Feeling overwhelmed by never-ending to-do lists? 

Struggling to stay focused when everything feels urgent? 

In this episode of Time Management for Entrepreneurs: From Overwhelmed to Organized, we’re breaking down simple, effective strategies to help you take control of your time and focus on what truly matters.

🎯 Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ How to use the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks without stress

✅ The 3-Task Rule—a simple trick to avoid overwhelm and stay productive

✅ Why batching and time blocking can help you get more done in less time

✅ How to protect your focus and stop distractions from derailing your day

You don’t have to do everything—just the right things. Tune in now and start managing your time like a pro!

Grab a copy of our Free Business Marketing Roadmap to help you gain direction and choose the important activities to do each day.  

https://familyebiz.com/roadmap 

More Show Notes

Hey, everyone! Kerry here with Family Ebiz, where we help families start and scale their online business so you can have the freedom to do what you've been called to do. Today, we are continuing our time management series. Last week, we talked about time management hacks. Today, we're focusing on how to move from feeling overwhelmed to being organized.

I hear from so many of you—whether you're in my mastermind, my homeschool blogging network, or the Family Ebiz group—that you're not getting things done. You feel overwhelmed by your to-do list. I get it. I’ve been there, looking at my own list and wondering, "How do I get all of this done?" If you ever feel that way, you’re not alone!

Let's be honest—everything in your business can feel urgent. But there’s a difference between urgent and important.

• Urgent tasks feel like they need to be done now—things like checking emails, responding to messages, or dealing with social media notifications.
• Important tasks are what actually move your business forward—things like creating content, building relationships, and working on revenue-generating projects.

Phones and notifications create a false sense of urgency. You don’t need to say yes to everything. Instead, you need a framework to help you prioritize your tasks.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a four-quadrant system to help you decide what truly needs your attention. Imagine a grid:

• Quadrant 1: Urgent & Important – These tasks have deadlines and serious consequences if not done. Examples: Meeting a launch deadline, submitting promotional materials.
• Quadrant 2: Important but Not Urgent – These are long-term projects that contribute to business growth. Examples: Planning an event, reviewing business stats, developing a new product.
• Quadrant 3: Urgent but Not Important – These feel urgent but don’t drive results. Examples: Constantly checking emails, responding to every social media message instantly.
• Quadrant 4: Not Urgent & Not Important – These are distractions. Examples: Mindless scrolling, unnecessary admin tasks.

You want to spend most of your time in Quadrants 1 and 2 while delegating or eliminating tasks in Quadrants 3 and 4.

Every day, pick three key tasks to focus on. This helps you stay on track without feeling overwhelmed.

1. Look at your to-do list and identify the three most important tasks for the next day.
2. Number them in order of priority.
3. Focus on completing these tasks before anything else.

For example, today I’m working on:

• Podcast recordings
• Following up with my assistant
• Prepping for my homeschool superheroes event

Yes, I’ll check emails and social media, but these three tasks are my main priorities. If I don’t plan ahead, I’ll get stuck in urgent but not important tasks.

Switching between tasks wastes time and energy. Instead, group similar tasks together and block out focused work sessions.

• Batching – Work on similar tasks at once. Today, I’m batching podcast tasks—outlining, reviewing, recording.
• Time Blocking – Schedule dedicated time for deep work. Benjamin Franklin used this method, starting his day by asking, What good shall I do today? Then, he scheduled his time accordingly.

For example, tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment, but after that, I’ll go to a coffee shop and focus on one or two key projects that require deep work.

You don’t have to feel overwhelmed. Use the Eisenhower Matrix, the Three-Task Rule, and batching to take control of your time.

Your next steps:

• Identify your urgent vs. important tasks.
• Choose your top three priorities for tomorrow.
• Plan a time block to focus on deep work.

Want more guidance on managing your time and growing your business? Join us inside Family Ebiz Mastermind, where we provide accountability, coaching, and a supportive community to help you succeed!

Let’s move from overwhelmed to organized together!

Feeling stretched thin between business, daily activities, and family life? You’re not alone! In this episode, we’re tackling time management for busy entrepreneurs—because let’s be real, juggling everything can feel impossible. But it doesn’t have to!

Inside this episode, you’ll discover:

✅ Why time management feels so hard—and what to do instead

✅ The 80/20 Rule and how it can double your productivity (without working more)

✅ Time blocking & theme days to simplify your schedule and reduce stress

✅ The “One Thing” method that helps you get laser-focused on what truly matters

✅ Smart automation & delegation hacks to save time (even on a budget!)

Whether you're a solopreneur, parent with a side hustle, or just trying to get more done in less time—these strategies will help you reclaim your time and focus on what actually moves the needle in your business and life.

