Ever wonder how some mums actually manage to build a six figure business whilst juggling a full-time job, kids, and life, without completely burning out?

This week I'm chatting with Sam Hoyle, founder of Harmony Accounting, who did exactly that. She shares honestly what it took, the late nights after bedtime, the focused use of every spare moment, and the systems that kept her sane whilst running a business while working full time.

We talk about practical time management for business owners: doing the hard tasks first, using Asana as your external brain, and why finishing yesterday's unfinished work first thing today changes everything. Sam went from working evenings and weekends to handing in her notice within six months, without taking a pay cut.

It's a proper, grounded look at mum entrepreneur strategies that actually work when you're growing a service based business around all the other demands on your time. If you've been wondering whether it's actually possible, this episode will show you it is.

Check out the full show notes and the resources mentioned in this episode at 

https://kirstyknightcoaching.com/episode-178-how-she-built-a-six-figure-business-after-bedtime-with-sam-hoyle/

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Mum guilt for entrepreneurs can feel relentless, like you're failing at both business and parenting, no matter how hard you try. Between school holidays, sick days, and constant interruptions, it's easy to lose momentum or feel torn in two.

In this episode, I share two proven approaches to handling mum guilt, keep your business aligned with your values, and stay productive even when the kids are home. You'll learn how to tell when guilt is a signal for change, when it's just an unhelpful thought, and how to reframe it so you can grow your business and be present with your family without the constant tug-of-war.

Check out the full show notes and the resources mentioned in this episode at http://www.kirstyknightcoaching.com/episode-168-overcoming-mum-guilt-for-entrepreneurs-running-a-business

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So today we are talking about people-pleasing. Because people-pleasing is often, you've guessed it, one of the reasons as to why you might be struggling to fit it all into your week. 

And the trouble with people-pleasing is that it shows up in both areas - your personal life and within your business. The good news with this, however, is that if you learn how to overcome it in one area, it will be easy to apply it to the other area. 

So there are two things that perfectionism does that impact what you are fitting into your week. 

The first is it puts you off from starting, so the task or project ends up just being sneakily moved, to the following week, and then the next week, and then the next week after that…etc. until you actually are able to force yourself to start it. So really you do have time to fit it in, but you end up choosing to swap it out for something else. 

And then the second thing that perfectionism does, is that it makes you take longer on the tasks you do start. Longer than it is necessary to. So that has a knock-on effect on what time is left for everything else. So that is why that impacts your ability to fit it all in. 

Let's talk it over this week and I will walk you through what to do to get past it!

So last week we looked at the reasons why you keep starting new projects, before you have finished the ones you've already committed to. I gave you some examples of what that probably looks like in your business and I talked about the problems associated with that habit too. 

This week - we are going to be focused on the solutions available to you, and the process you have to go through in order to implement the solution I recommend. 

This episode I am talking to you about the urge to start new projects, before you have finished the ones you currently have got. 

So one of the things a lot of my clients have in common when they come to me, is that most of them have a million things on their to do list, and they feel they simply aren't getting to enough of them during the week. And the reason why they have a million things on their to-do list is because they have a lot of open projects on their to-do list. 

By this, I mean, they have started numerous different projects or they've started to work on many different ideas for their business, all at the same time. Or maybe they started with a core few, but over the past few months, they have been adding in more and more new projects and tasks, yet none of the projects are actually being completed. 

There are more and more unfinished projects on the to-do list. It's a little bit like a nightclub gone wrong. Instead of having a one-in, one-out policy when the nightclub is at max capacity. It is more like a one-in, none-out policy. Where new projects are added on a regular basis, yet none of them are being completed and so are therefore never removed from the to-do list, despite our capacity for executing them in the time we have available being maxed out.

This episode I will talk about how I shifted this and how I helped my clients to do the same.

I want to talk to you briefly about knowing your client's journey within your marketing strategy. Because not knowing what that looks like, and not being intentional with what we want it to look like - is one of the reasons why a lot of my clients find themselves doing ALL the things to get in front of people, to sign more clients - and why all those things are not fitting into their week. 

So this week is going to be an important one. It's going to be all about giving yourself permission. 

