Streamlined Solopreneur: Tips to Help Solopreneurs Automate Their Business

My friends, it has been a crazy month. The kids were officially off from school until January 6th. I took off the entire Christmas break with them. But then they got an extension. We got snow on January 6th. And so then they had a snow day and subsequently a two-hour delay. So our 16 break turned into a 17-and-a-half day break. And from what I understand, we got off pretty easy.

And so that first week back at work, again, I took off the entire time with them. That first week back was really like three and a half days instead of five full days. Then the next week I traveled to Orlando for six days to speak at Podfest.

Now, I tacked on an extra day or two to hang out with my brother at Disney World. We all know how much I love Disney World. Or at least if you are a new listener, you will come to learn just how much I love Disney World. I talk about Disney probably not as much as the Yankees, but quite a bit.

Anyway, so if we're keeping track, three and a half days of work that first week of January. One day of work. We'll say like two days because I did some work while I was at the conference, but not a lot. Definitely not deep-focused work. I wanted to be present at the conference.

And then when I got home, I had a house full of sick people. My kids and my wife all had the flu and RSV. And I'm feeling it as we record this. I'm feeling it a little bit, but in previous years, the flu or RSV would have like knocked me on my butt. And I am vertical and feeling pretty good actually.

And I think that's a combination of Tamiflu, which is apparently a miracle drug, vitamin C. And then I also, I was hesitant to do this, but I came up from work one day to a chorus of coughing in my living room.

And so that day I decided to wear a mask and while I ran the air purifier. And so, you know, I didn't get a lot of work done the week I was back. I was actively trying to avoid getting sick, but also I was taking care of my family, right? I missed a networking event and I came home from work a little earlier. I did get out of the house on Friday and I went to a cigar shop and I got a lot of work done there, but you know, it's tough. You have sick kids and a sick wife and you want to be present for them. So that week was tough too.

Plus, I might've mentioned this on the show at some point already, but we got a puppy on Christmas. We got the kids a puppy for Christmas. It was my wife's decision. I grudgingly acquiesced, but it is a small puppy and so we are potty training it, him, it and we're also potty training my daughter, my youngest daughter because we had planned to do that over Christmas break as well.

And then there were just like some major school events going on this month and a lot of stuff. And as a result, all of those multiple minutes, how long have I been talking already? Three-minute buildup to tell you that I really had no margin in January to do the things that I normally like to do in January because January is so slow, at least the first half of it.

I usually like to take that time to reflect and plan and build up a stock of content. Try some new things. I have some things in the works that I want to do that I haven't gotten around to. And so I've decided, and you know this from the title of the episode, that for me, 2025 starts in February.

And I think this is a really important thing to think about, right? I could have said that I missed the boat on my January reflection, but like, it's just, it doesn't matter, right? I picked January because it was slow and it wasn't slow this year, right? So I'm telling you this because I want you to take away a few things from my experience.

The first is that a couple of years ago, a month like January would have sent me into a spiral of stress and anxiety. You're hearing this at the beginning of February. I am recording it towards the end of January, right before I am recording a pretty big LinkedIn learning course. It's probably going to be about four and a half hours of finished content. So it's going to take me probably three full days to record.

And then I need to set up my environment and just get in the right headspace. And so I blocked the entire week off, which means I'm not doing, I'm really not doing anything else this week except for other important obligations. But the fact that I barely worked in January as it was, would have sent me into a spiral of stress and anxiety.

And aside from a few experiments getting delayed, nothing else stopped. My podcast was still published on its normal schedule, leads kept coming in and proposals kept going out. I started posting semi-regularly on LinkedIn more than I normally have, maybe not as much as I wanted to.

And again, there are some, you know, I want to start live streaming more and I didn't get to do that. But I still did my most crucial work. This is a testament to the systems and processes I put in place, right?

Again, a few years ago, I would have been just a ball of stress and anxiety that I didn't get anything done and nothing got done and I missed podcast episodes. But none of that happened this year because my podcast recording process is streamlined, right? I'm not recording with people for the most part, right?