🎧 Hit play now and take back control of your schedule!

Resources:

FamilyEbiz Facebook Group

Show Notes:

Hey, everyone! Kerry back here with Family Ebiz, where we help families start and scale their businesses so they can find freedom in their life to do the things that they’re called to do—the things they enjoy doing.

We are going to start working on or going through a short little series on time management and organization. So many of you have told me over and over, "I can't. I'm not organized. I'm not focused. I need help getting organized. I don't know what to do first, second, or third. I don't even know what's most important in my business because all these people are just throwing things at me."

So we are going to go through and help you simplify some of those decision-making processes. We are going to start right now with how to get things done—some time management hacks that I think actually work.

So let's just dive into this and realize there really is a struggle. If you are trying to run a business, if you have kids at home or you're homeschooling, if you have a family life or a church life, you are being pulled in so many directions and you don't really know what to do. It is really hard. There was a time I really was pulled in so many directions. I was homeschooling at the time, we had a business to run. I didn't want my kids to see the back of my head pointing at a computer all day long. I had to figure out time management.

I also decided, I did not quit all my church programs. Did I quit my life with God, my faith, interacting with people? No, but I was not on a schedule where I had to be at church at a certain time. That gave me so much freedom. And there are seasons of life that you need to do that.

So let's talk about some things about time management. It can feel very hard, so overwhelming. Why are you so overwhelmed with managing your time? Because you have too many hats, and you have a lack of structure or a lack of focus. And you're following all the shiny objects. You watch an Instagram reel, and they're like, "Oh, you need to sign up for this!" Oh, let me go do that! And then you only get it partly done, and then someone else offers you something. You get an email here, or you're in a Facebook group, and they're going to do a special presentation.

You can't do that. You are not really going to go anywhere.

That is futile. It is an exercise in futility, and that will overwhelm you. There is a term that people love to use, and it is balance, and I believe balance is just a myth. Balance is not the goal. The goal is moving forward all the time. Sometimes there may be a balance, but sometimes, like I said, I completely got rid of church activities and focused on my family and a little bit on business at that time. Now I have a lot more time for business, and family isn't nearby, so it's not a daily thing. But I've gotten back into my church activities. So there are seasons of life, and it doesn't mean that every day and every season the balance will all be the same.

I think it's just as important to manage your energy as your time. And what do I mean by that? I mean, like for me, by 4 o'clock, even last night, I had things I needed to figure out. I had emails I needed to schedule. And I just couldn't think. And it was late. It was about 6:30 at night.

That's like, quit, do it tomorrow. And so my energy level had dropped. Did I have time to do it? Yes, but I need to manage my energy and my time, and realize that there can be balance at times. But sometimes I have to really focus on one thing. When I have an event, that is my focus for the whole week. And so there is balance at times, but not always. I think we need to have priorities. My personal priorities are my faith in God, and then my family.

And thank goodness, I have a business that I can take anywhere and go help my kids if and when they need it.

So let's talk about some time management hacks. Number one, time blocking and theming your days. How do you group the tasks that you need to get done? Do you just have a to-do list and you go through them? Do you focus on something? If you start working on something and then you change to something else, it will take you five or ten minutes to get transferred, and then, if you come back, you've wasted another five or ten minutes. So what do I mean by this? What I mean is like, one day this week, I needed to really focus on my Easter launch and my mastermind. And I started. I was like, "I'm gonna work on my mastermind. Then I'll do my Easter. Then I'll come back to my mastermind." I was like, "No, Kerry. Your Easter class is at one o'clock. You get everything you need done for Easter. We're going to batch that. We're going to block that. We're going to focus everything until we're done on that." And so that is exactly what I did. Then I dealt with the mastermind emails and the different things that I needed to send.

Another way that you might do this is you may say, Mondays are for content creation. Tuesdays are for dealing with my shopping cart, my funnels, my marketing. Wednesdays is social media, or however you want to do it, and then you're focused on one thing for that day.

Now you may have a few other little tasks, but that would be another way that you can truly time block and focus on what you need to do. It is important that you get in a rhythm. If you do one little task, then you move to another topic, then back to the first one, your mind is not thinking clearly. So try to block everything that you're going to do today.

So those are some time management hacks that I think you could easily use. Leave something in the chat, or if there's comments, let me know which one of these would be most helpful. Pick one. Don't try to do all at once. Implement one strategy.

Thanks for spending time with me. I am Kerry Beck, with Family Ebiz. We'll talk to you next time.

Are you feeling stuck in your online business, even though you're working hard?

You might be falling into one of the three most common growth traps that hold entrepreneurs back. The good news? They’re fixable!

