Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business
- Downloads：3107
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-03-23 08:51:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jenny Blake
- ISBN：1646870662
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Are you consistently doing the work that you and only you can do？ Or are you burdened by busywork， the bottleneck blocking your company's profit and potential？
Your time is far more precious than money。 It is your presence， your memories， your quality of life。 As a business owner， you are already paying a risk and pressure tax。 For many， growth fueled by added stress is not worth the trade-off。 You have an urge to simplify and streamline。
Free Time is not about working as little as possible。 Nor is it about creating a lifestyle business purely for one's own gain。 It is about creating a life-giving business energizing every single person who is a part of it， from the owner to team members， to clients and community。 Free Time is about making small investments now to create greater optionality in the future。
A more joyful business is within reach。 Imagine:
Traveling， going off the grid， or handling family emergencies without panicking that everything will fall apart while you are gone。
Working 10- to 20-hour weeks， delegating the rest to a part-time remote team。
Answering questions with relief， knowing you don't have to "own" the next steps。
Empowering your Delightfully Tiny Team™ to answer their own questions before they even have to ask you。
Harnessing your creative energy for the strategic projects that excite you most。
Jenny Blake， author of the award-winning book Pivot and co-creator of Google's acclaimed Career Guru coaching program， is back with her signature blend of heart-based operating principles and practical tools。 This book will teach you how to move from friction to flow through smarter systems and the three-stage Free Time Framework。™
Free Time is a playbook to free your mind， time， and team for your best work。 This book will teach you and your team to operate efficiently and intuitively while earning abundantly， so you can make your greatest contribution as a business owner。
Your time is far more precious than money。 It is your presence， your memories， your quality of life。 As a business owner， you are already paying a risk and pressure tax。 For many， growth fueled by added stress is not worth the trade-off。 You have an urge to simplify and streamline。
Free Time is not about working as little as possible。 Nor is it about creating a lifestyle business purely for one's own gain。 It is about creating a life-giving business energizing every single person who is a part of it， from the owner to team members， to clients and community。 Free Time is about making small investments now to create greater optionality in the future。
A more joyful business is within reach。 Imagine:
Traveling， going off the grid， or handling family emergencies without panicking that everything will fall apart while you are gone。
Working 10- to 20-hour weeks， delegating the rest to a part-time remote team。
Answering questions with relief， knowing you don't have to "own" the next steps。
Empowering your Delightfully Tiny Team™ to answer their own questions before they even have to ask you。
Harnessing your creative energy for the strategic projects that excite you most。
Jenny Blake， author of the award-winning book Pivot and co-creator of Google's acclaimed Career Guru coaching program， is back with her signature blend of heart-based operating principles and practical tools。 This book will teach you how to move from friction to flow through smarter systems and the three-stage Free Time Framework。™
Free Time is a playbook to free your mind， time， and team for your best work。 This book will teach you and your team to operate efficiently and intuitively while earning abundantly， so you can make your greatest contribution as a business owner。
Reviews
Tommy Rodge
，
Writing this partway through my second go-round of Free Time in 2 weeks 。 First of all， I rarely write reviews。 This one makes the cut for a few reasons: 1。 It's written superbly well- no filler/fluff， nothing held back。 Usually， books in this genre are mostly filler。 2。 Every chapter has made me stop， think， and reassess my current approach。 By seeing things from a different angle， I am coming up with some ideas of how to make small changes for high impact。 3。 I can tell that the author cares a Writing this partway through my second go-round of Free Time in 2 weeks 。 First of all， I rarely write reviews。 This one makes the cut for a few reasons: 1。 It's written superbly well- no filler/fluff， nothing held back。 Usually， books in this genre are mostly filler。 2。 Every chapter has made me stop， think， and reassess my current approach。 By seeing things from a different angle， I am coming up with some ideas of how to make small changes for high impact。 3。 I can tell that the author cares about delivering value without forcing me to buy a course， or any other form of upsell。 Everything the book promises is in the book。 Side note: the book is beautiful- def worth getting the hardcover…as a book snob， I can say the production quality is the best I've seen。 