Make a Living by Working Just 20 Hours a Week — Financial Expert Shares Her Method
Written by
Angela Mae
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Gary Dudak
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The idea of working just 20 hours a week is definitely appealing, but it’s hard to imagine earning enough to make ends meet or cover the cost of living. After all, the federal minimum wage is still only $7.25 an hour, with the average annual income across all occupations at $67,920.
So what if you were to cut down your hours by, say, half? Could you really make a living wage? Bernadette Joy of “Crush Your Money Goals” seems to think so. Here are four steps she detailed that could make the dream possible.
Step 1: Face Fears With Habits
One way to earn real money is to start a small business, but with room to grow. That comes with a lot of potential fear, though, which can be limiting.
Joy spoke about how letting personal issues interfere with your business can keep you from building something lucrative. To get past this, she suggested writing down a habit that you’ve been afraid of doing — or that you’ve been avoiding — that you will begin doing right now in your business.
This habit should be something that you do even when you’re not feeling your best. It could be something as simple as posting once a day on social media. Or following up with a certain number of clients at the end of every week.
Step 2: Limit Your Availability
The next step is to limit your availability. It’s all too easy to get overwhelmed or burnt out by your business, or even a side gig, which can ruin whatever success you might have had. By limiting your availability, you can avoid this while still making the money you need.
Joy said she works Tuesdays, Thursdays and Wednesday afternoons. But it’s not only about limiting the hours she’s available — she also said she limits her “availability to the people that value it.”
She did acknowledge this can feel counterintuitive when first starting out. That said, when people know your time is limited, they also start to see how valuable it is.
Step 3: Own Your Income
Joy said no matter what you’re doing, it’s your responsibility to set your income — not settle for any income. Don’t let being a part-timer or freelancer get in the way of that. You’re the one who can set and know how much you’re going to earn this month or next month — nobody else.
“Stop giving out discounts nobody asked for,” she said.
Ask yourself if you’re indeed giving out discounts people haven’t asked for. Don’t let fear of a client saying no keep you from negotiating or getting your worth. Don’t give out your services or products for free because you’re worried people won’t pay. Focus on getting a committed roster of clients and not a full roster.
Step 4: Make Worth a Verb
“Worth is typically a noun or an adjective,” said Joy. “But I don’t work anymore. I worth.”
Ask yourself if you’re working, or if you’re “worthing.” In other words, are you getting paid what you’re worth? Are you working because you need to, or are you “worthing” because you want to?
Joy said to make “worth” a verb — “worth” more.
Final Take To GO: Make 20 Hours a Week Work for You
Yes, your approach to this plan can vary, but that also means the possibilities are endless. Joy suggested that even if you’re just getting started and it’s tough, try to figure out how to run your business in just 20 hours weekly.
“If I’m being honest, I think that working hard and working more is a cop out,” she said. “If you force yourself to say I’m working 20 hours a week, then you will figure out how to put systems in place.”
It’s OK if you don’t get there right away. Joy said it took her about six months to figure out how to make her schedule work. It’s doable, though … so why not get started right now?
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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