In this episode, we dive into:

✅ The #1 mistake that keeps online business owners from scaling (and how to avoid it!)

✅ Why accountability is the missing piece in your success (and how to build it into your routine)

✅ The surprising reason many solopreneurs struggle—and how a small mastermind can change everything

👉 Ready to break through these barriers and finally gain momentum?

Join FamilyEbiz Mastermind—only 3 spots are open! Apply now before they fill up!

Show Notes:

Hey, everyone, Kerry Beck, here with Family Ebiz, where we help families start and scale their online business, to find freedom in their life and do what they've been called to do.

We have been talking about tiny movements, tiny little tweaks in your business that can gain great momentum today. What I want to do is move a little further along that line and talk about the 3 growth traps that are holding you back. You might be making little things, but there are still 3 things that could grow. Your business could scale it.

But it's they're holding. These things are holding you back. We're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about how to fix it. So if you have not subscribed to our channel, please subscribe or leave a comment or review. Wherever you are listening to that that would mean the world to me. I do want to just get started with a quick question, though. Are you feeling stuck, even though you're working hard as can be.

You are not alone. I remember days I would feel like I would work.

I've worked my tail off for a whole week preparing a webinar, and then I would have a 0 sales. This was a few years back. Sales I was like. Is this really worth it. I am doing all this work, and I'm not making money. I have friends in the business that have just not quite clicked onto what they're doing. They haven't taken those steps, and yet they didn't. They didn't make any sales for several months.

Can you relate to that? If you're not making money at least on a weekly basis, hopefully on a daily basis. Then you might be stuck in one of these traps. They are keeping you from growing

your business, and to starting to make some money with them, or to go from a little bit of money to part-time or part-time to full-time income. So what are these growth traps? 

Growth trap number one, you have a lack of clear focus.

You might be chasing those shiny objects. Okay, I've done that, too.

You have. You've got you. You start down this one folk thing doing this one strategy, and then you hear a webinar or an Instagram reel. You're like, oh, I need to do this. I'll sign up for that, and then you go down here, and you are totally overwhelmed because you are trying to do too many things. All right. You're trying to do every marketing tactic instead of just mastering one. You need to master one before you go on, same with products. If you have a whole bunch of products that are not making sales, you need to go find out why.

Before you ever create another product, it's the same thing. You don't have a clear focus for your business. You're jumping, not just between what product to sell, but platforms. Oh, I'll go do, pinterest, and that doesn't work in the 1st month or 2. 0, I'm going to go. Do Facebook. Oh, that doesn't work. I'm going to go make a quiz, you're constantly doing different things. So what is the solution to this growth trap? Where you lack a clear focus?

You need to focus on a proven simple, scalable plan. Let me say that again. Proven, simple, scalable plan that aligns with your strengths and you need to follow. I encourage you.

One expert, let's say, get that one down under your belt and then move on to something else. But that expert better be able to cover a lot of things. Not just one thing because if they're just tell, you need to find someone that you can truly follow. They are proven in what they do. They are people that you can trust. And I think that's important. Because I mean, I follow a lot of people on Instagram. I listen to podcasts from a lot of different people, I put into practice. I implement only one or 2 people's ideas. 

Y'all know. My mentor, like my business coach is Amy. Talk, Amy Porterfield, and I'm going to tell you. When I got Digital Course Academy, I followed that thing to a T, put everything else aside. I didn't care about anything else I needed to follow it, and I was going to follow it. According to how she said, I'm going to tweak things because I thought, Oh, that that's not going to work with my niche. No, I followed exactly, and I did. I made my money back like that, and a little bit of profit on my 1st launch of raising leaders, not followers. So you need to follow something that aligns with your strengths. I will tell you. I did that for about 2 years.

Then I took a course on Facebook ads. And not only did this thing teach me Facebook ads. It helped me with my sales copy. It helped me with my images. It helped me with my funnels. It helped me with my trip wires, so it wasn't just how to do an ad. All of that is necessary to have a successful ad.

So I did one. I sort of got successful with the launches. Now, I've moved to Facebook ads and doing ads as well. So you need to follow something that is just following one thing and not being scattered. In doing that, you need to think about your goals.

What are your goals and what strategy will help you meet that goal? And I wanted to take racing leaders, not followers, to the next level. I knew that digital Course Academy would help me with that in being able to see long term results. So if you have a lack of clear focus. That is a growth trap. If you're chasing all those shiny objects. 

Growth trap number 2. No accountability.

This, to me is why so many solo entrepreneurs struggle to stay consistent? Are you having a hard time, being consistent in what you do?

