I remember, shortly after my wife and I got engaged, we both got new jobs. I got a job at a web development agency, and she got a job at the neurological ICU at a local hospital, which is like brain injuries and really sick people. And we sat down one night to basically exchange notes on our days. She said, " How was your day?”, and I said, “It was all right.” It was pretty stressful. I have a client who will not stop emailing me. I feel like I need to respond right away. Then when I respond, they immediately make changes. It was annoying, but whatever. How was your day? And she said, it was, it was okay. We lost a patient. And in that moment, I knew my wife and I had very different types of stress in our job.
And while she said, " Hey, don't think that what you do is less than what I do. Like, your stress is still valid. And I said that's true. Thank you for, like, recognizing. I appreciate you recognizing that. But no one is ever going to die because I didn't respond to an email fast enough. And that is what I want to talk about today.
Hey, everybody, welcome to the Streamlined Solopreneur, where I help business owners stop doing everything themselves, saving 25 hours a month so they can focus on what really matters. And today, I really want to drive this point home that no one will die if you don't check your email fast enough. And I know this because I've been practicing this for years. I go to movies, and I turn my phone off. I go on family vacations where I literally lock myself out of my email accounts and don't bring my laptop.
When I was at an agency full-time, my wife and I got married, and we went on a two-week trip to Italy, and I didn't even bring my actual phone. I brought a burner phone. Like, for all intents and purposes, I didn't exist for those two weeks. And that is when I had a full-time job and a side hustle.
And you know what? No one died. My business didn't crumble to the ground. Nothing bad happened because here's the truth. Often the need to be in our inbox is self-imposed. We as business owners, especially solo business owners, feel like if we are not around, things are not going to get done.
And when I gave this talk at Opsahoy a few weeks ago, and I talked about this exact thing, I knew I was talking to a room full of people at different stages of their business. Some of them have employees, some of them work for massive companies, but the message is always the same. You can draw the boundaries you need to draw. Do your work well, and people will respect those boundaries.
Somebody did ask like, hey, what if I have employees and I don't have employees? I can't speak for everybody's individual situation. But what I did ask was, are you empowering your employees to make decisions in your absence? Because if you build an entire business that's on you, then when you go away, it's going to crumble.
But if we build a business that we can step away from because we've drawn boundaries and clearly communicated, then that's going to be a win for you. It's going to be a win for anybody you work for. And most people are going to respect those boundaries.
And you know what I tell the people who don't want to respect those boundaries? I tell them to pound sand. Hey, this is not going to work. When I clock out at five, I want to be fully present with my kids. And so I can't have you calling me at six with an emergency that's not an emergency.
And that's really the other part of it, right? Most things are not emergencies. If there is a true emergency that hits your inbox, you are not the one checking your inbox. You're not listening to this podcast right now. You have somebody else checking your email and filtering the things that are truly important. So how do you get to a point where you're not… you can draw boundaries around your inbox.
I want to tell you about a couple of success stories where I've helped people detach from their email. They already talked about how I did it. But before we get to how to solve this problem, I know many of you are struggling to find the time to even start thinking about this. I can't really build a system around my inbox because I'm too busy reacting to everything. I'm too busy doing a bunch of work.
That's why I want to make this as easy as possible for you with the Solo Ops Roadmap. In one 60-minute call, I will learn how you work and how you can save 25 hours each month. Then I'll give you a prioritized list, so you know where to start, including something that you can take action on the same day you get the roadmap.
Think about that. I send you the roadmap, and you do something that can save you a half hour, an hour, a couple of hours. Right then and there, freeing up your time to implement the rest of the plan. Does that sound good to you? Does that sound like something you need? If so, book your call at streamlined.com/roadmap. That's streamlined with a “d”, .com slash roadmap. I'll have a link in the description below. But hurry up, you know, I only have a limited number of these spots available each month. So book your call today.
So, no one will die if you don't check your email. You know, I coach a lot of people on a variety of things, you know, how to build systems for their clients, how to get sponsors, how to create better content, how to launch podcasts. All of these things take up time. But I had a client who got an email from a brand, and she felt like she had to respond immediately in order to get the deal. So I said, " Hold on, do not respond right now. They just emailed you. The very least you should do is think about your response.”