Because one of the reasons that you might not be fitting it all in - is that you might not be giving yourself permission to do your business YOUR way. This could mean potentially the offers you are selling, the ways you are marketing and selling those offers, the price points of your offers, the type of clients, the ways of delivering your offers, even your whole business model - they might not actually be the things you truly want to be doing, in the way you are currently doing them. But you aren't giving yourself permission to really do it your way.

And this is a problem because it does end up impacting on the time you have available each week. So in this episode I'm going to talk about why it affects your time, then tell you why you might be battling with this, and then I'll talk about the process that you have to go through in order to make the changes required. 

So last week I talked about all the areas where you might be resistant to constraining and what that is likely costing you. And today I want to talk to you about the reasons why you are resistant in those areas, and then I'm going to share with you the process through which I take my clients through, to help them become the person who is able to exercise constraint. 

What does lack of constraint look like? and what is it costing you / how is it impacting your business?  Find out with me here today!

So last week I talked about being addicted to hustling…and this week I wanted to carry on with the hustling theme, because it is a major reason why many of my clients, when they first come to me, are struggling with fitting it all in. And there were two reasons I didn't talk about last week that I wanted to mention this week. 

The first of which is when you are hustling to outrun your doubt, and the second is where you are in a tremendous amount of discomfort, and you are trying to get out of it as quickly as possible and so are hustling to escape it. 

So let's look at each, and you can see if it applies to you. 

I want to talk today about being addicted to the hustle, the overworking, the juggle struggle of trying to fit everything in. Because this might be one of the reasons why, no matter what strategic changes we talk about you making to your week, to your business, no matter what I teach you about how to master your time, you will always be struggling with not being able to fit it all in.

Not because you can't have a simpler, more streamlined, calmer life and business and approach to your time, but because you secretly might be resistant to having one. 

Because you are actually addicted to it looking the way it is right now. 

Building a business in school hours or part-time windows can feel impossible—like you're always busy but never moving the needle. My client Jenny knows that feeling well. As the founder of The Tea Break Project, she spent years treating her business like a hobby, juggling endless to-do lists, decision fatigue, and self-doubt.

In this episode, Jenny shares how stepping into her CEO mindset, creating simple business systems, and investing in coaching helped her transform her 15-hour-a-week side hustle into a thriving, sustainable business that fits her life.

Check out the full show notes and the resources mentioned in this episode at http://www.kirstyknightcoaching.com/subscribe

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Another one of the reasons why a lot of my clients are struggling to fit everything in each week, is that they aren't maximising upon/optimising their existing efforts. That means they aren't getting the return they should be on the time invested, and so they are having to double down on doing more. They are having to repeat things they already have done. Or they are having to spend more time working on the thing, in order to create the desired result.

Repetition, spending extra time, doing things you don't like to do - these are prime examples of how your time is being sucked and why you are working more, longer and harder when you really don't need to. 

Tune into this episode and let me help you take action on correcting this.  A 1% improvement every week could lead you to working a third less and earning the same (or more) in a year!  Now that really is worth the time!

Wearing too many hats - or commonly, all the hats in your business is going to lead you to not being able to fit it all in. 

If you are doing every single task for your business, for whatever reason, you are going to come across stumbling blocks such as procrastinating on tasks you aren't good at or dislike, learning to do things that you don't want to do - that could be outsourced and also things that could be automated or dropped altogether. 

Wearing too many hats, doing all the things, being overwhelmed and too busy means you can't see clearly.  How can you make the best decisions for your business if you can't see the wood for the trees?

So in this episode, we get clear on how you cant decide which hats to take off!  Which ones to automate, delegate, drop and keep - so that the hats you wear are the ones that keep you in your zone of genius and allow you to keep building your business. 

Taking on too many things outside of your business can be way more impactful on getting things done than you think.

If you are working on too many projects inside your business - and not getting them done and then simultaneously spinning too many plates in your personal life too, you are on a train to guilt, shame and burnout.  

So today I give you three options to get those plates under control outside of your business - and remember last week's episode if you haven't heard it yet, will help you get your projects under control within your business too.

Let's get going!

