663. Quite a large number, right? Add hours after that and you’ve got 663 hours, a really long period of time. Imagine what you could do in 663 hours (equivalent to 28 full days or 88 business days).
Why have I focused on 663 hours? Because … wait until they surprise you … that’s how long I’ve spent watching box-set TV series’ since I had my first child three and a half years ago!
Fast forward to this day and people often ask me how I find time to work on my online business while I have a job and am a mother of two young children. ‘I just don’t understand where you find the time’ is what I hear … a lot. I leave you a secret: I stopped watching so much television!
I’m not really sure when my husband and I started watching TV series / box sets, but I know what got us hooked: it was series 24. Good old Jack Bauer and CTU! We may have been a little late at 24, but we made up for it by watching all 8 seasons in a really quick amount of time, given it’s 192 hours of sitting in front of a TV!
Like most parents, since we had children we were home much more in the afternoons. Having had a taste for box sets before the kids, and with more time at home on our hands during the evenings, we stepped things up! Like I said, our oldest son is three and a half years old and in that time we’ve seen all of The Sopranos, Dexter, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Prison Break, Orange Is The New Black, Sons of Anarchy, The Wire. and Boardwalk Empire (and worryingly, I think I’m still missing a few!).
This brings me back to 663. I did the math, that’s how many hours I spent on the box set watching post-kids. It’s also not that we exclusively watched these shows one after the other, but it’s also about watching other shows, movies, etc. The mind is bogged down!
By the way, don’t judge me on my choice of TV show, that’s not the point of this post!
The point is to show that if we really want to achieve something, we can all find the time.
One of the many benefits of starting an online business like mine is that you can start small and scale. You can start working on your business while keeping your job full-time or part-time if you wish, limiting risk and reducing stress placed on you to make a quick profit. With an online business, you get a lot of flexibility on when and where to work, and this is one of the many reasons you can start your business alongside your ‘day job’ … whether your day job is paid employment. or full-time parent.
I am delighted to say that I have traded in The Sopranos for mastery of social media marketing and Walter White for website magic! Is it easy to work my business in the evenings instead of relaxing in front of the TV? Not always, but it is not as difficult as you might think. Why? Because it is interesting and much more rewarding! Because I know the compensation is worth it.
I know what I’m working towards will pay off in more ways than one.
… I will be my own boss … run my own flexible business … be passionate about what I do, I will never waste time going to work and what’s more, I will jump out of bed every day excited about work in my business.
and … watch my children grow up. I will be there to pick up my children from school, I will spend all school holidays with them. We will travel more and we are already thinking of a year in Naples, Florida (our favorite place), a family adventure in which I will take my business with me.
So am I happy that I switched from watching too much TV to working on my business … hell yeah!