After Hours© 002

Welcome to the first OFFICIAL edition of After Hours©.

Thank you to everyone who told us what they’re struggling with.

The results are in:

• Justifying pricing
• Finding clients
• Momentum when there's no clients
• Discipline and routine 
• Motivation for consistency
• Avoiding burnout
• No knowing what to do

I can't wait to cover all of these topics, but let's start with the top struggle submitted.
 
Todays topic: Struggling to stay consistent.  
 
And boy, boy, boy… Have we been there. 
Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes (Skim time: 90 seconds)

What kind of problem is this?

Consistency is a clarity problem. 

Did you think you had a discipline issue?
Nope… you just have a direction issue.

Which is lucky for you my freelancing, self-employed friend, you aren't inconsistent because you're lazy.

You're inconsistent because you’re confused.

Dw, easy fix, promise.
Let’s fix that sh*t by working IN and ON the business. 

Working IN the business

It's the day-to-day grind.
The client-facing, time-for-money, “get it done” part.

This is delivery. Execution. Doing the thing you sell.

Examples:

• Designing the logo
• Editing the video
• Writing the captions
• Delivering client revisions
• Answering emails and Slacks
• Posting content you already created
• Sending invoices or proposals
• Doing the actual freelance work
  

Outcome:
Working IN the business keeps the lights on today.

Working ON the business

It's the strategic stuff.
The decisions that move the whole ship forward.
This is planning, improving, building, refining.

This is the work that makes future-you's life easier.

Examples:

• Refining your branding; audience, visuals, voice
• Planning and strategy for marketing
• Fixing your offer so it actually sells
• Tightening your onboarding so clients stop being confused
• Using templates so you aren’t reinventing the wheel
• Updating your website to reflect who you are now
• Auditing your systems so you stop doing admin at 11pm
• Reviewing your goals, numbers, and direction
• Improving your client experience end-to-end
• Learning a skill that makes you more valuable
  

Outcome:
Working ON the business increases future revenue, future ease, and future momentum.

You NEED both of these moving parts for a business to work

So you’re not sure what needs to be done when there’s no client work. 

This is something that took us (an embarrassing) amount of time to fully figure out. So don’t beat yourself up if you’re not working ON the business properly - I’m about to tell you how. 

Take a look at your current routine and add in working ON the business at least 2 days a week. Or 4 half days if you want a mix - either works. 

My weekly routine for working ON the business ONLY looks like:

• Monday: Reviewing analytics/stats  
• Tuesday: SEO, Ads, Substack nurturing
• Wednesday: N/A  
• Thursday: Writing EDMs/articles/blogs (the whole day - my favourite day)
• Friday: Filming content and YT (not every week, so sometimes N/A)
• Saturday: N/A
• Sunday: Planning content + overall week 
• Daily: Community management: emails, comment replies, dms 

Let’s start with just 5 hours working ON the business this week. Easssyyyy. 

Block these out at your CEO hours because that’s what you are. 
And give them as much weight as you would client work. 

This week you will; 

Firstly: Plan your WHOLE week tonight or tomorrow (Sunday or Monday).

Plan client work, personal admin, rest, fun activities, gym etc.
Everything has a specific day. And if you want to get a bit fancy, time slot everything based on energy levels. 

Secondly: Include TWO-THREE tasks from the below list.

(01) Audit your offers (Every Level): Are they clear? Priced properly? Do they make sense to someone who doesn’t know you? Most freelancers are inconsistent because they’re selling fog.

(02) Refresh your portfolio/website/Services Guide (Every Level): Add one new project. Remove the ones you’ve outgrown. A 20-minute cleanup can increase conversions more than another day of posting.

(03) Improve your onboarding (Every Level): Clarify or refine your Client Portal, Onboarding+Offboarding documents, Invoice, Client Contract/Agreement, Terms & Conditions (timelines, expectations, boundaries) and any email templates you have for responding to enquires or to accompany the above documents. Future-you will be grateful when you don’t have to think about this every time you have a client. AND every client will view you as professional and organised. 

(04) Set up one boring system (Every Level): A Proposal template. A discovery call script. A Client Portal. Anything from that above list of Client Onboarding. These reduce decision fatigue and obviously save tonnes of time.

(05) Update your brand voice + visuals (Every Level): No need for a rebrand every week. Just an assessment or a tune-up so everything matches who you are now. Eden and I do this monthly (sometimes more). 

(06) Create a repeatable content schedule (Every Level): Blogs, videos, static posts. When you know what’s happening each week, showing up stops being emotional.

(07) Do a “What worked this week?” review (Post-Beginner Level): Notice patterns. Track your numbers. Revenue, leads, conversion rate. Make a list of your top 3 money-making activities. Clarity is data. Momentum comes from seeing what’s actually working. 

P.S If you're a fresh, new, baby freelancer - you'll need to create all of the above+ at the start of your business. Spend a couple of weeks setting up the basics before you have client work. 
 

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So in short, if you’re lacking consistency from clarity, you need a clear weekly routine to follow that includes at least 50% of your time working ON the business.  

You wake up and know exactly what you are doing that day. Not busywork. Not BS. Just clear steps and actions for working ON the business to grow, scale and get more clients. 

That’s it. 

Until next week,
 
Penelope 
Co-Founder of Boring Studios, Writer, Future Published Author, Lazy Without Routine