Ok so today we are talking about trying to fit too many different projects in to too tight a timeframe. So examples of this in your business, might be you trying to launch a podcast for the first time, and write and record the content for a new program you are selling, and organise or run a launch that you haven't done before, and rewrite your website copy, and organise your back office better or hire someone to delegate some work to, all at the same time. Or something similar. 

So why is this a problem?

Because of course this is all ontop of all of the usual client delivery work you have to get done, and your marketing and selling and audience growth and nurturing for your existing offers. 

And all of these projects comprise a number of smaller tasks to be done, many of which require skills to be learned, knowledge to be gained, and a high degree of brain energy and focus in order to execute them well. 

And in trying to do all of these projects at the same time, it is super easy to lose track of where you are with them, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount needing to be done (which of course isn't conducive to you getting sh*t done), and it's also easy to feel discouraged by what feels like incredibly slow or non-existent progress on any one of them. 

Because the truth is, we only have a limited amount of time to get everything done in our business, and as humans, we can only concentrate effectively for a maximum of 4 - 4 and a half hours each day, so even if we keep working past those hours, and we do get some things done, it won't be super productive, fast work. 

And by splitting our attention across so many different projects, we are going to be losing efficiency through switch-tasking…that is working on one thing for a period of time, and then switching to something else - that we then have to get in the zone for, remember where we were at, and get to that flow point - all of which takes time and effort. 

And if we are doing a tiny bit on each project, it is going to take a much longer time to see one of them through to completion, than if we just focused on one at a time. 

So you really aren't making decent progress on any of them.

Series: Why you aren't fitting it all in - Part 2. 

The problem isn't actually that you can't fit it all in. Yes, yes, I know you don't believe me. But the problem is thinking that you HAVE TO fit it all in. Because you think it is ALL necessary. And this simply isn't true.

Because - typically, out of everything we are actually doing in our business, there is usually only around 20% of it that is responsible for creating the bulk of the results.

So the remaining 80% is mostly just filler stuff. Fluff. Inconsequential stuff. Ineffective stuff. That isn't really working. Or that isn't contributing majorly to how successful your business is.

This rule of thumb, if you like, is known as the Pareto principle.

You've also potentially heard of it being called the 80/20 rule. And in terms of productivity and time management, it is an incredibly useful principle and tool/way of thinking about things that will help you free up some space in your calendar AND in your mind.

So today I help you work out what your 20% is so that you can focus where you need to in order to get great results without drowning yourself in tasks that you convince yourself you need to fit in.

Series: Why aren't you fitting it all in? Part 1

Having a huge list of projects, ideas and things to do is fine - but what impact is trying to fit it all in - and then not managing it having upon you and your business? What impact is cramming everything in without a plan having on your mindset? The newest series for you - Why aren't you fitting it all in? Is going to help you to really get to a place where you productivity is maximised, you actually do fit things in - in a planned, controlled and doable way - that ALSO makes sure you are getting done those tasks that will move the needle in your business. So buckle your seatbelts and let's talk today about underestimating your time.

A peer of mine used an analogy this week that I love - thanks Bridget! She likens building your business to growing a plant. So after thinking about it, I have really taken this on board and decided to ask you today - what are you feeding your business? 

Are you fertilising, watering and giving the correct nutrients to your plant - or in this case your business?

I talk you through just why your business is like growing a plant and how to be a good gardener in this episode - as well as asking you some questions that will really help you to get to the idea of becoming the best tender for your business and helping it to grow to its maximum potential

Here's what no one tells you about time management coaching: the people who need it most are often the ones who are convinced they don't have time for it. My client, Natalie Rockall, was drowning in calendar overwhelm, squeezing meetings into impossibly tiny blocks while telling herself she was "too busy" to address her productivity issues. As a freelance email marketing consultant and self-proclaimed "deadline dancer," she'd built her entire work style around adrenaline and last-minute scrambling. However, deadline stress was no longer serving her; it was slowly destroying her business and her sanity.

In this episode, Natalie gets brutally honest about her transformation from a chaotic productivity entrepreneur to someone who has mastered business time management. She shares the exact freelancer productivity tips and time blocking strategies that saved her from burnout and gave her back control of her life.

