Can I tell you a secret?
Sometimes I get tired. Like really tired.
Like… “falling asleep involuntarily in the middle of the afternoon” kind of tired.
And it’s not just because I have 4 kids all under the age of 10 (though no joke, that’s a lot of energy expenditure).
Or that I tend to work out a little too hard some days (exercise = good. Overexercise = less good)
And it’s not because I wake up most days around 3 or 4am (I go to bed super early so it’s really not as crazy as it sounds)
The real reason for the complete mental and physical crashes is that I tend to accidentally push myself just a little too hard.
And so my body steps in and says… ok dude, you’re done!
A natural defense mechanism I guess.
And one I run up against less and less these days but it still rears its ugly head from time to time. Just like it did yesterday.
But here’s my dilemma.
You see, I like working. A lot.
Sure sometimes it’s in a “compulsive-unhealthy-workaholic-way-as-a-means-of-justifying-my-value-as-a-human-being” kind of way
But most of the time it’s fun. I love it. Can’t get enough quite honestly.
Business. Marketing. Running an agency. Never in a million years would I have thought there would be a career like this that would be so fun (and pay so ridiculously well).
But like most things in life sometimes too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Even if you love it.
So how do you find the balance?
How do you walk the line between pursuing goals, dreams, and visions that are important to you
…while still being there for your friends, family, and fun time?
My answer? (and take this with a grain of salt as clearly I’m still working on it) is something I call “Bumpers”
(Like the kind they put up in bowling alleys to stop kids from getting non-stop gutter balls).
For me this looks like regularly scheduling vacations (we spent 2 months this year travelling around Europe with the kids and we’re in Hawaii once or twice a year for a month or so at a time).
When I’m home working, it means limiting my work week to 30-40 hours tops. I’d gladly work 80, but that 30-40 hour range seems to be the sweet spot for doing everything I want to do and still getting to spend a ton of time with my family.
When I do finish for the day, I try to truly finish. This means cell phone goes away. Lap top gets shut down. And my focus stays on my family or whoever I’m spending time with (as much as possible that is. I am human after all!)
Lastly, it means doing regular, and VERY aggressive 80/20 analysis on my work and life.
In other words, constantly (and by constantly I mean pretty much daily) looking for the 20% of things that are delivering 80% of the results and then cutting anything and everything that isn’t that.
If you try this yourself I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find a way to cut 1-2 hours of your work day.
It’s this way that I could quite easily work 1-2 hours a day and still maintain all of my business’s revenue. (Truthfully, I could probably work just 15 minutes a day but let’s just say an hour or two as 15-minutes might be too hard to believe if you’ve never tried this before).
But here’s the real kicker: it’s not just about reducing hours or taking more vacations. It’s about being intentional with the time you do have. Every single minute counts, so why waste it on tasks that don’t move the needle or, more importantly, help you grow your business and enjoy the life you’re building?
So here’s my challenge to you: Start setting up your own bumpers. Maybe it’s blocking out an hour a day to strategize on scaling your agency or refining your marketing. Or maybe it’s saying no to that extra client who doesn’t quite fit your ideal profile, so you can focus on the ones that really do. Or, if you’re like me, maybe it’s figuring out how to squeeze the most juice out of every work hour so you can finally take that long-overdue break while still driving results.
Trust me, the results might just surprise you.
At the end of the day, it’s about building a business that doesn’t just look good on paper but actually feels fulfilling in reality.
It’s about running an agency that supports your life, not the other way around.
And if you need a little help finding that balance, well, I might just know a guy who’s been there and done that. 😉 (On that note, here are 2 ways I might be able to help you: Option 1: Free, and Option 2: Paid)
Here’s to finding your own bumpers and enjoying the best of both worlds—scaling your business and living the life you’ve always wanted.
Talk soon,
Adam