And again, I have been part of different types of accountability groups and pods and masterminds all sorts of things. But when I am in a group, a small group that holds me accountable, I get my stuff done. I don't procrastinate, because I'm not going to be embarrassed to go in there and say I didn't get it done. 

So some of the signs of this trap is, you set goals, but you don't follow through with them. You feeling overwhelmed. And you procrastinate and really procrastination is just unmade decisions. You're just not moving forward as well. You are overwhelmed, all right, and that's not good, and you'll never grow if you are procrastinating, and you're overwhelmed. 

So what can you do find a accountability structure that will work for you and your business find a structure that maybe encourages you for weekly check-ins. Maybe you have an accountability partner. Maybe you're going to track progress yourself. Maybe there's someone on your team that you are going to check in with every day or every week. It just depends. And so you need to find some sort of structure in your business, and in the way you do business that will promote accountability. I have. I've really ever had an accountability partner like one person. 

But I we have been part of mastermind since 2008, and they have been structured differently. Our 1st account, our 1st mastermind we joined in 2008 was $10,000 a year, and we still had to pay to fly to Washington, DC. 4 times a year, and we had when we showed up we had to tell what was going on in our business, and there was some sort of accountability. We've done that. I have hired personal coaches, and that has helped with accountability as well.

And then I have taken some of that, and I have worked with people, and now I coach people and run masterminds to help them stay on track. One of the things about our mastermind I have had some different people. One of them is Jan, and she says at the end of the mastermind, when you send me my action plan, I print it out. And I put it next to my computer, because I know next month I'm going to have to tell people.

Did I get the things done that I listed on the action plan. I don't tell people what to do. Our mastermind members. They choose what they want to do, and they have to come back and tell, what have they done?

And then we can talk about that and encourage them. There are check-ins along the way during the month, but I've had. I have many mastermind members that say accountability is so good because it keeps me on track. So it also helps them focus. So there's 2 things right there. So growth trap one is lack of clear focus number 2, no accountability and last growth trap is you're missing some sort of community.

I believe a community is the hidden power of being in a small focus group. When you have a small focus group it will push you forward. And again, I've told you I've been in different groups. One of our groups was about 10 or 20 people, and we met in person.

Our our personal, my personal masterminds. We're groups of 4 business people, and those 4 people know each other, and they are confidential, and they

They hold each other accountable. But what does what happens if we don't have community, you feel like you have to figure everything out alone or with Mr. Google, or you lack support from people who understand your online business. I have another mastermind member, Danielle, and she's just like, you know. I can start talking to my husband about this, but he's nice, but he doesn't really get it. But when I come to our meetings you get it, and you can help me move forward. That is what is exciting and that's what I'd love to see is people encouraging. I have that myself. When I am part of Amy's coaching program. I get to talk to people that are a little step ahead of me, or maybe a little bit behind me, and I can gain their expertise if they've already worked in that area. Or I can encourage people when people are trying to figure out how to get started. So it works great. And we can do that through different lots of different means. But that is one thing. If you are struggling and you feel like you have to figure it out all alone. 

You need to find a community, surround yourself with like-minded business owners who will challenge you and support you.

And again, I personally believe, some sort of mastermind, some sort of small group where you can get feedback, fresh ideas and encouragement. Let's face it. We all get burned out sooner or later. We need to be encouraged to move forward. 

So growth, if you're multitasking, come back to me. Growth trap number one, you lack clear focus, that shiny object. You're going in 10 different directions. Quit start finding something and follow a simple one. One plan, simple, scalable improvement. 

Number 2. No accountability. You're not falling through your procrastinating. You need to get an accountability structure where you are having check-ins at monthly at the minimum, hopefully, weekly, maybe daily 

And growth trap number 3. You're missing community. You might need to be able to find some community. I personally, when I pay to be in a community, I get more out of it because those people are more dedicated. The free communities are good, and I'm part of some free communities, but I just don't. People aren't as committed to it. 

Let's just say now, I would like to just sort of encourage you in this. You do not have to stay stuck.

Small changes can create big momentum. So find, pick one of these. If you are in any of these, pick one thing that you could do, what would it be and start doing that through the next few weeks, and see what kind of small change one little small change, and how that could change.

And then, if you are interested in our mastermind, it is open this week we have, I think, 3 slots open. I would love for you to apply. We'd love to have you join us. We have some great small groups, and if I fill those 3 up I may open another whole new brand new group. So if you're interested in finding out what that's all about, you can go to family events.com slash, mastermind. It is listed in the show notes wherever you are listening to this.

And I just want to thank you for your time. I am here to help you get out of those growth traps

and get on with making money and not wasting your time and being able to take your business to the next level, I'm Kerry Beck with familybiz.com. We'll talk to you next time.

