You started your business to do the thing you love. Maybe you’re a designer, a coach, a photographer, a copywriter.
You imagined long, fulfilling days spent in your creative zone, serving clients and building your empire.
And yet… somehow you’re knee-deep in invoices, colour-coding spreadsheets and arguing with your email inbox like it owes you money.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone!
According to an article in SME Today, 70% of entrepreneurs feel guilty taking time off and 1 in 4 will spend between 11–15 hours a week on admin.
That’s basically two whole working days shuffling papers (or digital files – same thing).
And a survey by Time Etc. found that 31% of business owners spend between 26–50% of their week on small admin tasks.
That’s up to HALF your time spent being your own unpaid VA. Glamorous, eh?
But here’s the kicker: if you’re working IN your business all week, who’s actually steering it forward?
Working IN vs Working ON Your Business – What’s the Difference?
Let’s break this down:
- Working IN = the day-to-day. Client emails, scheduling appointments, sending invoices, fixing the website when it throws a tantrum.
- Working ON = the big-picture stuff. Strategy, growth, innovation, new partnerships. You know, the actual steering of the ship instead of polishing the deck chairs.
The problem is, when you’re stuck in this “IN” mode 24/7, the “ON” stuff never gets a look in.
I hate to break it to you, but you’ll become the admin assistant of your own empire, and newsflash: nobody quit their 9-to-5 to drown in filing!
Why Admin Overload is a Growth Killer
Let’s get real here – those stats aren’t just mildly depressing – they’re a wake-up call!
Every hour you spend faffing about with spreadsheets is an hour you’re not earning, creating or scaling. Admin is a sneaky, pesky thief of time, money and, let’s be honest, joy.
There’s also the small matter of burnout. Nothing kills your creative spark faster than drowning in tedious tasks.
You didn’t build a business to spend your life moving digital Post-Its around Trello.
Want a reality check? Do a quick self-audit: write down how many hours you’ve spent on admin this week. Then cry into your tea. Then keep reading.
5 Practical Ways to Slash Your Admin Time (and Get Your Life Back)
- Delegate Like a Boss
You don’t have to do it all. In fact, you shouldn’t.
Hire a VA (hey, over here!), admin assistant or freelancer to take on those repetitive tasks. Start small: inbox management, appointment scheduling, social media posting.
Worried about the cost? First up, work out your hourly rate. Then, flip the question: How many billable hours could you free up if you weren’t glued to your inbox all day?
If you can earn more doing your actual work than you pay someone to do your admin, it’s gotta be a no-brainer, surely? Think of it as an essential business investment, not an extra cost.
- Let the Robots Help (aka Embrace Automation)
We live in a golden age of tech, so why are you still manually sending every invoice? Tools like Xero or QuickBooks handle your accounts, Calendly sorts your bookings, and email templates/autoresponders stop you rewriting the same reply fifty times.
Automate a process once and save yourself hours every single week. And nope, the robots aren’t here to steal your job – they’re here to take on those tedious jobs you don’t want to do anyway, and save your sanity in the process.
- Drop the Stuff Outside Your Expertise
Here’s a radical thought: you don’t have to do everything yourself!
If you didn’t start a business to spend three hours wrestling Canva into submission or reconciling receipts, stop doing it.
Outsource design, bookkeeping, tech maintenance – essentially anything that makes you want to chuck your laptop in the bin.
Hire people who actually enjoy doing those things (they do exist, I promise).
Quick exercise: write down three tasks that make you groan the most. Research one person or service who could take them off your plate. That’s your homework.
- Batch, Systemise, Repeat
Context switching is a productivity killer. Every time you jump from invoicing to Instagram to answering emails, you lose focus (and probably the will to live).
Instead, group similar tasks together. Do all your invoicing in one hit. Reply to emails in one block. Create checklists or templates for repetitive jobs so you’re not reinventing the wheel every single time.
Pro tip: one client onboarding checklist can save you about 27 panicked emails later.
- Set Boundaries Around Admin Time
Admin will eat up as much time as you give it, so stop feeding the beast. Cap it to a set window per day or week.
Try “Admin Mondays” or “Finance Fridays” where you blitz those jobs in a focused block. Or give yourself a strict daily limit: two hours max, then shut down your laptop.
Remember Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time you allow for it. Shrink down that time and you’ll get it done faster.
The Mindset Shift: CEO vs Employee
Here’s the truth: most business owners are stuck in employee mode, doing everything because they can.
Especially at the beginning when you first start out. It’s not easy letting go of stuff you’ve got used to doing.
But being a CEO means focusing on strategy, income-producing work and big-picture decisions – not wrestling your inbox into submission.
If you keep wearing all the hats, don’t be surprised when you end up bald and burnt out.
Admin is necessary but it’s not your zone of genius (and if it is, congrats, you’re in the wrong blog!).
The Payoff of Working ON Your Business
Cutting down on your admin time isn’t just about having a prettier calendar. It’s about creating the headspace to actually grow.
- More time to work on money-making projects.
- More energy to innovate and create.
- More joy in your business (remember that?).
When you spend more time ON your business, you stop being the frazzled receptionist and start being the visionary CEO you were always meant to be.
Step Away from the Inbox
So, are you working more in your business than on it? If the answer’s yes, you’re in good company – but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Do one thing today. Delegate one task. Set up one automation. Bin one bit of admin that doesn’t actually matter.
Your business doesn’t need another admin assistant – it needs a leader.
So step away from the inbox and into the driver’s seat. Your future self (and your bank account) will thank you.
Need Help Getting Out of the Admin Trenches?
If you’re ready to claw back some leadership time, focus on the big picture and actually enjoy running your business again, that’s where I can help.
I mainly work with neurodivergent business owners, creatives and coaches to create systems, strategy and (let’s be honest) give you permission to let go of the stuff you don’t need to be doing.
Whether you need help to outsource, streamline or craft the messaging that will attract your dream clients while you step into CEO mode, let’s chat. Drop me a message and let’s get you working on your business and not just in it.
P.S. Loathe writing blogs (like this one) but know you need them to get your website noticed? I can ghostwrite them for you, while you focus on running your business. You’ll get fresh, SEO-friendly content that brings in more leads – and you won’t have to lift a finger. Now that’s what I call a win-win (just saying!).