Your Business Doesn’t Need More Hustle…..It Needs You

One of the greatest gifts of entrepreneurship is freedom. You get to set your own schedule and choose how you spend your time.

And one of the greatest challenges of entrepreneurship? You get to set your own schedule and choose how you spend your time.

Over the years, I’ve noticed how easy it is to slip into working in the business without carving out enough time to work on it. When that happens, something subtle but important shifts: instead of building a business that supports your life, you slowly create another job, often one that demands more hours, more energy, and more mental load than working for someone else ever did!

To create a business that feels fulfilling, aligned, and sustainable, we have to intentionally step into the role of CEO. That means slowing down enough to think strategically about where the business is going, setting goals that reflect the life we want to live, and making decisions from a higher vantage point, rather just checking tasks off a never-ending to-do list. When we don’t make space for that perspective, the business starts running us instead of the other way around.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that some of my best “CEO thinking” happens when I’m not trying to do it at all. It shows up when I’m driving, traveling, or stepping out of my normal routine. It shows up while doing the dishes, showering, cleaning….those quiet, mundane moments when my mind has room to wander. That’s often when clarity comes, creativity sparks, or I suddenly remember something important I want to shift or improve in the business.

I’ve also learned that forcing strategic work rarely works for me. Sitting down and telling myself, “Okay, now it’s time to think big and be creative,” doesn’t usually produce much. What does help is creating conditions where ideas can surface naturally, such as listening to podcasts, taking walks, meditating, or simply giving myself permission to pause. Those moments tend to generate insight, which then turns into clear task lists. And once those tasks exist, my scheduled work time becomes much more focused and productive. Try doing CEO time with someone else (a trusted referral partner or coach!) or try working in the business in a different location such as a different area of your office, home, or a public place such as a coffee shop. Sometimes just this change of scenery will access a different part of your brain.

For many entrepreneurs, the challenge isn’t a lack of motivation, it’s a lack of intentional structure for CEO time. Working on the business often requires a different kind of energy than working in it. It might look like blocking non-negotiable time on the calendar for strategy and reflection, even if it’s just 30–60 minutes a week. It might mean stepping away from day-to-day operations long enough to ask bigger questions:

What’s working well right now?
What feels heavy or misaligned?
What do I want this business to look like a year from now, not just financially, but emotionally and energetically?

Another powerful shift is giving yourself permission to think before you act. Instead of immediately responding to every email, request, or problem, CEO time allows you to decide what actually deserves your attention and what systems, boundaries, or delegation could reduce future noise. Over time, this intentionality creates momentum and relief.

Finding the balance between shaping the business and keeping it running isn’t something you solve once. It’s a practice. Find the approach that works best for your brain, one that reliably helps you shift into that CEO mindset and protect the space to work on the business. When you commit to it, something important happens: the business begins to evolve with you, rather than trapping you in constant reaction mode. And that’s when entrepreneurship starts to feel less exhausting and much more purposeful.

Some of the most meaningful work I do in Martin Management happens in CEO time where I get to help business owners step out of the day-to-day long enough to reconnect with their vision and make decisions that actually move the needle. If that kind of space sounds supportive right now, you’re always welcome to reach out for a conversation.