Every episode you've heard this year so far has been solo. And that's going to continue for a little bit. I think the first guest is coming up at the end of February, but I'm really trying to do like a three-to-one ratio on guests versus solo episodes. And that kind of puts the onus on me to come up with more content, but I have to do that anyway, right? I'm not just taking any guests off the street. I'm thinking about the things that appeal most to you. I want this podcast to be useful for busy solopreneurs who are probably parents who are trying to automate.

And in fact, one of the experiments that I would have tried in January or one of the things that I would have done in January that I'm now doing in February is really honing in on who you are and how I best want to help you. We're almost a year into the rebrand for this show and downloads are down and I feel like I've been floating a little bit, but there's a void has opened up in the podcasting space.

One of my favorite podcasts, the Automator's Podcast with David Sparks and Rosemary Orchard has been retired. They're not publishing new episodes anymore. And maybe part of that is after a bunch of years, they've decided they've run out of fresh content.

Maybe they're both busy doing other things. I think they talk about this in the last episode, but I don't think it's because there's not interest in the topic. If anything, I think there is more interest in the topic.

And so again, that's something I would have done in January, but I'm going to be doing it. And so as a sidebar, I am grateful that this got delayed because at Podfest, two of the most impactful talks for me came from my friends, Seth and Courtney, and their insights during the talks really shaped how I'm going to approach defining the audience and figuring out the best things to talk to you about.

And so, first of all, if you ever want to hear about a topic, you can send feedback over at streamlinedfeedback.com. That'll be linked in the description for this episode, which is over at, or in the show notes over at streamlined.fm/457. But streamlinedfeedback.com, that's streamlined with a D.

If you ever want to write in and you want to hear about a topic or you want me to dive deeply into something, there's even an opportunity to do a voice memo. So if you want to hear your voice on the show, record something, upload it, and I'll play it on the show. You know, assuming it's relevant and there's not like swear words and stuff like that.

But there's a chance that you'll be played on the show, I guess. So I'm really grateful that got delayed, but that's something that I'll be doing in February.

And this brings me to my second point, which is the calendar is arbitrary, right? Like I said, I like doing these things that I mentioned about planning and reflecting and trying and experimenting a little more in late December and early January, because that's naturally slower than the rest of the year.

But it wasn't slow for me this year. I took the two weeks starting December 20th off completely. I didn't. So I, you know, I checked my email sometimes, but only here and there. I shut down my studio computer. So I only had my laptop, which I kept in my office. And like, I really don't like, I try hard not to work from my laptop if I don't have to.

And so I was present with my family and I barely worked. I, well, I did not work at all until I think January 2nd. And that was just like, I was, I had pushed things off long enough and there were some coaching obligations I had, but January wasn't slow for me.

So I'm bumping my January tasks to February. Right. And the nice thing about that is I already know that my systems and processes can support it. I just brought up LinkedIn and if you're watching, I try not to do this to reference the video, but if you're watching the video, it was just like a dramatic change in lighting because LinkedIn doesn't support dark mode.

But I made a post on LinkedIn. That's why I brought it up. But my systems already support me in moving things around. It gives me a lot more margin than I thought it did. And so I'm not worried at all.

Plus, I mean, plus the LinkedIn learning course is coming off of my plate this week. And so February will really, February, I'll really be able to focus on my own projects and hopefully land more work and deliver on the work that I've promised.

But again, I think a previous version of me would have been like a puddle right now because I'd be just be, well, I have to work weekends now because I didn't get anything done and I have to work late because I didn't get anything done. And that's just it's not the case for 2025 Joe, right?

My systems and processes, the stuff that I've delegated has been able to support a busier than usual, busier than expected month for me. It's accommodating sick time. I mean, this is if you're a solopreneur or a business owner at all, right? Sick time has felt devastating to me in the past. I don't want to be sick. I hate being sick. But also like usually being sick means I'm bedridden for three days minimum where I'm not doing anything. Right. Like when I don't get sick that much, I would say, you know, aside from like, well, especially before kids, I didn't get sick that much. But when I got sick, when I get sick, I get sick, sick. And so as a solopreneur, like you don't have sick days. And if you're working by yourself and you haven't delegated anything, you don't have anybody who can pick up the slack.

