How do I structure my time as a space holder?
As space holders, we’re often told that the more available we are, the more valuable we are. But the truth is, real service comes from tending to your own cycles, energy, and nervous system, so you can show up fully and sustainably.
In this post, I share how I’ve structured my time across different phases of my work and offer a soft, visionary invitation to rethink how you shape your days, weeks, and seasons. Whether you’re newer in your practice or managing a steady client load, you’ll find gentle reflections, percentage-based guidance, and encouragement to build a relationship with time that honors both your work and your life.
If you’re a coach, healer, facilitator, or space holder, you probably already know: it’s tricky to figure out how to best structure your time while honoring your needs and serving your clients.
Our culture teaches us that the more available we are, the more valuable we are.
But real service does not come from constant accessibility. It comes from tending to your own cycles, energy, and nervous system so you can show up fully, generously, and wisely.
In this post, I walk you through how I structure my time, how it’s evolved through different phases of my life, and some visionary ideas on how we, as space holders, can better think about structuring our time.
The unique time challenges of holding space
Holding space is not like other kinds of work. It’s not just about showing up, delivering a task, or completing a checklist.
It’s relational, emotional, energetic, and often invisible.
Your time is not just hours on a calendar. It’s tied to your energy, your care, your cycles, and your capacity.
Because of that, the unique challenges we face as space holders — emotional labor, invisible prep and recovery, nonlinear energetic cycles, and the constant balancing act between client needs and our own — greatly impact how we need to structure our time.
When we build our time structures with these realities in mind, we can eliminate copying time structures that were never designed for us, like rigid corporate schedules, and instead create a foundation that supports both our clients and ourselves.
How I’ve structured my time through the seasons
Over the years, I’ve moved through many phases.
When I was an engineer working a full-time job and teaching yoga on the side, I squeezed client work into small chunks between meetings, nights, and weekends. I was burning the candle at both ends, driven by passion to make it work.
When I left my 9 to 5 to work for myself, I had total freedom. I met with clients all throughout the day, whenever they wanted to. I drifted, floating between time zones as I traveled around the world. I discovered that too much flexibility leaves me unmoored, and intentional structure was not a cage but a kind of liberation.
Now, I’m running two businesses while farming in the summer and traveling in the winter. I have gentle containers to support each piece, and it helps me sustainably do everything I do.
But at all points in my journey, I didn’t want to work in or on my business for more than 30 hours a week.
What works for me
Structuring time doesn’t mean forcing yourself into a rigid schedule. It means creating intentional shapes and containers for how you want to move through your days, weeks, months, and seasons.
In each of these phases in my life, I’ve built structure by first asking myself soft, honest questions like:
When do I want to be available for others? When do I need to hold space for myself?
What are the natural rhythms of my energy, creativity, and focus right now? How can I work with them instead of against them?
How will I make room for spaciousness for recovery, transitions, and the unexpected?
Then I adjust my client scheduling software and calendar to match my answers above. It’s really that simple, the trickiest part is being honest with yourself.
Once I acknowledged the bigger season and responsibilities at play in my life, it was extremely helpful to think in percentages.
These are the percentages I’ve worked from in order to have enough time for each area of my business, while still having a life:
If you are newer in your practice: You might be spending about one-third of your working hours in client work, one-third in marketing and outreach, and the rest split between administration and business development. This is a time of experimentation, planting seeds, and inviting in new relationships.
If you are more established and have a steady or heavy client load: You might be devoting the majority of your time to space holding, with smaller but still essential pockets for marketing, systems, and creative growth. This is a time of tending, harvesting, and sustaining what you’ve built.
These are simply gentle guidelines I’ve returned to when I felt lost or overwhelmed over the years.
I recommend asking yourself, “What percentage of your energy, attention, and care is needed right now in each part of your work?”
What becomes possible when you find the right structure for you
When you find the right structure for you, your energy, attention, and care are directed toward what matters most.
You stop ending the day wondering where the time went.
You feel okay leaving things for tomorrow, knowing you focused on what mattered today.
You create space for the non-work things that nourish you… slow mornings, time in the garden, unhurried meals, creative play, walks without a destination.
You realize that right-sized effort builds a business you can sustain for years, not just months.
