Are you wistfully gazing out of a rain-soaked window, wishing you could tinker on that dirt bike you bought last year, or maybe it’s spending more time with the ankle biters? Or maybe just to do sweet F A.
In this current age of “hustling” we find ourselves neglecting the ones we love and our favourite hobbies in order to feel successful. But the truth is, we all have the same amount of hours in a day but some of us are just better at not allowing work to take over our lives.
But it’s ok! Tradies are notorious for working 6-7 days a week, and that’s not even including all the pain in the bollocks admin that needs to be done when you’re off the tools.
Let's have a look at our top tips for tradies having more free time:
1. LEARN HOW TO SAY NO
It’s hard to turn down jobs when you need the money but KNOW YOUR WORTH. Is a job really worth it if you have to drive over an hour, trek to Mordor and save a fair maiden all for the sake of $30?
No, no it’s not.
Set yourself a fair minimum price and if any job falls below that amount then say BYYYYYYYE. Value yourself and your time.
You can check out our blog post on how to price your business here.
2. LOG EVERYTHING
This is more for the future, when you keep a track of your daily tasks, you can identify where you can save both time and money to invest in yourselves (and that awesome new fishing gear you’ve been eyeing up!).
3. SCHEDULE THE TIME
Now that you’ve logged your work tasks, scheduling your time will help make your life a lot easier by showing you what you want to do vs what you have to do. Take a blank weekly planner and create blocks (or colour code, you do you mate) of activities you WANT to do that week. Then pencil in everything else around those time blocks.
This is an effective way to work towards a more work/play life. We really like using the RescueTime app for our plans!
4. LOOK AT YOUR TRAVEL
How often have you over or underestimated how long a drive to a job would be? We’re guessing...a lot. You’ll be surprised how much faster your drives will be if you plan out your routes for the week ahead, especially if you plan in other factors like trips to suppliers and a cheeky stop at the servo.
5. GET EXTRA HANDS
If you have co-workers, employees or subcontractor who can complete a task for you, then try to spread the workload. We understand that your tradie business is like a newborn sprog but sharing responsibilities will mean more free time for yourself.
If you don’t feel comfortable with that, then try to set some time aside to train someone you would feel comfortable delegating to (think long term for this one!). Whether it’s hiring an accountant, a designer to build you a website or someone to help answer the phone, this will make a huge difference to your time!
You can find services like TradiesAccountant and Office Shed to help share some of the load.