Are you creating content every week but feeling like it just disappears? You’re not alone! Most business owners get stuck in the “one-and-done” trap—writing emails, blogs, and social posts that barely get seen before moving on to the next thing. But a few tiny tweaks can change everything.

In this episode, I’ll share simple content hacks to help you boost engagement, save time, and make your content work long after you hit publish. No extra writing, no extra effort—just smarter strategies for bigger results!

What you'll learn:

🔹 Why one-off emails are a waste of time (and what to do instead)

🔹 How to repurpose content effortlessly across multiple platforms

🔹 Where to find endless content ideas straight from your audience

🔹 The simple automation trick that turns past content into future sales

Want to go deeper?

Join my FREE class, 5 Tiny Content Tweaks That Bring Bigger Results & Revenue! Sign up now at https://familyebiz.com/tweaks 🎉

We’re diving into the DRIP matrix—a powerful framework that helps you audit, transfer, and fill your schedule with what truly matters. You'll learn practical tips to identify tasks that drain your energy and how to delegate effectively to buy back your time.

Discover how the drip matrix can transform your business by turning overwhelming to-do lists into a streamlined system of high-impact activities. We’ll break down each quadrant of the drip matrix and show you how to implement it in your daily routine.

You’ll discover:

✅ Understand the four quadrants of the drip matrix: delegation, replacement, investment, and production.

✅ Learn how to perform a time audit to pinpoint where you’re losing time.

✅ Get tips for transferring tasks like email management and social media scheduling.

✅ Discover strategies to fill your reclaimed time with revenue-generating activities.

✅ Hear real-life examples and tool recommendations to streamline your business processes.

Resources Mentioned:

Buy Back Your Time, by Dan Martell

Beth Anne’s FREE Facebook Ads Course

Never Lose A Customer Again

Tidycal

Show Notes:

This is Carrie Beck here with Family Ebiz, where we help families start and scale their businesses so they can find freedom to do the things that are more important to them. In our podcast series, we’re in the middle of discussing how finding freedom goes perfectly with getting rid of those tasks you don't need to be doing and focusing on the things that are so important—both personally and professionally.

If you haven't subscribed to our channel, please do that wherever you're listening to this, and if you can leave a review, that would be even better. We're in the middle of a series, and I'm sharing some of the things I have learned from the book Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. If you haven't gotten a copy of this book, look in the show notes—there's a link (yes, it's an affiliate link)—so please get this book. And if you haven't listened to the first podcast, I would go back and listen to that first; it really gives the foundation for where we're headed.

I am going to do a quick little review because I told you last time that your assignment is to keep a time audit. I don't have mine here (it's upstairs), but for two weeks you need to write down exactly how you're spending your time. Why? Because here's what happens: you're working along, and then you hit some pain—you feel overwhelmed, you're drowning, you're drained, and you have no energy. So we're going to come in, take an audit, and then transfer some of the things that you don't need to be doing to someone else. That leaves you time; you've bought back some of your time, and then you're going to fill it with the things that you should be doing. Next time, we are going to actually look at that time audit—I was going to do that today, but I told you to do it for two weeks.

I really think it's important that you understand the types of activities that you're in and where they sort of hang out with your business and your personal life, because your business should be fitting inside your personal life; your personal life does not fit inside your business. You need to make sure that you have the things that are important, and usually that may be the business because it serves a purpose, but it's probably more than that. You need to understand the types of activities that you're doing each day, understand which ones you need to transfer, and then which ones you need to fill back up into your day.

One thing I think is important is that we are talking about offloading tasks—even at a very inexpensive rate. If you can just afford $10 a week, you could afford someone to help you do things. If you can get a free intern, then you can afford it, too. But I think it's really important that as we analyze these activities, you remember you're not hiring to grow your business; you're hiring to buy back your time. You are hiring to allow more time in your life so that you can fill it with the right activities.

So what I want to do today is go through what Dan calls the drip quadrant or drip matrix. There are four squares here, and I'm going to be talking about what each one of these are. If you look at this diagram, some quadrants make you money while others don't. For example, if you start down here, these tasks don't make much money, while the ones up here do, and then over here and down here, there are things that light you up versus things that don't. Some tasks you don't really care about, and some really do light you up. I'm going to talk about each of these because next week we will look at your time audit and figure out what we want to do with that, and then know where to get rid of things and how to replace them with more important things.

