overwhelmed (even during your busiest weeks).

Here’s the thing…

Boundaries look different for everyone, but they always boil down to being comfortable saying no.

That could mean:

Creating guidelines for what you will and won’t do
Offering specific amounts of time to those who ask for something
Only saying yes to opportunities that align with your goals, values, or commitments

We’ll help you get started in our guide to saying no.

Just remember, saying no isn’t selfish. It’s a complete sentence, which means you don’t need to explain yourself!

Keep reading to find out why we recommend taking breaks.

6. Take breaks

This might seem counterintuitive, but even on your busiest days, you have to get up from your desk if you want to work less.

Why?

Because as research shows, breaks give you a chance to disconnect and recharge – which improves your well-being, work performance, and productivity

However, you have to take the right kind of breaks.

That means:

Doing something creative
Getting exercise or incorporating movement
Eating healthy food
Speaking to others

For example, I leave my office for ten minutes at the end of each hour for fresh air or to say hi to my family. It’s an easy way to keep my energy up and stress down.

7. Take care of yourself

Finally, figuring out how to work less doesn’t happen overnight – and it can’t come out of thin air.

To get there, you have to take care of yourself and build the right kind of foundation.

That means:

Eating healthy foods
Getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night
Regularly exercising

This is self-care. And you’ll want to focus on the kind that refills your cup and makes you happy.

That could mean anything, like reading a good book, having a bite of chocolate, or crafting. I recommend blocking out some time on your calendar so you can enjoy it uninterrupted.

What’s next?

Well, there you have it – some of the strategies Carey and I use to work less, earn more, and spend time with our family.

Now, you won’t master these strategies overnight.

But you can jumpstart your planning with our Win the Week worksheet.

In just a few minutes, you’ll have everything you need to work less but have your most productive week ever.

Get it for free here:

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