The downside: I would have liked more actionable advice for a B2B professional services firm of my size in post-growth stabilization phase。 More on each positive point: On the writing， not much needs to be said here。 It's obvious that the words in each chapter were curated with care。 It was refreshing to have a book that didn't feel like a rush-job money-grab。 Feels like private consulting with someone who knows what they are talking about。 I have paid tens of thousands for coaches who have delivered less in the way of actionable， tactical advise。 On the value-density， pay special attention to Part 2， Design。 Based on these chapters， I held impromptu meetings with each department across two business units， to have them think about what we can do to improve our organizational design。 TL;DR， we used the chapters as prompts， had hours of fruitful discussion， and we made substantive changes to more than a handful of processes。 If the entire book was this section， I'd give it 5 stars- the rest is icing。 On the author- heard about her from an exec coach friend。 Ordered her last book Pivot， and bought this one early。 Glad I did。 Exceeded my expectations which were already high。 Hope this helps。 。。。more
Ruby
，
I've been following Jenny since her first book， Life After College。 It always felt like Jenny just knew the frictions I was encountering in both my personal and professional life， and offer just-in-time frameworks and tips to make life just a little easier and more joyful。 This book is no exception。In this book， Jenny walks readers through the framework "Align， Design， and Assign"。 After reading the book， what I realized was that in the past， I've often just gone straight to "Assign"， delegating I've been following Jenny since her first book， Life After College。 It always felt like Jenny just knew the frictions I was encountering in both my personal and professional life， and offer just-in-time frameworks and tips to make life just a little easier and more joyful。 This book is no exception。In this book， Jenny walks readers through the framework "Align， Design， and Assign"。 After reading the book， what I realized was that in the past， I've often just gone straight to "Assign"， delegating tasks whenever I felt burned out and stressed out。 The problem is that they didn't stick or I'd kept doubting my decisions。 Now I realize what I was missing is taking the time to really examine the whole system， and looking deeper at why certain tasks had to exist in the first place。 The audio book came with some bonus chapters with Jenny walking coachees through the Free Time framework， which further clarified things for me and helped me see how I can better apply the framework in my own life。My favorite takeaway from the book is reframing thought exercises in a more life giving language。 Most of us probably have used "what if you get hit by a bus tomorrow" or "what if you get terminally ill and can't run your business anymore" as a way to threat-motivate ourselves into documentation and not being the single point of failure。 But Jenny offered a different question - "what if you are whisked to Fiji for a vacation with no notice？" Same thought exercise， but really propelled me to think about how my business can be more energy giving rather than energy draining。 Overall， 5 stars！！ Highly recommend for every heart-based small business owner who are tired of the hustle and looking for a more fulfilling way to run their business and live their best lives！ 。。。more
Stephanie Pollock
，
Free Time: Lose the Busywork， Love Your Business by Jenny BlakeA joyful， actionable must-read for any small business ownerAs a small business owner for the past 14 years， I've had my share of ups and downs， including a few of the BIAD （burn it all down） moments Jenny describes in the book。 And I know I'm not alone。 That's why it's so important and valuable to have a book like Free Time。 Rather than add to the countless business books extolling the virtues of hustling harder， Jenny makes it clear Free Time: Lose the Busywork， Love Your Business by Jenny BlakeA joyful， actionable must-read for any small business ownerAs a small business owner for the past 14 years， I've had my share of ups and downs， including a few of the BIAD （burn it all down） moments Jenny describes in the book。 And I know I'm not alone。 That's why it's so important and valuable to have a book like Free Time。 Rather than add to the countless business books extolling the virtues of hustling harder， Jenny makes it clear that another， more sustainable way IS possible。 Free Time offers thoughtful， actionable ideas for working smarter， not harder。 And it does so while ensuring our decisions around how we operate our businesses are aligned to our values， strengths and energy （something that's easy to overlook， and rarely talked about）。 If you're an aspiring or new entrepreneur， read this book ASAP as it will support you developing a strong， solid foundation。 And if you're a seasoned pro， I guarantee you'll take away ideas and insights to reduce friction， streamline your systems and get back valuable time。 I read a LOT of business and leadership books， and this is one of the best （and most useful） ones I've read。 。。。more