We'll start right here with delegation. This is the bottom quadrant—it makes little or no money and drains your energy. It includes things like email, Facebook, admin billing, and managing your calendar and appointments. Seriously, email—honestly, I don't know anyone for whom email lights them up. That was one of the first things I got rid of when I had someone capable of taking care of it, and we'll talk about that next week. These tasks in the delegation quadrant are things that you need to identify quickly and move to someone else, so we audit, then we transfer. For me, some of those were things like email—I actually have someone who sorts my email so that I only have to deal with the things that I need to deal with. Scheduling your social media is another example: can you find someone to help you? Maybe a child at home—some of you have kids and I personally think you should pay your kids very well. What about calendars and appointments? I am thinking about really offloading those. One thing I have done is automate certain tasks: if someone wants to sign up for a coaching session or to be a guest on my podcast, they just go to my online calendar, sign up, and it's all automated. They pick a time that is available to me, fill out their information, and it automatically sends them a Zoom meeting link along with reminders. I spent $29 one time with TidyCal (I put the link to that with Tiny Cow) for this automation. There are things you can automate so you don't always have to hire a person; you can delegate to a person or to a software platform. So delegation makes you little or no money and drains your energy.

Next is replacement. These are the things that make you money, but they drain your energy. In Dan's book, he explains that you start at the bottom—with email and calendar—and then you move up. You first get really good at getting rid of email and calendar, then you move on to the next items. Replacement items include tasks like managing your team, handling your social media marketing, and selling. You need to get rid of these as soon as possible, and it will take more thought to outsource these tasks than email. It's going to take a special person to be able to do this. There are some things in here that I have already offloaded—like scheduling my SEO and my pins—so that someone else is doing that. Eventually, I would like to transfer my Facebook ads. I want to understand what's going on, have a conversation about it, and be able to check stats, but I don't need to be doing the daily monitoring that I do right now, such as checking every morning which ads are working, which ones aren't, which ones need a budget increase, or which ones need to be cut out. Once you have a system in place, that is something someone else can handle.

Now, Dan calls another quadrant the Pitfall square. You can get stuck here because you think you can't afford to outsource, or that someone isn't going to do it well enough—again, this may apply to sales, marketing, or delivery of your products. That's an area for automation: you should not be doing it manually. Anyone who is getting a customer and then personally emailing them about what they bought needs to find a system—a platform that will deliver it automatically. So those are tasks that make you money but don't light you up. Then there's the quadrant that makes you little to no money and doesn't light you up, and finally, the quadrant that makes you money and lights you up. This last quadrant is production—it makes lots of money and lights you up. This is true freedom: running your business instead of working in your business. How many of you have a never-ending to-do list? That is not freedom. You need freedom to be able to handle unexpected things. For example, when my daughter calls with a medical emergency, I can pack up my car in 15 minutes, drive three hours away, and spend the next four days with her until her husband or someone else can help. I have that kind of freedom with my business.

I am currently planning a trip to El Salvador in April to take off and see my friends that I haven't seen in a year and a half, and I even applied for a mission trip last night. I cannot believe I'm doing this two weeks before my annual homeschool superheroes event, but I've got that freedom now. I will probably work on the mission for one hour every morning if they have Wi-Fi, but that's it—freedom, even two weeks before my annual event, which is very important for paying the bills because it's a huge source of income. I have the freedom to leave two weeks before that.

So what is it that you need to get rid of—tasks that don't light you up—so that you can get into these high-value areas like social scheduling or graphics? I'm very picky about my graphics, but I'm going to find someone to take care of them because I'm the bottleneck; we don't have new graphics because I haven't made them. Writing emails? What lights me up and makes me money is coaching—helping people in business and in my homeschool, and leading the leaders and childcare workers at our Bible study. That lights me up. Now, coaching is more of an investment, and I'll be honest, it's not making me money right now, but I should have that down in the production quadrant along with coaching, helping people, being with people, teaching, and sharing at summits—because I know it's helping the people that are coming.

So what you need to do is continue your time audit. Next week, I'm going to talk about how you decide what to do and how to figure out how much to pay these people. I know you're thinking it's not in your budget, but I'll show you a way that it is in your budget. Remember, we are not hiring people to grow your business; you're hiring them to buy back your time. You're buying their time so that you get some time back. And remember, 80% done by someone else is better than 100% done by you if it means you're draining yourself—let it go if you really can't afford it.

Next week, I'll talk about our buyback rate calculations that Dan shares, and what kind of activities to transfer, audit, and fill. Thanks for spending time with me—I know this may have gone on a little longer than normal, but thank you. Wherever you're listening, if there's a comment section, please leave a comment; I would love to interact with you about this. I'm Carrie Beck with FamilyEbizz.com, and we'll talk to you next time.

Feeling overwhelmed by endless tasks? In this episode, we review Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell—a must-read for online business owners, bloggers, and podcasters who need to reclaim their day.