Grab all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at

https://kirstyknightcoaching.com/beat-calendar-overwhelm-with-natalie-rockall

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So if you haven't listened to last week's episode, make sure you go back and listen to that one first so that you know what type you struggle with, why you are doing it, the consequences of it, and what you think it is protecting you from. This week I am going to be talking to you about what you actually need to be working on in order to change the behaviour and stop doing it. 

So I talked about two different buckets of reasons behind why you are suffering with shiny object syndrome - and hopefully now, you will be aware of which one is driving your behaviour - or if maybe there is a bit of both. 

And this is important, because the solutions/the things we need to be working on are different for both. 

With shiny object syndrome, I see it come up in 3 separate areas - 

1 when A new platform for marketing comes out, or a new feature on a marketing platform is released, or a new software for project managing comes out

2 when A new strategy emerges, or when someone is promoting a particular strategy that they have been successful in for getting clients or growing your audience (and when I say promoting, this could be literally selling teaching it, or maybe they just mentioned that they had had some success with it)

Or 3 When a sexy new program, course or mastermind or other offer is being launched by someone you know, like and trust, or who is pretty successful and well known 

So how do you know if you suffer with it? What are the symptoms? The types of behaviours that indicate you suffer with it? Well, it could be just one of the following, or several that sound familiar to you. So listen up people - and see which ones resonate with you. 

What does it actually take to build a successful - and sustainable online business?

It really infuriates me when I see Facebook ads showing the latest guru selling a three step process to take you from here to here at lightning speed. Let's be honest, if it was as simple and easy as a three step system, then everyone would be doing it, following that system and finding success - right? Except they aren't. Because a successful business isn't built on just three things - whatever those things are.

So today I am getting real with you what you really need to get going - keep going and be successful in your business. It's straight talking time - but if you are anything like me, you appreciate and respect straight talk. I don't want any of you stuck, frustrated, overwhelmed and confused because you followed someone's system and didn't hit the stratosphere immediately and come to believe that it must be that there is something wrong with you - there isn't.

So here it is my friends, episode 53, and what it really is going to take. If once you have listened to this episode you realise that you need someone in your corner to cheer you on, or help you unstick one of these areas in your business to get you closer to success, then please get in touch and let's talk.

Do you ever feel like the harder you push, the more behind you fall?

You've tried the planners, the time-blocking, the endless productivity hacks…
But the truth? Hustling harder isn't the answer. And deep down, you know it.

Leanne Davies was an overwhelmed mum searching for connection, and what she found instead was a counterintuitive strategy that built a 100K+ community and two successful businesses. She didn't work more hours. She went for a run.

If you've been stuck in the burnout cycle, believing rest is a reward and movement is indulgent… this will flip your thinking. Because sometimes, stepping away is the smartest move you'll ever make.

Ready to rewire your approach to productivity? I want to hear what shifts for you—DM me! 

Check out the full show notes and other resources at https://kirstyknightcoaching.com/episode-165-run-for-your-productivity/

I go through each in detail in this episode to ensure you get the most out of time blocking - by starting off in a way that sets you up for success but is easy to evaluate and adjust if you need to. 

Are you tired of reaching 2:07 PM only to realize you've been avoiding work that matters while staying "busy" all day? I'm Kirsty Knight, and I'm exposing the shocking truth about why high-achieving women find themselves stuck in this maddening cycle—and it has nothing to do with laziness or lack of discipline.

If you're constantly avoiding tasks that would grow your business while drowning in low-value activities, your subconscious mind is working against you in ways you never imagined. Discover how understanding the subconscious mind and the real reasons for procrastination can finally free you from this exhausting pattern that's keeping your business stuck.

Ready to rewrite your story? Tag me @kirstyknightcoaching on Instagram—I want to hear all about the bold moves you're making.

Join my free challenge "Six Hours Back" to start making the micro decisions that create space in your calendar while growing your business—sign up through the link in my Instagram bio @kirstyknightcoaching.

Grab all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at:http://www.kirstyknightcoaching.com/episode-164-the-psychology-behind-why-you-keep-avoiding-important-work

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