Liron Lavi
，
This book is fantastic。 It covers so much in an easy-to-understand language。 My favorite parts were the chapter recaps， allowing me to go back， read the 2 sentences summary， ponder on a question that will move my business forward， give myself （the needed！） permission for something， and know my next step。 I loved Jenny's framework of Align， Design， Assign and the three sub-parts in each。 This framework not only lets me review my current processes and procedures， but also calls for the big-picture This book is fantastic。 It covers so much in an easy-to-understand language。 My favorite parts were the chapter recaps， allowing me to go back， read the 2 sentences summary， ponder on a question that will move my business forward， give myself （the needed！） permission for something， and know my next step。 I loved Jenny's framework of Align， Design， Assign and the three sub-parts in each。 This framework not only lets me review my current processes and procedures， but also calls for the big-picture strategy which will grow my team and revenue。 I cannot recommend this book enough。 I just finished the audio version， and I can't wait to dive back into the hard copy。 。。。more
Valerie
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As a “solopreneuer” turned leader of a small team， the path of least resistance is also the path of burnout， which is— me continuing to wear all the hats， do things manually because setting up systems “takes time I don’t have，” etc。Free Time was the loving but firm push I needed to actually start taking my systems more seriously。 There are so many gems and actionable takeaways in this book， it’s hard to narrow it down— but one thing that’s already been huge for me is to capture the response/solu As a “solopreneuer” turned leader of a small team， the path of least resistance is also the path of burnout， which is— me continuing to wear all the hats， do things manually because setting up systems “takes time I don’t have，” etc。Free Time was the loving but firm push I needed to actually start taking my systems more seriously。 There are so many gems and actionable takeaways in this book， it’s hard to narrow it down— but one thing that’s already been huge for me is to capture the response/solution in our shared manual anytime someone on my team has a question。 Then the next time someone has the same question， they know where to look before coming to me！I also loved learning how to not just identify the values of my business， but *operationalize* them so they are actually showing up consistently in our operating principles and processes。If you lead a small team （or run solo and know you actually need some support）， this is 100% the next business book you should read。 。。。more
Amanda
，
It's refreshing to finally read a book for entrepreneurs that doesn't tell you how to "hustle more" for success。 I am a big fan of systems and Jenny Blake's Align - Design - Assign framework has easy-to-implement strategies that helped me learn how to actually enjoy being an entrepreneur and the flexibility that can come with it versus always chasing the next client account and/or focusing on busywork。 The ironic thing is， the more space I've given myself in my business， the more success I've se It's refreshing to finally read a book for entrepreneurs that doesn't tell you how to "hustle more" for success。 I am a big fan of systems and Jenny Blake's Align - Design - Assign framework has easy-to-implement strategies that helped me learn how to actually enjoy being an entrepreneur and the flexibility that can come with it versus always chasing the next client account and/or focusing on busywork。 The ironic thing is， the more space I've given myself in my business， the more success I've seen just in the last few weeks。 Being able to step away， focus on what matters to me and my team and to give myself space to think and be creative obviously worked。 。。。more
Inna Aizenshtein
，
I don’t typically read business books。 Normally， they make me feel like I found a manuscript from a different world， written in a foreign language。 Jenny writes not only in a way I understand， but gets me fired up to implement the concepts immediately。 I wish I had this book 10 years ago， when I first started several passion-based businesses。 None of my previous endeavors went very far， despite the fact I had a lot of motivation， time and energy to dedicate to each。 As an artistically inclined c I don’t typically read business books。 Normally， they make me feel like I found a manuscript from a different world， written in a foreign language。 Jenny writes not only in a way I understand， but gets me fired up to implement the concepts immediately。 I wish I had this book 10 years ago， when I first started several passion-based businesses。 None of my previous endeavors went very far， despite the fact I had a lot of motivation， time and energy to dedicate to each。 As an artistically inclined creative person， business strategy has always felt sticky and uncomfortable。 From those past experiences， I learned that simply relying on passion for my offering， and expecting it to carry me through the challenges， leads to resentment and burnout。 