Learn how to audit your time, transfer tasks that drain your energy, and fill your schedule with what truly matters for both your business and personal freedom.

Tune in to discover how effective time management can transform your workflow and empower you to focus on what really counts.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

✅ 3 Steps: Audit, Transfer, Fill method for effective time management.

✅ Audit Your Day: Identify where your time is being wasted.

✅ The #1 Task: To offload to someone else … to transfer

✅ Mindset Shift: Embrace the new approach to overcome overwhelm and gain freedom.

Resources Available:

Business Marketing Roadmap

Buy Back Your Time

Hey, everyone, Kerry Beck here with Family Ebiz, where we help families start and scale online businesses so you can find the freedom to do the things that are important to you. That is really what our topic is all about today, and I am so excited to share this with you before I dive into our discussion on buying back our time and getting more time back for us to do the right activities. Please subscribe to this channel—it would mean the world to me. If there's a place to leave a review, go ahead and leave us a 5-star review; that would be awesome.

Today, we're going to begin a podcast series over the next two or three weeks, and it will be all based on the book Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. My nephew told me about this at Thanksgiving, so I came home and ordered it. It had been sitting there while I was reading other books, and last weekend, when I had no particular book to read, I finally started it on Sunday morning. I was a little unsure if it would really be helpful, even though I consider myself pretty organized and focused—I do take breaks and follow time management principles that I’ve even taught others. But when I read this book, something in my mindset shifted. It’s stuff I had heard before, but I reached a point where I thought, "Yes, this is the time, Kerry, so let me share a little bit about it." I’ll give you a couple of reasons why some people resist what Dan is encouraging, and then I’ll assign you a task if you truly want to buy back your time.

I don't know about you, but sometimes we are drowning in our business. We get so caught up in being in the business instead of working on the business. In fact, I was on a mastermind call just a few days ago, and one of our members was exactly in that situation. There are times when we dive deep and know we need to work hard, but if it’s month after month, that's too much—at least in our homeschool world. In a week and a half, I have my annual event, so I know that week is going to be busy. The weekend before, even though, don't ask me why, I'll be out of town for our granddaughter's dedication. That's the way life is. This next week, before I leave, I’ll be working long hours, but afterwards, I plan to take a break, relax, and then get back into my regular routine.

Are you drowning in your work? No matter how organized or focused you are, it can all just be too much—the endless to-do list never seems to end, and you can never quite clear it all. Maybe you don't have (or perhaps you do have) time to do what matters most. That's what Family Ebiz is all about: helping you create freedom in your life for whatever is important to you. Do you spend time doing what's important—time with your family, working out, traveling, or enjoying your hobbies? If not, you need to consider buying back your time.

When we're overwhelmed, our reactions can include procrastination—we just keep putting things off, maybe because we don’t believe the effort will really work. Sometimes we think, "If I just put it off, at least I have an excuse and can lighten my load," but that never really solves the problem. Some of you might even reach a point where you think, "Maybe I should just sell my business and step away." Others might sabotage their own projects and then lament that nothing worked out, falling into a little pity party. Dan goes into these areas in much more detail in his book, which I highly recommend. I’ve included an affiliate link in your show notes, and I’d really appreciate it if you used that.

Now, let’s talk about fixing this problem so that in your business you're spending time on the right activities and have time for the things that matter. There are three steps: audit, transfer, and fill. By "audit," I mean you’re going to examine how you spend your time. This is my assignment for you. I started this on Monday—I usually read business books without putting them into practice, but I finished this one in two days because it meant so much to me. I began a time audit by writing down every time I switched to a major task from Monday to Wednesday. I plan to review my notes after a week or two to see what patterns emerge; Dan has some tips that we’ll discuss next week.

One thing I noticed during my audit—confession time—is that I work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. However, during this season of life, with my son's fiancé living with me (he’s here, in and out of town), my intended 5-minute break sometimes turns into 15 minutes. For example, I spent 15 minutes from 9:05 to 9:20 on Monday just visiting while getting my coffee. This is what we’re going to audit: identify where you’re spending your time.

Then we move on to transferring. We need to find the activities that you don’t need to do yourself and hand them off to someone else. The number one thing I want to talk about is your email. If you’re checking your email all day, that’s a problem. I’ve mentioned before that email should be checked once or twice a day. Sometimes I don’t even check it because I have someone like Ross who manages it—organizing it into folders so I only see what’s necessary. Once you audit your tasks, find one thing you can transfer, even if it costs a little money. You can use services like Upwork to hire someone at a reasonable rate. Even if you only have $25 a week to spend—around $20 a month—you could pay someone a small fee to handle your inbox, reply to messages, and take care of customer service. This alone will free up so much time.