You become a living example for your clients, modeling what it looks like to work in a way that honors capacity, care, and liberation.
We can’t hold space well for others if we’re abandoning ourselves.
How you structure your time isn’t just about personal productivity and efficiency. It’s about breaking free from the linear, extractive models we’ve inherited and building liberatory ways of working.
This is cultural and relational work. It’s how we start building a world where care, rest, and sustainability are not afterthoughts, but the foundation.
Finding the right structure for you is totally possible.
Your clients are navigating these same challenges too. Want to explore this more deeply, for yourself and your clients? I invite you to check out the Holistic Time Practitioner Certification. We start July 31, 2025.
Calendly Free Plan: How to set availability that respects your boundaries
When you are starting or growing a service-based business people need to book a session with you.
If you don't have a scheduling system set up, you need one ASAP. (See below to be convinced!)
More importantly than just having an appointment scheduler, knowing how much and when to work is huge!
Your availability is key to sustainably and successfully running and growing your business without burning out.
Imagine how much easier your life would be if you knew exactly how many hours you could take calls and could simply send people a link to book a call that works for them.
That’s why free appointment schedulers, like Calendly, were created.
In this blog, I'm going to step you through how to set your availability that respects your boundaries allowing you to run your business with more ease AND energy.
Why using a free appointment scheduler (Like Calendly) is so amazing?
When you use the Calendly free plan, you no longer have to go back and forth with folks on finding a time that works for both of you. It automatically converts time zones for both of you. Events will automatically be put into your calendar and send reminders to the person who’s signed up.
If you want to take all the decisions and guesswork out of this super-important piece of your business, saving your time and energy for the call itself, set up a free appointment scheduler ASAP.
A Calendly free plan is here to help you simplify and stay true to your boundaries. If you’re still on the fence about Calendly, Calendar.com has this really amazing and comprehensive guide and tutorial.
Once you’ve set up your free plan account (if you didn’t have it already), it’s time to dig into the real topic here. Your availability!
Why knowing your availability is so important
Your availability is a resource to protect and be a good steward of. Knowing when you work and being able to easily communicate your availability is so important. It allows you to…
Show up confident and on top of things with clients, partners, networking calls, and anyone else you might meet up with.
Allows you to join in other events and continuing education programs, knowing you can actually do it without stress and overwhelm.
Know and utilize other days in the week to rest and work on your business.
Show up for the calls you do have more energized and present… usually leading to better transformation, connection, and success for both parties.
Avoid scheduling conflicts.
Determine your pricing for your offers more effectively and realistically.
In summary, it allows you to sustainably and successfully run and grow your business without burning out.
Speaking of, burnout. Check out this major burnout red flag!
Don’t let this be you! (If this is you, no shame. I’ve been there, and I think everyone has at some point. I got you. Keep reading)
What goes into determining your availability?
So many things. Your availability is essentially the same as determining your capacity. If success, sustainability, and enjoying your life are important to you… it’s a non-negotiable to take into account these things below:
How many hours you WANT to work
Your hourly rate (directly calculated from hours you want to work)
Physical health: How much physical energy you typically have and how much energy calls take.
Mental health: How much mental energy you have and how much calls take.
External circumstances like kids, a partner, and other responsibilities.
Time zones for both you and your clientele.
Holidays/special days off/etc.
Once you have all this information laid out for you, you can determine your availability.
I’m a super visual person so before adding anything to Calendly, I like to set it up in my google calendar. I use a holistic and custom-made weekly template to show my availability.
Now set your availability in Calendly!
Log in (Sign up if you haven’t used it before)
Toggle over to availability. Make sure you have one availability called “working hours” and all your events are linked to it.
Add in your availability (I like to see it in list view.)
Double-check that your events use your working hours.
BONUS: In your events, you can add buffers to events so you won’t have back-to-back calls to recoup your energy and take a short break.
Don’t forget to keep your availability up to date when circumstances change in your life.
And that’s all you need to do to set up your availability in Calendly!
Did you know I can support you in holistically determining your availability for sustainable success?
Click here to read more about and book a Sustainable Schedule VIP Day.
5 Critical steps to take when shiny object syndrome is slowing your business growth
Have you ever…
Threw money at a problem only to realize later it didn’t solve your issue?
