Are you tired of the “busyness trap”? Fighting to grow your business, but ending each day exhausted with little to show? You started with dreams of freedom, but now find yourself working longer hours than ever.

The promise of invigorating morning routines flood your instagram feed but it doesn’t seem to work for you. That feeling of urgency fills your body, and the thoughts of never ending to-do list fill your head as soon as you wake up.

Even if you do workout first thing, it’s in a rush to get to the tasks at hand. No rest for the weary.

Surely you’ll be able to knock off early to spend time with your beloved and enjoy social time with your friends. Nope. Scrolling, email, and client questions take up your evenings.

At least the bank account is solid. Or, is the money hitting your account just in time to pay the bills?

Is this the life you signed up for?

What if you could build a $1M business working just one hour a day?

I know it sounds crazy. I used to think that working hard was the only way. Then I realized it wasn’t true.

For years, I ran a seven-figure business working less than two days a week, and it wasn’t planned. That’s when I knew I needed to focus on high-impact actions.

I know it sounds crazy, until I saw another way.

One day in 2013 I found myself in a room of people doing it and I was astonished.

My plan up until that point was to make as much money as possible without any concern with the time I put in. I assumed I would work all day most days for the rest of my life.

I was wrong.

What changed? I found leverage.

That is, I continuously found ways to maximize results with the least amount of effort.

It didn’t come easily though. I went dragging and screaming. Luckily I had a business partner that didn’t like to work as much as I did.

I thought he was lazy, but I later realized he was smart.

I was smart too, but I had years of conditioning that created a world where working hard was necessary for survival.

The reality? Survival is a piece of cake.

Thriving is too… if we let ourselves go there.

The hard part was gaining awareness of my “hard work” patterns and recreating a world for myself where working is easy.

The ease created the space for true passion. A space where excitement lives. Enthusiasm for every task in front of me.

Morning rhythms filled with enjoyment, early afternoons to play, and a bank account beyond my imagination.

Managing as much in a month, that I had previously only seen in a year.

It felt like cheating. It felt like I was doing something wrong. But it was just “different” and therein lies the real work.

I dug deep to get there, and you can too. But it’s not the path you think it is. If it were, you’d already be there. You’ll know you’re doing it right because your blindspots will be obliterated and the dopamine will follow.

In this article, I’ll break down the techniques and strategies I used to identify core tasks, eliminate time-wasting activities, and achieve more by doing less. Get ready to escape the busyness trap.

Escape the Busyness Trap: How to Achieve More by Doing Less

Like me, you are likely running old subconscious belief patterns that more hours worked equals more money.

But the problem is, it never works out. The next month is always supposed to be better than last month, but once it arrives the struggle continues.

The result? Burnout and disappointment.

This is the average life. I refuse it.

Programmed since you were in kindergarten. Log the hours, don’t experiment, follow the rules. All the way through high school. Jobs. College. Military. All of it rewards the pattern of 8-12 hour days. Churning out average people everywhere.

It’s a lot to reprogram. So give yourself some grace, and put one foot in front of the other to rewire your consciousness for easy success.

I’ve invited many of my hard working clients to limit their workday to only 4 hours. Often, this is a third of the time they’re used to. I am usually met with a protest that it would be unimaginable. The next thing they say is “what am I going to do the rest of the day?!”.

That’s the actual challenge. Finding something to do other than work. It’s so foreign that the nervous system wants to reject it.

But once they follow through, the results show up immediately.

The “extra time” is spent taking better care of themselves. Enjoying hobbies they’ve put by the wayside. Getting in better shape. And spending time with their friends and family.

This allows the mind to expand and see a bigger picture. Going beyond the typical patterns of linear thinking. Moving laterally, and experiencing more “Aha!” moments. Blindspots illuminated. New moves available.

They quickly begin identifying key tasks and get focused for shorter periods of time on what actually matters – discarding the mess.

The results I’ve seen:

• Splitting the business in half, in order to sell one half it. Keeping the more aligned and profitable side.
• Creative content improves, which 10x’s the revenue and profits.
• Moving to a new city and getting the house of their dreams.
• Building an 8-figure coaching business and selling it.
• Getting completely out of debt.
• Being unemployable.
• Retired at 35.

If you simply cut your workday back to 4 hours, you’d figure out a lot of what I’m covering below… eventually.

But I’ve already found what works with my One-Hour Business framework for identifying and focusing on high-impact tasks.

The One-Hour Action Plan: Your Path to a $1M Business

Time is not your most valuable resource.

It’s your attention. And the quality of your attention over time is what generates your results.

Most people live their entire lives practicing no authority over their attention at all. Slaves to the patterns of the past. Minds filled with thoughts that cannot be stopped. Regrets of the past and worries of the future.

They believe that they are their thoughts and emotions. And as long as the belief remains they’ll never know freedom.

Start with breath. Take one. Take two. Take them all. Be present with it. The door to the subconscious. The key to your own authority.

Where we give ourselves a moment to respond instead of react.

As long as you remain unconscious of your breath, you will remain a slave to the patterns of your past.

It’s a lifelong practice, and just reading this now has given you an upgrade.

Now – what to do once we’re present.

1. Identify Your $1,000/Hour Tasks: Write down the activities that directly generate revenue or significantly move the business forward. This can be activities that raise awareness of you, converting followers into buyers, or serving your clients. Or something that’s unique to you which I’m missing.

For me, it’s serving my 1:1 consulting clients. And activities that all me to get more of those clients.

2. The Power Hour: Identify your most creative-effective hour of the day and make it sacred. Take the single most important task and do it in that hour. My calendar is completely unavailable before and during that hour.

For me, it’s between 9-10am. I write this blog. This happens for me at least 300 days of the year. The more I write the more clients I will serve over my lifetime.

3. Eliminate Distractions: Create a distraction-free environment to maximize focus during your “power hour.”

• phone out of reach and on “do not disturb”.
• tabs closed for anything that is not the task at hand.
• silence or noise canceling headphones filled with music without lyrics that keeps you “locked on“.
• bathroom break before.
• door closed or whatever needs to be done to limit intrusion from others.
• clean workspace. Cluttered space = Cluttered mind.

4. Holding the Vision:

• Every morning I check in with my vision. Here’s an article that shows you exactly how I do it “The Ultimate Mindset Hack“. This sets the tone for the entire day before the world gets any of my attention.
• Every time you sit down check in with your intention. Is this taking you toward you vision?
• Do one thing at a time as much as you possibly can. Nobody thrives as a multitasker. Some are better than others at it, but your best work is done when you are focused on one thing. This applies to everything.

5. Community: Surround yourself with others that are on the same mission to leverage attention to scale.

Most people will remain a slave to being “busy”. The ‘One Hour Business‘ is absolutely possibly when you bring your daily commitment. Know you most impactful activities, protect your Power Hour, eliminate distractions, hold the vision, and join a community of like-valued entrepreneurs.

The One Hour Business community is right here, right now.

Every hour that passes is another hour you choose forfeit your freedom.

Plug in and ride the wave with us.

See you on the inside.

-Mike Bledsoe