“Buy Back Time” isn’t just a catchy phrase—it’s a whole new way to build a business. On a random Tuesday at 9:43 AM, I realized that true success meant reclaiming my schedule—and it started with redefining what I was really building.
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The Day I Finally Bought Back Tuesday
Let me tell you a quick story.
It was a random Tuesday morning. 9:43 AM.
I was in flip-flops. Sitting on the porch. Drinking lukewarm coffee. My wife was laughing at a video I’ll never admit made me tear up. The dogs were napping. Sun was out. No Slack pings. No Zooms.
And I remember thinking…
“Holy sh*t. I used to fight for this. I used to hustle for the right to just exist on a Tuesday.”
This wasn’t luck.
It wasn’t a 4-hour workweek fantasy.
It wasn’t passive income dreams sold on a beach.
It was the result of something I decided years ago:
I didn’t just want to build a business.
I wanted to build a business that bought me back my time.
Many entrepreneurs want to Buy Back Time by creating systems that free their schedule.
Time: The Only Real Currency
Here’s the thing they don’t teach you in business school:
You can always make more money.
You can’t make more time.
Money’s infinite.
Time’s not.
So when people build businesses that consume their hours instead of free them?
They’re not building wealth.
They’re building a prettier prison.
What’s the point of scaling your income if your calendar still feels like a cage?
Reflection Check:
- What’s the actual cost of the hours you’re trading?
- Are you spending your life—or are you owning it?
If you’re ready to Buy Back Time, focus on building products and automations.
The Problem: Most Businesses Are Built Backwards
Let’s be honest.
Most solopreneurs, coaches, and creators build their business like this:
- Get good at something
- Start charging money for it
- Hustle for more clients
- Raise prices and work more
- Burn out and binge-watch productivity hacks
It’s a hamster wheel with WiFi.
You don’t own your business. Your business owns you.
And if you disappeared for 7 days… so would your income.
That’s not a business. That’s a freelance job with nicer branding.
A real business works even when you don’t.
A business designed to Buy Back Time doesn’t depend on your constant presence.
Step 1: Redefine Success (Before You Chase It)
Let’s do something radical:
Let’s define what you actually want.
Not what hustle culture wants.
Not what gurus sell you.
Not what your high school friend who started a SaaS company thinks is impressive.
What kind of life are you building this business to support?
Here’s mine:
- No client calls before 11 AM
- Fridays completely off
- Monthly income that comes in even if I don’t post that day
- Time for workouts, books, and dumb animal videos
That’s success to me.
What’s yours?
Reader Questions:
- If money weren’t a problem, how would you spend your average Tuesday?
- What’s one “freedom metric” more important than revenue?
Ready to Buy Back Time by designing sales that run on autopilot?
Step 2: Build Systems, Not To-Do Lists
Here’s the hard truth:
If your business depends on your time…
…it’s not a business.
It’s a job you created for yourself.
And there’s only one way out:
Systems. Not hustle.
A system is just a repeatable path to a result.
Systems turn effort into assets.
Some of the systems that bought me my time:
- A productized offer with a repeatable delivery process
- An email sequence that sells while I sleep
- A team that knows what to do without asking me 14 questions
- A sales funnel that runs whether I post or not
It wasn’t easy to build. But once it’s built?
The freedom compounds.
Step 3: Choose Products That Scale Without You
Time-buying businesses are product-based, not purely service-based.
If you only earn when you show up?
You’re capping your income and killing your freedom.
Let me give you 4 product types that helped me (and dozens of clients) buy back time:
1. Digital Courses
You record it once, sell it forever.
It teaches without your presence.
2. Group Programs
Serve 10 clients with the same hour it used to take to serve one.
3. Downloadables + Templates
People love speed and shortcuts. Give them yours—for a price.
4. Self-Serve Memberships
Recurring income from leveraged value delivery.
These products shift the business from “you = income” to “systems = income.”
That’s where freedom lives.
Ask Yourself:
- What do I currently do 1-on-1 that could be recorded once and sold 100 times?
- How much of my income relies on my presence vs my processes?
Every business goal should revolve around how you can Buy Back Time, not just boost revenue.
Step 4: Focus on Evergreen Funnels, Not Energy Spikes
A funnel is just a system that turns strangers into buyers.
But most people rely on energy funnels—things that only work when you show up:
- Daily content
- Constant live launches
- Endless DM convos
- High-pressure webinars
Instead, build evergreen systems:
- Lead magnets that collect emails 24/7
- Nurture emails that warm up trust while you sleep
- Automated offers that convert your audience without you
This is how I’ve made sales while:
- Sleeping
- On a plane
- Playing with my nephew
- Doing nothing (which is now a sacred ritual)
To truly Buy Back Time, focus on building systems that sell—without you.
Step 5: Put Boundaries on Your Calendar and Your Business Model
Want more time? Guard your time.
Most business owners say “yes” to things that steal their best hours.
Meetings. Scope creep. Custom work. Random requests.
Here’s the fix:
- No-call Mondays
- Productized offers only (no more “can you also do X?”)
- Office hours instead of on-demand replies
- “No” as a complete sentence
You’re not selfish for protecting your calendar.
You’re smart.
You’re designing a business that works for you—not the other way around.
Step 6: Hire Help That Buys Back Time, Not Creates More Work
I used to think hiring was just for 6-figure earners.
Nope.
Hiring—even part-time—is one of the fastest ways to buy back hours.
But only if you do it right.
Don’t hire people to “help you do more.”
Hire people to “help you do less.”
Great hires:
- Own tasks fully
- Follow documented systems
- Solve problems without needing hand-holding
The goal isn’t to build a team to scale hustle.
The goal is to build a team that scales freedom.
Reader Prompt:
- What’s one task you do weekly that someone else could do 80% as well?
- What would you do with that freed-up hour?
Step 7: Automate Consistently. Review Ruthlessly.
Every quarter, I ask myself:
“What’s still manual that could be automated?”
“What’s still me that could be a system?”
Some real things I’ve automated:
- Calendar scheduling
- Payment collection
- Post-purchase onboarding
- Weekly nurture emails
- Client welcome kits
Every small automation adds up.
One less task is one more minute with your kids.
One less chore is one more walk outside.
You’re not building software.
You’re building sanity.
Bonus: The Freedom Metric That Matters Most
Forget vanity metrics like followers and impressions.
Here’s the one that changed my life:
“How many hours this week could I disappear without my business breaking?”
That’s your freedom score.
Every new system, product, and boundary should raise that number.
That’s how you build a business that buys you time—not steals it.
Final Story: The Friday I Didn’t Show Up
One Friday, I just didn’t show up.
No posts. No calls. No Slack.
I was in the mountains.
No service. Just trees, breath, and finally feeling like me.
Guess what happened?
- $3,000 in sales came in from a funnel I wrote months ago
- A client got an amazing result without me because the course already had what they needed
- My assistant onboarded a new customer without needing me once
That’s when I knew:
This isn’t just about making money online.
This is about making space offline.