Ep 154: The 3-Part Framework My Clients Use to Build 3-Day Workweeks That Actually Work : Business Streamlining for Work-Life Balance
Episode Summary
What if the real reason you’re stretched so thin isn’t your to-do list — but the way your business is built?
If you’ve ever wondered how some entrepreneurs manage to work three days a week without sacrificing income or momentum, this episode breaks down exactly how they do it — and why you're likely closer than you think. Instead of burnout, imagine reclaiming your time and scaling much less stressfully.
In this episode, you will:
Hear the questions I ask every client to instantly reveal where they’re wasting hours—and how to reclaim them.
Hear why most entrepreneurs unconsciously design businesses that drain them—and how to flip the script so your business starts giving more than it takes.
Learn why tweaking your offer—not your funnel—is the fastest path to more sales and fewer work hours.
Press play to start designing the intentional workweek that lets you earn, live and enjoy summer on your terms.
Episodes Mentioned:
Ep 26: Becoming the 7-Figure CEO with Kat Haugh
Ep 56: Finding Your Way Out of the Ick with Kath Haugh
Resources Mentioned:
Days of Deals: Be the first to hear about our upcoming Days of Deals Week and get a special gift with purchase only for waitlist subscribers: a personal audit from Jenna of your website and social media to dial in your messaging, make sales easier, and move you closer to a 3-day workweek. Get on the waitlist
“How Many Hours You Could Gain Back?” Quiz: Find out how many hours you could shave off your workweek and the biggest opportunity in your business for gaining hours right now. Take the quiz
Clarity Accelerator: Schedule a call with Jenna about joining the Clarity Accelerator--the same mastermind that we talk about in this episode--to unlock your inner genius, streamline your strategies and offers, and dial in the mindset that lets you work smarter, not harder.
https://www.theuncommonway.com/schedule
Power & Potency: Sign up here to get on the waitlist for Power & Potency, the new mastermind for highly accomplished women entrepreneurs, and hear all new information as it's released:
https://www.theuncommonway.com/waitlist
Find Jenna on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theuncommonway/
This podcast dives into the potential of balancing a business and life without sacrificing revenue or impact. It helps women business owners and mompreneurs overcome overwhelm, decision fatigue, and the guilt of working less and stepping away from hustle culture while increasing leadership, strategic decision making, alignment and delegation / team building. Learn to build powerful habits and mindset, embrace smarter and higher vibration work methods, and master time management by streamlining tasks, implementing business systems, and even prioritizing self-care. We explore efficiency and energetics, productivity and filling your cup, automation and where to personalize your efforts … all to reduce overworking, and finally take time off—without the fear or shame—whether that is with high-ticket offers, scalable offers, or passive income. Say goodbye to imposter syndrome and people pleasing while running a small business: It's time to shift your mindset, reclaim your work-life balance, and thrive!
Full Episode Transcript:
Jenna Harrison: (0:00 - 0:24) In this episode, you'll discover the three-part framework my clients use to build three-day work weeks that actually work. Welcome to the three-day work week, helping women entrepreneurs run profitable, meaningful businesses in just three days a week if they like, without stress, guilt, or sacrificing growth. I'm your host, Jenna Harrison, sharing practical strategies, mindset hacks, and even some woo to help you work smarter, leave boldly, and find true balance.
(0:24 - 0:33)
Let's dive in. Welcome, welcome back to the three-day work week. I have a feeling that you already know that it's possible to work smarter, not harder.
(0:34 - 1:07)
You've probably read the articles, maybe you've saved some quotes on Instagram, you've heard stories of entrepreneurs who cut their hours without cutting their income, and you know deep down that some version of that could be possible for you too. But you're stuck on one important question. How? How do you actually pull it off? Without compromising client experience, without losing momentum, and without creating a house of cards that crashes the second you take your foot off the gas.
(1:08 - 1:42)
I am going to walk you through the exact three-part framework I use with my clients to help them build three-day work weeks that actually work. It's my streamlined business framework, and it is what's behind dozens of client transformations, including women who have doubled their income or more while cutting their hours, even by half. Women who have reclaimed their weekends for the first time in years, and women who now feel so powerful in their life because they've stretched themselves and they've done the thing that people said they couldn't do.