Found yourself paying for and or taking course after course and not implementing most of what you learned?
Had a million and four ideas for new products or services, and you jump from one idea to the next without really seeing them through?
Answered yes to any of these? You might be suffering from shiny object syndrome.
If business owners aren’t careful, they can easily find themselves trapped by something termed shiny object syndrome.
Find yourself in this boat? Don’t fret! Keep reading to find out how to get your focus back.
Written by: Leslie Taylor & Associates
One of the biggest challenges I have faced in my business and watched my clients face is trying to figure out where to focus limited resources—time and money.
Even though I help entrepreneurs do this by providing them with greater insight into their businesses, the decisions are generally not easy, there are usually additional unknowns, and there is always some level of risk.
If you have been in business for any length of time, you likely understand by now that the name of the game is to figure things out as quickly as possible before you run out of money.
Figuring “it” out refers to understanding the right combination of things that will allow us to see cash flowing into our businesses and ultimately into our pockets. While we want to figure “it” out as soon as possible, sustainable business growth takes time. So, on the one hand, while we can and should learn from others, there are some things we must learn and validate on our own.
Ultimately, no matter how smart the owner, every business has gaps, inefficiencies, and things that no one on the team is good at doing.
Fortunately, there are a million and one options for fixing all the things.
Unfortunately, there are a million and one options for fixing all the things.
What is shiny object syndrome?
Shiny object syndrome is a type of distraction in which an individual is constantly chasing new, different, or the shiniest and most exciting things, and never making real progress.
Shiny object syndrome can distract to the point that a business ultimately fails because it never properly identifies and addresses the critical issues.
As an entrepreneur, you might have suffered from shiny object syndrome if:
You purchased a solution to a problem only to realize later that that particular solution didn’t solve your most pressing issue
You find yourself paying for and or taking course after course or working with coach after coach and not implementing most of what you learned
You have a million and four ideas for new products or services, and you jump from one idea to the next and on to the next…and the next never really seeing them through
If this is you, or has been you at some point in time, here are a few steps you can take.
What to do if you’re experiencing shiny object syndrome?
1) Ask WHY?
Do you have a sales problem, an expense problem, a profitability problem, or an operations problem?
While the cause of the issue could be due to a variety of things, most issues fall within one of these four areas. It is worth noting that it is possible to have some combination of these four.
Often by getting to the core of the problem, it is easier to determine the next action.
A sales problem looks like your business doesn’t have a steady and semi-controllable stream of clients and customers paying for your goods and services. It could be that sales activity is low, or that it fluctuates greatly. Any solutions forward must directly address the sales issue, if not you are wasting time and money.
An expense problem means a business hasn’t assessed its spending for money leaks. The solution forward must help the business look for and correct the money leaks before they run out of resources.
A profitability problem means the business is making sales consistently, but the money in the bank account doesn’t show it. The business has low or no cash even though the money keeps flowing in and clients/ customers are buying. The solution forward should first help identify the source of the profitability problem (pricing, excessive discounting, etc.), then help you address the issue.
An operations problem means that something in the way the business is doing business is keeping it from reaching goals. Maybe one of your employees is overloaded (maybe that is you, the owner), perhaps your customer experience is lacking in some way, or maybe your product has quality issues, or possibly your website is slow and potential clients get frustrated and leave. Again, the solution forward must address the operations issue directly.
2) Set goals for your business
Create goals for your business for the year that include a financial roadmap (budget) and look at your goals daily or weekly.
To stay focused, I keep a copy of my vision posted in my office and try to look at my goals every Monday morning before starting the week.
3) Be accountable to your goals
When considering any solution to grow or improve your business hold it up against your goals.
Possibly, more importantly, hold it up against your budget. How will this be paid for? Cash, loan, credit card, owner financed from personal funds?
4) Plan New Ventures
Vet new product and service ideas through a business plan format.
No, you may not need to create a full-blown business plan, but consider all the sections of a business plan and take the new idea through each section— goals, target market, the problem you are solving, marketing plans, and financial projections. Especially financial projections because you are in business to do what??? Make MONEY!
5) Give it a chance
Give new product or service ideas a real chance before you consider moving on to the next thing.
