Dear Overworked Business Owner: You're Doing It Wrong

And I'm going to show you exactly how to fix it.

Slowing down feels impossible when your entire identity is built on getting things done. In your business. In your life. In your head, that never stops spinning.

You've built success by working hard, so of course, your brain screams danger when someone suggests doing less. The math has always been simple: more hours = more money. More effort = more results. More sacrifice = more success.

Except that math is broken. And it's breaking you.

The Fears That Keep You Trapped

Last week, a client sat with tears in her eyes. She'd just had her best revenue quarter ever, but she'd missed her mum's birthday dinner.

"I know I should slow down, but what if everything falls apart? What if I lose clients? What if my team thinks I'm not committed? People are counting on me, and honestly... I don't know who I am if I'm not the person who works harder than everyone else."

Sound familiar?

These fears aren't irrational. They're completely logical when your entire success story has been written with one pen: relentless effort.

Your brain only knows one formula, and it's worked so far. Society has been drilling this into us for 200+ years - ever since the Industrial Revolution, when more hours literally meant more output. Back then, standing at a factory machine for 12 hours produced twice as much as standing there for 6.

Today? That same logic is financial suicide.

Here's What Nobody Tells You About the Work-Harder Model

It has a hard ceiling. Your income gets capped by your hours, and there are only 24 of them. Even if you could work every single one (which you can't without literally dying), you'd still be limited.

But here's the part that stings: when you're running on fumes, the quality of those hours tanks dramatically.

Exhausted you makes slower decisions. That "quick" email takes 20 minutes because you can't think clearly.

Overwhelmed, you say yes to everything. Because saying no requires mental energy you don't have.

Burned out, you work IN the business instead of ON it. You're too tired to think strategically, so you default to busy work.

The Energy-Based Business Model

Here's what I want you to imagine: What if your business could give you energy instead of taking it?

What if, instead of dragging yourself to your desk every morning, you felt excited about your work? What if you could think clearly, make faster decisions, and have the mental bandwidth for the strategic thinking that actually grows your business?

This isn't fantasy. It's physics.

Think about a hybrid car. The right driving conditions actually charge the battery. You're not just consuming fuel - you're creating it. Your business can work the same way.

Energy-giving work includes:

⦿ Strategic thinking and planning
⦿ Work in your zone of genius (the stuff you're naturally brilliant at)
⦿ Building systems that help
⦿ Creative problem-solving and planning

Energy-draining work includes:

⦿ Administrative busywork that could be automated or delegated
⦿ Perfectionism spirals that add zero value
⦿ Saying yes to projects outside your strengths
⦿ Working on things that don't move the needle

The goal isn't to eliminate all energy-draining work (that may be impossible right now), but to flip the ratio. You're probably spending 80% of your time on energy-draining work and 20% on energy-giving work.

What if we flipped that?

What This Looks Like in Real Life

Sarah came to me working 70+ hour weeks in her consulting business. She was making good money, but she was exhausted, her relationships were suffering, and she felt like she was always behind.

We started by noticing her energy, not just her time. Where did she feel most alive and engaged? Where did she feel drained and resentful?

Turns out, Sarah's zone of genius was creating simple systems for her clients to understand complex scenarios. She could see solutions and opportunities that others missed. But she was spending most of her time on admin tasks that didn't earn her any money.

Over six months, we systematically shifted her work:

⦿ Hired a virtual assistant for admin work
⦿ Raised her rates and repositioned herself
⦿ Created a self-care routine that energised her mind and body
⦿ Built boundaries around her calendar to protect her peak energy hours

The result? She's working less hours per week, making more money, and has energy left over for her family and hobbies. More importantly, she's excited about her work again.

The Shift That Changes Everything

Here's what changes when you make this shift: You stop measuring success by how busy you feel and start measuring it by impact.

You stop scheduling every minute and start protecting the minutes that matter.

You stop glorifying exhaustion and start celebrating results.

The relief hits immediately when you give yourself permission to work strategically instead of frantically. But the real transformation happens over time, as you discover that your best work - the work that actually moves the needle - happens when you're operating from energy, not depletion.

Your Next Steps

If you're reading this and thinking, "This sounds great, but I don't know where to start," here's what I want you to do this week:

1.  Track your energy for three days. Not your time—your energy. After each work session, rate your energy level from 1-10. What patterns do you notice?
2.  Identify your top 3 energy drains. What tasks consistently leave you feeling depleted? Write them down.
3.  Identify your top 3 energy gains. What work makes you feel alive and engaged? What could you do more of?

Make one small shift. Can you delegate one energy-draining task this week? Can you block out time for one energy-giving activity?

You don't have to overhaul everything overnight. Small shifts create big changes over time.

The Bottom Line

You don't have to choose between success and having a life outside of work. You can have both.

But it requires releasing the story that your worth is tied to how hard you work. It requires believing that working less or smarter isn't laziness - it's smart business.

Most importantly, it requires recognising that the voice in your head saying, "But what if everything falls apart?" is the same voice that's been keeping you trapped in a model that's literally making you poorer.

Your overworking isn't noble. It's not sustainable. And it's not actually working and it's a ticking time bomb.  Burnout anyone?

It's time to try something different.

Ready to build a business that energises instead of exhausts? I help high-achieving women transition from the work-harder model to the energy model without sacrificing their success. Book a free call HERE to explore how this could work for your business.