(1:42 - 2:12)
So now they go on to challenge other norms in their lives, losing the weight or living somewhere else or trading up in so many ways. So this framework isn't theory, it's proven, it works, and it's going to give you a clear roadmap for how to finally build the business that fits your life, not the other way around. Plus you will hear the questions I ask every client to instantly reveal where they're wasting hours and how to reclaim them.
(2:13 - 2:32)
You'll hear why most entrepreneurs unconsciously design businesses that drain them and how to flip the script so your business starts giving more than it takes. You'll learn why tweaking your offer, not your funnel, is the fastest path to more sales and fewer work hours. Let's get into it.
(2:33 - 2:41)
The first lever in the framework is your offers. We want offers that do the heavy lifting. Here's the truth.
(2:42 - 3:07)
The fastest way to free up time in your business isn't to work faster or even delegate more. It's to make sure that your offer is doing more of the work for you. When your offer is a no-brainer, when it's positioned clearly, solves a compelling problem, and is wrapped in messaging that makes people say, okay, this is a hell yes, you don't need to hustle harder to make a sale.
(3:07 - 3:14)
Your offer attracts. It pre-qualifies. It creates desire and demand.
(3:14 - 3:36)
According to a study by HubSpot that we'll link to, about half of consumers say they only need a few pieces of content before they move to a decision about buying. That means when your message hits the mark, people will move fast. I call this offer gravity because when your offer is dialed in, it pulls the right people to you almost effortlessly.
(3:37 - 3:47)
So many clients come to me thinking they have to nurture people for years. And guess what? You end up having to nurture people for years. But it's not true.
(3:48 - 4:10)
There are so many clients that have met me through a single landing page and booked a call and became a client. We were on a mastermind call yesterday and one of my clients had been hit with this huge epiphany about how she's been speaking to people who would be the most difficult to convince, rather than the people who are ready now. And that's opening up huge new avenues for her.
(4:11 - 4:32)
She was just like, why haven't I been doing this all along? And here's another place most entrepreneurs go wrong. They focus on making the sales process more effective instead of strengthening the offer itself. They try to fix the marketing, the funnel, the sales conversation without ever questioning whether their offer is carrying its weight.
(4:33 - 4:52)
Let me give you an example. One of my clients, Kat, was selling a lower priced offer that helped nonprofits and foundations visualize and communicate the results of their work. She was a stressed out freelancer working 40, 50 hours a week, even more, who had way too many clients and wasn't fully appreciated by them.
(4:52 - 5:01)
They were really underestimating what she was capable of. When we looked under the hood, we saw the real issue. Her offer wasn't differentiated.
(5:01 - 5:15)
It sounded like what other visual artists were selling. There was no unique methodology, no clear reason why her solution was the best fit and no magnetic messaging or smart positioning. So we rebuilt it.
(5:16 - 5:30)
Sometimes my clients benefit from a little tweet, sometimes an overhaul. And this was an overhaul and reimagining what was truly possible. The new offer was what her ideal clients really needed.
(5:30 - 5:43)
And it was also so deeply an expression of who she was that she couldn't not be doing that. She couldn't not be contributing that to the world. Once you see what you're really here to do, you can't turn back.
(5:44 - 5:55)
We got super clear on her ideal clients. We clarified the transformation they would have. And we defined the method of achieving that in a way that made sense and was unique in the industry.
(5:55 - 6:17)
We added in some exclusive deliverables that her people just had to have. And the result? She went from stressed out freelancer to the three-day workweek CEO of a seven-figure agency working with select clients who respected her as the true standout she is. That is the power of an aligned offer that works.
(6:17 - 6:44)
I've had Kat on the show before and I'll link to her episodes in the notes. So ask yourself. Does your offer instantly speak to a specific high-priority desire and create a solution in a way that nobody else does? Can your ideal client see themselves in the way you talk about it? And do you feel deeply aligned and confident selling it? Take my program, The Clarity Accelerator.
(6:45 - 6:54)
Sure, there are a million business programs out there that help you increase revenue. But this one's different. It's built for ambitious women who want more.
(6:55 - 7:14)
They also want the amazing life, and they want to prove to themselves that they're capable of creating all their big revenue goals and a shorter workweek through a business that actually reflects them. They're not forcing themselves into someone else's strategy box. And the structure of the program is designed to accelerate results.