I’m still brainstorming ways to transfer more tasks, such as scheduling social media posts. You don’t need to waste your time on that—hand it off to a teenager, an intern, or someone else who can do it efficiently and enjoyably. Once you transfer tasks, you create a gap in your schedule that you can fill with the things that matter most. For me, that’s marketing: writing emails, checking Facebook ads, creating campaigns, making financial decisions, managing the marketing calendar, promotions, and networking. These are the tasks that light me up, and I hope you can transfer the painful ones you’re drowning in and fill your schedule with things that inspire you, including time with your family.

So, I encourage you over the next two weeks to keep a time audit. Every 15–30 minutes, note what you’re doing—even if some tasks last an hour. Transfer your notes into a spreadsheet so you can sort them by category and see where you’re spending most of your time. Ask yourself, "Where are you spending time that doesn’t let you do what you're an expert at? Where are you wasting time? Where are you stuck?" Consider handing these tasks off to someone who might enjoy them more, like social media management. The end goal isn’t just to make a list, but to transfer the tasks that are overwhelming you and fill your calendar with what’s truly important—including family time. You might be surprised at how much time you’re spending away from your business or not spending enough time with your loved ones.

Next week, we’ll talk about how to find someone to help you, especially if you’re thinking, "I can’t afford it," or "They’re not going to do a good enough job." Hang with me next week as we tackle these two objections: I can’t afford it and they’re not going to do it as well because it’s not me. Dan covers these objections, and I’m going to share his insights with you. I highly encourage you to grab a copy of this book—it will inspire you and get your mindset back on track for really growing your business. Thanks so much for spending time with me. I'm Kerry Beck with Family Ebiz, and we'll talk to you next time.

Hey, it's Valentine’s Day this week! Let’s chat about how to make extra money during the holidays with flash sales and digital specials.

I’ll share practical tips like crafting irresistible lead magnets, setting up festive landing pages, and dive into affiliate boosts that turn seasonal events into profit opportunities.

Plus, we’ll explore how to capitalize on major holidays like Valentine's, Easter, and Christmas—and even niche events like Women & Girls in Science Day—with tailored offers and digital bundles. Stick around for tactics like upsells, bump offers, and collaborative giveaways to boost your holiday income.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

✅ Major holidays and niche events to make extra money during any holiday.

✅ Package digital products like e-books, courses, and printables into festive bundles with clear CTAs.

✅ Idea about using lead magnets, printable checklists, and masterclasses to drive engagement and sales.

✅ Creative ways to use affiliates & social media to amplify your holiday promotions.

Resources Available:

Business Marketing Roadmap

https://familyebiz.com/roadmap

Consistency is the key to growing a successful business, and it starts with creating a daily routine schedule that works for you. Today, I’ll explore how to design your ideal workday, balance your responsibilities, and maintain focus so you can show up for your clients and create solutions that truly resonate.

Whether you’re just starting out or refining your business systems as a solo preneur, this episode will help you set the foundation for long-term success.

You’ll discover:

✅ How to design your ideal daily schedule for work-life balance

✅ Tips for setting clear boundaries, for your followers and your family

✅ Strategies for creating a sustainable working schedule - stop your overwhelm

✅ The importance of including breaks, self-care, and personal time in your routine

Resources Mentioned:

Business Marketing Roadmap

FamilyEbiz Facebook Group

Creating products and promoting them is important, but without an email list, most of your hard work won’t reach its full potential. Building an email list is not just a strategy—it’s the foundation of a thriving business.

While flashy social platforms like Facebook or Instagram may grab attention, email marketing remains the most reliable and effective tool for long-term growth.

You’ll discover:

✅ How to use your email list to grow your business in 2024

✅ The 6 must-haves for your first email to new subscribers

✅ Why your email list is your most valuable business asset

✅ A fun challenge to jumpstart your email list growth this week

Resources Mentioned:

BOOST!

As we kick off the new year, it’s time to refine your focus and build a business that truly gives your audience the transformation they are looking for. To do this, you need to dive into the power of creating a clear Ideal Customer Profile and use it to guide you to your business sweet spot.

You’ll discover practical strategies to identify your perfect customer, align your offerings, and uncover your unique selling proposition. Whether you’re starting fresh or scaling up, this episode will help you stand out and succeed in 2025!

In this episode, you’ll discover:

✅ 4 “must have areas” to unveil for 2025 success

✅ One simple trick you can use to get secrets from your ideal customer profile

✅ How to differentiate your business from the crowd

✅ How to write a simple mission statement

Resources Available:

Business Marketing Roadmap

BOOST