The overwhelm I felt at having to do everything on my own， or hiring help but still directing every step of every move， drained my initial excitement， and eventually lead to the demise of each project。 The owner-as-bottleneck metaphor Jenny uses is exactly what happened in those previous attempts。 Normal life “distractions” like illness， vacations， or even mental breaks hadn’t been built into the process。 The Free Time framework is helping me to reevaluate how to approach my now almost 1-year old business through a healthy， manageable outlook。 Creating my life-calling business that *by design* does not require my full-time availability， is a total energetic game changer。 "Free Time" presents what I might otherwise think of as intimidating business strategies in the exact way I love to learn: by demystifying the process through the use of concrete examples coupled with heartening storytelling。 We all get to peek behind the curtain， and actually get inspired！ The dozens of examples found in "Free Time"， is a collection of Expanders。 These are successful leaders and companies implementing the three stages outlined in the Free Time framework （Align， Design， Assign）， and their stories help me envision a bigger， more expanded version of who I get to become。Blake has shown me how to plan for the things I once saw as most daunting。 The next steps in my business are now illuminated by the light of exploration， iteration， and learning。 This process feels joyful， not stuffy。 I started implementing the strategies in this book immediately， by taking aligned action steps and designing both how my important work authentically fuels me， and what it offers to my clients。 The next steps involve building my delightfully tiny team， and thanks to "Free Time" I have the blueprint for doing just that。 。。。more
Kathy Oneto
，
In Free Time， Jenny Blake gives voice and permission to those entrepreneurs and business owners who value time， freedom， and heart as much as they value running successful businesses。 She also addresses what many experience when they go out on their own—it’s easy to end up being overwhelmed and under the weight of work you don’t really want to do。 As Jenny puts it， you can end up in friction instead of flow and not able to do your best work。 That’s where Free Time comes in。 In the book， Jenny sh In Free Time， Jenny Blake gives voice and permission to those entrepreneurs and business owners who value time， freedom， and heart as much as they value running successful businesses。 She also addresses what many experience when they go out on their own—it’s easy to end up being overwhelmed and under the weight of work you don’t really want to do。 As Jenny puts it， you can end up in friction instead of flow and not able to do your best work。 That’s where Free Time comes in。 In the book， Jenny shares her method to Align， Design， and Assign to free your mind， time， and team。 I especially love a couple of Jenny’s mantras: “How can we earn twice as much in half the time， with ease and joy， while serving the highest good？” and “Let it be easy， let it be fun。” If you’re a solopreneur or small business owner looking to get beyond the overwhelm of your business， Free Time offers practical tips and mindsets to make it all more manageable and more joyful。 。。。more
Lindsay Pedersen
，
This book is a must-read。 Fresh， extraordinarily actionable， insightful， practical， inspiring， helpful， and beautifully written。Most of us run our own businesses so that we can create value we couldn’t create otherwise， and so that we could be our own boss。 The rewards can be deep。 But so can the pitfalls。 I loved Jenny Blake’s first book， Pivot， so jumped at the chance to read her new book， Free Time。 In a world where we are constantly striving on the productivity treadmill， this book provides This book is a must-read。 Fresh， extraordinarily actionable， insightful， practical， inspiring， helpful， and beautifully written。Most of us run our own businesses so that we can create value we couldn’t create otherwise， and so that we could be our own boss。 The rewards can be deep。 But so can the pitfalls。 I loved Jenny Blake’s first book， Pivot， so jumped at the chance to read her new book， Free Time。 In a world where we are constantly striving on the productivity treadmill， this book provides a profound antidote。 Each chapter explores mindsets， strategies and tips for running a business with more joy。 As Jenny writes， it really is possible to create twice the revenue， in half the time， with great joy and for the highest good。 And this book shows you how。 I couldn’t give this a higher recommendation。 。。。more
Andrea
，