But also think about this. You emailed the brand two days ago, and they just got back to you. Do you really think that they are sitting at their inbox waiting for your response? And that even if they get your response, they're going to be able to act right now on it? The fact that you're not responding right now doesn't mean you're going to lose the deal. It means that you have thought about the response and you're sending them something thoughtful. And you know what? She still landed the deal. So we really need to think about that.
You know, I've had people who are like, oh, most of my clients are in Asia, but I need to respond right now. Hey, if your clients are 12 hours away, guess what? It's midnight for them, right? It's not a time when they are in a position to respond. They are probably sleeping. So at the very least, they're going to see it several hours from now. Most people have other things going on. And so they get to their email when they get to it. They respond when they can. And so the fact that you're not responding right away does not reflect poorly on you.
Email is an asynchronous medium. My clients have a number that they can call if they have an emergency. They don't use that number. I set up an email address when I go. So the other part of this, right, you want to draw your boundaries. But the other part of it is you do want to communicate with your clients, especially with out-of-office time. When I'm taking a family vacation where I'm not bringing my laptop, I have to let my clients know, hey, I'm going to be away for this many days, and I don't have anything I'll be able to work on.
But I also set up an email address for emergencies for them. I said, if you really need something, email this address, and I have arranged for somebody to handle actual emergencies. The number of people who have emailed that address over the last 10 years is one. And it was me to test to make sure the forward worked. Because the truth is, when it comes down to it, people will decide.
Most things aren't emergencies. And also, am I going to really bother someone else for this non-emergency? So draw the boundaries and communicate them clearly. And understand that not everybody is just sitting at their email inbox waiting for you to email them.
So what's something small that you can do to start drawing those boundaries? My recommendation, for some of you, this is not going to be a small thing, but I think it's an important thing. Turn off push notifications for everything except your most important three apps. I'll extend it to five because I have five. Text messages, which usually are filtered via Focus mode. My continuous glucose monitor, the weather, which I can eliminate; I don't need to get push notifications all the time for weather. I'm not a meteorologist.
My home security cameras, right? When I'm away, I get notifications. And the New York Yankees, which I can turn that off too, but I love baseball. And my phone should bring me joy, right? I shouldn't get annoyed by push notifications. So I'll give you five.
Turn off email. Turn off socials. Turn off work-related messaging apps. I do contract work for people where I have email addresses at their domains; those email addresses are not on my phone at all because I'm not working for them when I'm not at my computer. I am only working for them when I am at my computer. So there's no need for someone to reach out at any time, in any place, and steal my attention away from where it should be.
Now, I know that this is a lot of mindset work. I know that some of you are going to come away thinking, yes, I need this. And some of you are going to come away thinking, no, I am far too important. But for those of you who want the change, that's why I do private coaching and consulting. I use my signature Streamlined Solopreneur System Framework to help you set goals and get in the right mindset so that you understand that the stories we tell ourselves are not true. If I don't respond, things are going to fall apart. If I don't do it myself, it's going to be done wrong. Those are the things I help you with.
And then I understand how you work best and how you organize your business so that I can then build a system that works for you. I build that system. You don't have to understand how the technology works at a low level. I will build a system that works for you and then teach you how to use it. And that is my guarantee to you. You will use the system I built for you because it's based on how you work and what you're comfortable with. We'll use it. We'll refine it and and fine tune it so that it's perfect for you.
And then I'll hand it off to you with everything you need to confidently use it. And the result is that you'll have 25 hours back each month because you won't be constantly interrupted by the messages in your inbox. And it's up to you how you're going to use those 25 hours.
That's why we set goals at the beginning. What would you do with 25 extra hours? Write a book, spend more time with your family. Maybe you'll just touch grass. If this sounds like something you need, I offer free, no-pressure strategy calls.
I want to know how you work, and I want to know if we'd be a good fit for me to help you. You can book your free, no-pressure strategy call at streamlined.fm/strategy. I will have a link in the description below. But that's it for this episode of the Streamlined Solopreneur. If you end up turning off notifications on your phone, even if it's just a couple of apps to start, let me know how it goes at streamlinedfeedback.com. And if someone needs to hear this message- the message that no one will die if you don't check your email- share this episode with them.
Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, I hope you find some space in your week.
