How I Found 10 Hours a Week (and You Can Too)

Last quarter, I hit a wall. I was billing more hours than ever but felt like I was getting nothing done. The culprit wasn’t client work — it was admin. Between tracking projects, chasing feedback, and updating statuses, I was losing entire days.

So I did a time audit. For one week, I logged everything I did, even the five-minute distractions. The results were brutal: over 22 hours on admin tasks, many of which could be automated or eliminated.

I built a simple Notion dashboard to track my time and tasks. The key was a weekly review where I’d close out tasks and plan the next week. That alone saved me about two hours. Then I added project templates that auto-created task checklists, saving another three.

By the end of the month, I’d reclaimed ten hours. That’s ten hours for deep work, for clients, for life. If you’re drowning in busywork, start with an audit. You might be surprised what you find.