If the core reasons you launched your own “entrepreneur-ship” have sailed past you…and the business seems to own YOU rather than the other way around， then read Free Time。 I’ve steered my own ship for nearly a ¼ century…and this beautiful， insight-rich book gave me instantly actionable ideas， tools， and mindsets to create more white space in my life。 In short order， I’m working smarter， and less。 To give you a sense of the power and freshness of Jenny Blake’s insights: Consider how we ask our te If the core reasons you launched your own “entrepreneur-ship” have sailed past you…and the business seems to own YOU rather than the other way around， then read Free Time。 I’ve steered my own ship for nearly a ¼ century…and this beautiful， insight-rich book gave me instantly actionable ideas， tools， and mindsets to create more white space in my life。 In short order， I’m working smarter， and less。 To give you a sense of the power and freshness of Jenny Blake’s insights: Consider how we ask our team for help。 For example， Jenny challenges us to examine how much we take on because we’re not letting others fully own their assigned work。 Instead， she recommends asking colleagues and vendors: “Have you done everything you need to do？ Have you taken this as far as you can take it？” **Voilá: we as business owners have forged more TEAM ownership AND freed up time for what only we can and want to do。**And isn’t that why we became self-employed in the first place？！ 。。。more
Sarah Young
，
A must read for anyone who wants to work smarter and with more joy！ The content is excellent and the physical book is stunning。 I had the pleasure of reading an early copy and can’t wait to go back and read the whole book again， to focus on implementing more of the ideas piece by piece。 This book is great to read cover to cover — and then to go back and revisit， since it is packed with great ideas， strategies， stories， and tips。
Beck
，
A lot of great practical ideas for small business owners to help you to focus on what you do best and brings in the money - but could see this being equally applicable to managers overseeing teams in big companies。 Great tools and templates available online to complement the book。 Listened the early release audiobook and the author is very engaging to listen to - though because there are so many good ideas here， I will go back to the book and highlight things when it is released in hard copy/kin A lot of great practical ideas for small business owners to help you to focus on what you do best and brings in the money - but could see this being equally applicable to managers overseeing teams in big companies。 Great tools and templates available online to complement the book。 Listened the early release audiobook and the author is very engaging to listen to - though because there are so many good ideas here， I will go back to the book and highlight things when it is released in hard copy/kindle。 There is a lot of good content here。 。。。more
Courtney Kenney
，
Incredibly helpful for a small-business owner。。。As an entrepreneur going on 7 years， I’m constantly searching for better， smarter ways of working。 Jenny Blake offers a framework to design your business in such a way that you earn MORE but in LESS TIME。 The goal is to give you more free time which in my mind is the whole reason we want to go solo in the first place！ I love having more flexibility in my schedule to work during the times I feel my highest energy。 What’s better than having the freed Incredibly helpful for a small-business owner。。。As an entrepreneur going on 7 years， I’m constantly searching for better， smarter ways of working。 Jenny Blake offers a framework to design your business in such a way that you earn MORE but in LESS TIME。 The goal is to give you more free time which in my mind is the whole reason we want to go solo in the first place！ I love having more flexibility in my schedule to work during the times I feel my highest energy。 What’s better than having the freedom to take an afternoon off to get personal things done （or to go have fun with a friend， go on a hike， or get out in nature）？Here’s what I’ve implemented since reading this book:-Started blocking off “Founder Fridays”—time on Friday afternoons which I devote to strategy and thinking time。 I can already see how this will help me get smarter about business decisions。-Automated all my bill-paying， shopping， groceries， cleaning， and other tasks that consume time but aren’t adding joy （she explains how to do this in the book）。 Plus she has a whole list of things she's outsourced that comes as a bonus。 Highly recommend her Free Time toolkit which is free and details are in the book。 I'm using it and loving the ideas。 Will save me so much time。-Started a Manager’s Manual。 This is brilliant。 Though I don’t have a team yet， I am building on the notion that I will hire an operations person or assistant down the road。 Building this as I go will make it so much easier to hand over to a new person rather than trying to train someone from scratch。-Task-batching。 Deep down I know I should do this but it’s something I’ve struggled against。 Thanks to this book， I understand the why behind why I should do it and have implemented blocks of time on my calendar to accomplish my batching。Most of all， this book has taught me to think differently—it’s let me take a step back and with each task， consider what I’m doing。 Is it adding value？ Can it be done away with？ Can it be done better， smarter， by someone else？PS - I love the way Jenny Blake writes—a conversational & fun tone。 She’s relatable and funny。 There are plenty of stories about real people and what they did to get more free time plus tools galore。 The book has a lovely red bookmark inside and the design stands out。 Well done。 。。。more
Nicholas Kotar
，