But that wasn't the case for me this month. I knew that my VA was there doing the things that I didn't need to do. And my automations were doing the things that I didn't need to do. And so I could still take calls when I wasn't sick. And I mean, to be honest, I haven't really, I haven't taken sick time. I did take a couple naps last week, but I knew that my systems and processes would keep running even if I couldn't keep working. And that is a really powerful thing. Right.

So just to recap this short episode, right. Systems and processes provided me with a lot more margin than I expected. January was just a wash. And so I've decided that 2025 starts in February for me. The calendar year is arbitrary, right? Do things when you can do them.

I actually, I want to give a shout out to one of my former coaching clients, Aaron Lee, Aaron A A R O N. I've been told I pronounce Aaron and Aaron weird. But he responded to the newsletter that I sent out this week saying that their team runs on a hundred days philosophy. You know, it's a touch longer than a strict quarter. They get three of them a year and they can comp, they can accomplish a lot in a hundred days, right? They've made their own year based on what works best for them. Right.

There's also the 12-week year that I know is, is, uh, has been a game changer for a lot of people because it reframes the year for them and it builds in a little extra margin, right? And that's the whole idea behind yearly themes too, right? Is that you're not just going to make an arbitrary, you're not just going to say, well, today is January 1st and so I'm going to change everything about me. You pick a theme that you want to try to live by. And if you don't have arbitrary goals in mind, then you have a set of principles. And I think that's way more powerful than just saying, okay, I have, you know, I have to get this work done or I'm going to lose 20 pounds or whatever. You're, you're really setting yourself up for failure there.

And so anyway, I like, I like what Aaron Lee said here about, uh, the hundred days philosophy. Um, I didn't ask if I can share this, but if I will, and if I can, I'll, I'll kind of link his timeline for the year, but it's really good, right? They've got a couple of sprints, they've got some, some built-in days off or weeks off. And uh, I, I really, I really like this because you are not beholden to some arbitrary calendar. You are leveraging your, the calendar to work better for you, I guess. That's a little bit fuzzy, but this is what, that's what I'm doing here, right?

And a pre, I don't, I don't think I finished this thought. I'm a little all over the place. The day cool must be cooking, uh, kicking in. But, um, a previous version of me would have been like, well, I guess, I guess I'll have to wait until, you know, the summer to really review this stuff. And I know that's like a limiting belief on my part, right?

But I would have felt so behind in January that I wouldn't have had the space and the margin to do some of these crucial thought experiments and actual experiments that could help my business.

I would have, I would have felt like I'd been playing catch-up until there was a time when things got slow. And honestly, it would have gotten slow because I wouldn't have been trying to get more clients because I would have been playing backup, right? That's the whole man.

If you take one thing from this episode, it's that margin is like having margin is not just about, uh, giving you extra space in your schedule for the week. It's about setting your entire business up for success, right? It's the idea that, uh, you know, if you, if you put, instead of spending your tax refund on nonsense, if you put it into an interest-bearing account, it'll make more money in the longterm, right? Versus just that instant gratification.

And it's, it's the same thing for time in your schedule because I have built-in margin. I don't, I don't feel like I'm going to be behind for all of all of 2025 now. I'm going to do the things I was going to do in January and February and things are going to keep rolling.

So that's it for this episode. I'd love to hear, right? I'd love to hear from you. Uh, give, give feedback at streamlined feedback.com. You know, what's the thing that, what's one thing that you didn't get to do in January that you want to do and how much margin do your systems support? Um, if you're struggling, let me know. I help people with this all the time. I build automations and processes for them. I coach them through, uh, building more margin and really getting rid of some of those limiting beliefs like I have to do everything myself. So, uh, let me know. Everything I talked about will be in the show notes over at streamlined.fm/457.

Thanks so much for listening and until next time, I'll see you out there.