(7:15 - 7:51)
It blends the power of a high-level mastermind with the hands-on support of a personal coaching team, your own copy coach, operations coach, mindset coach, and me as your lead coach who knows your business intimately. You're not getting lost in a crowd. I'm there with you, helping you apply proven methodologies like the streamlined business framework we're talking about today and my signature Connect the Dots method, which helps you get crystal clear on your unique genius, exactly who it's meant to serve, and how to craft and position your offer so it resonates both consciously and subconsciously.
(7:52 - 8:05)
There's truly nothing else like it, and that's because I use the methods I teach. I designed it to be one of a kind. Everything I teach and what I ask of you, I've already walked through myself.
(8:06 - 8:28)
So if you're not able to say that about your offer, this is your first leverage point. You have a huge opportunity to free up hours for yourself here. A great offer not only drives sales, it gives you your time back because it eliminates the friction that comes from convincing or overexplaining or pushing.
(8:28 - 8:41)
Clients come in and they're already excited. Let's talk about the second lever, operations. No, before you tune out, because yes, I know this can sound dry, let me reframe it.
(8:41 - 8:53)
Operations aren't about software. They are about freedom. When your business has clear, streamlined operations, it runs like a well-oiled machine.
(8:54 - 9:10)
Clients get what they need. Tasks don't fall through the cracks, and you don't have to be the one holding everything together with sheer willpower. You feel deep trust and safety in your body, and you get to be held and supported.
(9:11 - 9:29)
It really makes you move through the world differently. You're just a different person. According to McKinsey, when banks implemented streamlined operations, including simplified decision-making, they saw up to a 30% increase in productivity without hiring new employees.
(9:30 - 9:58)
30%! Imagine what your calendar would look like with that kind of a margin reclaimed. You want to know one of the biggest indicators I look for when I assess a client's scalability? It's this. How many decisions are you making in a day that someone or something else could be making for you? Because the truth is, decision fatigue is one of the most underestimated energy drains in entrepreneurship.
(9:59 - 10:19)
Every single what should I post today and did I follow up with her and do I need to approve that is costing you creative bandwidth. When we remove those micro-decisions, you free up mental real estate. That's when you finally have the space to be the strategic intuitive CEO that you're meant to be.
(10:20 - 10:47)
When we were looking for a place to live, we had gone to Sardinia, Italy, and my brother and sister-in-law joined us there. And I remember her telling me that she realized, because she'd never been out of the country before, just how much it costs us in terms of what she called like micro-decisions or micro-stressors. For instance, when we would go eat at a restaurant, there was no need to tip, and there was also no need to move on from your table.
(10:48 - 11:04)
So she was, I remember she was kind of laughing about it. She's like, I don't have to be worrying if we are hogging the table, if we should be leaving. Have we been here an appropriate time? I'm not assessing the person's service and thinking about how much I should leave for a tip and how much other people are leaving for a tip.
(11:05 - 11:22)
Like all of that was just gone. And all of those little micro-stressors and micro-decisions add up for us over the day without us even realizing it. And the beauty is you don't need a team of 10 or a fancy dashboard to make it happen.
(11:23 - 11:31)
Let me tell you about one of my clients. Let's call her Jamie. Jamie was running a successful consultancy, but everything still ran through her.
(11:32 - 11:43)
Managing her calendar, that was her job. Following up on invoices, that was her job. And overseeing all the project management for client delivery, you guessed it, that was her job.
(11:43 - 12:00)
And she told me, I feel like my entire business is duct taped together and I am the duct tape. So we fixed it. We mapped out her core systems and built SOP standard operating procedures for repeatable tasks that anyone would be able to follow.
(12:01 - 12:20)
So she was not dependent on the brain trust of a specific employee or just a few team members. And we automated a lot of those tasks too. We improved her hiring process and how she onboarded and oversees her team members, helping her become the leader rather than the doer.
(12:20 - 12:36)
And we got the team to take ownership of the things she never should have been touching in the first place. Two months later, she took a few weeks off for the first time in years and didn't check in once. That is the power of streamlined operations.
(12:36 - 13:03)
Freedom. So ask yourself, where am I the bottleneck in my business? What am I doing that could be systematized or simplified or delegated? And why? What's the cost, financial and energetic, of not addressing it? And what's keeping me from addressing it? I remember myself being at a place where I'm like, well, I just don't have time to hire anybody right now. I don't have the time to create these SOPs.
(13:04 - 13:12)
But messy operations don't just slow you down. They sabotage your growth. So remember, you are not the duct tape of your business.
(13:13 - 13:22)
You are the architect. Let's talk about the third lever. The most important and often overlooked lever of all.
(13:22 - 13:33)
You. And you becoming the three-day work week CEO. This is the shift that turns all the fancy tactical stuff in the things that actually work.
(13:34 - 13:41)
Because you can have a good offer. You can have clean operations. You can have hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers.
(13:42 - 13:59)
But if you are operating from burnout, fear, or old programming, none of it will feel useful. And your successes will only be a fraction of what's possible for you. This is where I see high-performing women get stuck.
(13:59 - 14:04)
They've gone to therapy. They've read the books. They're not afraid of putting in effort.
(14:04 - 14:18)
But they haven't fully stepped into the identity of a three-day work week CEO. They're still playing by other people's rules and running old operating systems. Like, if I'm not working hard, I'm not doing enough.
(14:18 - 14:27)
If I slow down, things will fall apart. If I don't push, I'll lose momentum. Sound familiar? I have been there.
(14:27 - 14:40)
I'm the girl who works seven days a week for two years straight while raising a newborn. For me, the turning point came when I realized I wasn't just managing my business. I was managing my nervous system.
(14:40 - 14:53)
If I was in stress mode, I made short-sighted decisions. If I was doubting myself, I showed up in ways that made other people doubt me too. If I was deeply afraid of something, I kept self-sabotaging.
(14:54 - 15:11)
But when I operated from calm and clarity and self-trust, everything changed. One of my clients came to me with a very successful business, but she was constantly anxious. She said, I don't know why I feel so worried all the time, like the other shoe's about to drop.
(15:11 - 15:24)
I can't turn my brain off. I know I should be able to relax, but I can't. We worked together to rewire her in her operating system and used a variety of different coaching methods.
(15:25 - 15:38)
And sure thing, she started to feel differently and see things differently. Because she's not the only woman that's ever felt this way. And there's a process for untangling all those old knots.
(15:39 - 16:02)
She started getting the intuitive hits that she just couldn't hear before, remaining grounded when obstacles popped up, making decisions based on playing to win instead of playing not to lose. She stopped working late. She stopped saying yes to misalign clients just because what if the money ran out? She started honoring her calendar boundaries and her energy skyrocketed.
(16:02 - 16:16)
So her business didn't just keep running, it grew. Because here's the thing, your business can only grow to the level that you are willing to grow. We go first and our business is an expression of us.
(16:17 - 16:45)
So if you're ready for your next level, start with you. Ask yourself, where am I operating from fear not power? What is driving my habit of making things harder than they need to be? And who do I need to become to hold the version of my business that I'm building? Because when you lead like the CEO, not the overworked peon down in cubicle 74, everything starts to shift. You're not grasping, you're receiving.
(16:46 - 17:02)
So let's recap. The three-part streamlined business framework that drives a three-day workweek that actually works is not about hacks or hashtags or hustle. It's about building offers that magnetize your ideal clients and do the heavy lifting for you.
(17:02 - 17:26)
Creating streamlined operations that run without you and becoming the version of you who leads from power, not pressure. When those three levers are in place, your business then finally becomes that vehicle for freedom that you've been looking for. Not the cage that's keeping you stuck or the hamster wheel that's keeping you running whatever metaphor sounds right for you.
(17:27 - 17:52)
Because it's really not about working harder. It's about working in alignment with offers, systems, and the highest version of you. You get to stop asking, how do I make this work and start asking, how far can I go from here? How good can my life get? Because training your mind to think uncommonly always unlocks a whole new level of impact and possibility.
(17:53 - 18:26)
And if right now you're thinking, okay, this sounds good, I want to try it out for myself, where do I go from here? Because this whole thing that I've got going on right now just is not sustainable. That is exactly why I've created the five days of deals that are coming up in just a few weeks. So you need to get on the wait list now because I'm offering a gift with purchase that I never offer, which is my personal audit and assessment of your website and social media.
(18:26 - 18:38)
So you'll find that link in the description. It's the uncommon way forward slash DOD bonus. All right, my friend, have a great week and let's talk again on Tuesday.
(18:42 - 18:57)
Thanks for joining us here at The Uncommon Way. If you want more tips and resources for developing clarity in your business and life, including the Clarity First strategy for growing and scaling your business, visit the uncommonway.com. See you next time.