Once launched, give it at least 6 months and during that time gather feedback and make adjustments as needed based on that feedback.
Still unsure of how to heal shiny object syndrome?
Even with all these techniques, staying focused is still not an easy task for busy entrepreneurs. There are simply too many things calling for our attention.
When I am most needing to stay focused or accountable, I have found the use of an accountability partner or group to be helpful so that I could be more focused on those really big things that will move my business significantly.
If you need help determining whether you have a revenue, expense, profitability, or operations problem, or you simply need help tracking and understanding what is going on in your business, Leslie Taylor can help. As a business solutions expert, she has helped dozens of businesses untangle complex issues and clarify a path to greater profitability. Schedule a Discovery Session with her now.
Want to learn more profitable strategies for your business? Check out Leslie’s free guide 5 Things You Must Do If you Want To Increase Your Profits.
About the contributor:
Leslie Taylor is the Chief Profitability Strategist of Leslie Taylor & Associates Business Solutions where she helps small businesses maximize their potential of profitability.
3 Ways generational trauma impacts your ability to be your own boss
I’ve noticed as of late, we are having a more open dialogue about the impact of childhood traumas.
We may find it easy to notice how our trauma shows up in our relationships, but what about how it may show up in our work environments and career choices?
Specifically with wanting to be our own boss.
It’s easy to want to go off on your own when you are sick and tired of other people telling you what to do.
What happens when you take the leap and become your own boss?
Unresolved trauma can prevent you from getting what you truly want–freedom, flexibility, and success.
Whether you’re in the beginning stages of entrepreneurship or have already taken the plunge, it’s so important to be mindful of past traumas.
In this blog, you’ll discover what generational trauma is and list 3 ways that old childhood trauma may show up in your ability to be your own boss.
Written by: Susan Abdel-Haq, LMFT
What is generational trauma?
Trauma is a term that we are starting to have more and more conversations about. Gone are the days when we contextualized “trauma” as being just “ an emotional response to a terrible event.
The reality is that trauma doesn’t just exist as isolated and single incidents.
According to GoodTherapy.org, “Intergenerational trauma (sometimes referred to as trans- or multigenerational trauma) is defined as trauma that gets passed down from those who directly experience an incident to subsequent generations.
Intergenerational trauma may begin with a traumatic event affecting an individual, traumatic events affecting multiple family members, or collective trauma affecting larger community, cultural, racial, ethnic, or other groups/populations (historical trauma).”
This can largely show up in how we were disciplined, raised, and even the messages that we get growing up that shape our core beliefs about ourselves and others.
These patterns are sometimes overt but oftentimes they are more unconscious and require more self-reflection.
How childhood trauma affects your success
Taking patterns from old work environments
Are you…
Valuing the product and services you provide (Aka charging what you are worth)?
Creating a traditional 8 am to 5 pm schedule that previously burned you out?
Holding on to this belief that in order to “make it”, you have to be working 24/7 and answering emails past the work time that you want?
Unfortunately, a lot of work environments may also be reinforcing old beliefs that are no longer helpful such as “You aren’t doing enough”, “You don’t get a say”, or even that your value is solely based on what you “produce”.
It can be easy to repeat old toxic work patterns, but you get to break away from all of that.
You get to create a schedule that you want!
YOU are your own boss now and get to create an income and lifestyle that works for you.
Check back in with the reasons why you left your old position to be your own boss. Are you repeating them?
If your current work setup feels all too familiar, then it could be a sign to make some changes.
Self-Limiting Beliefs
Limiting beliefs about yourself and what you are capable of achieving are often common for folks who have generational trauma.
Examples are:
“That probably won’t work for me”
“No one would pay me for that”
“I could never have what that person has”
When you come from a household where there is trauma such as neglect, emotional abuse, or dysfunctional modeled behavior, it can be extremely hard to release old narratives.
A way to break these patterns is to first start to notice when you are having these self-limiting beliefs then remind yourself why you want to become your own boss in the first place.
Is it to leave a greater impact? Triple your income? Work less? Meet more people?
Embrace the new narrative!
Boundaries (or lack thereof)
Most folks would agree that boundaries are important. However, boundaries are harder to set and enforce when they weren’t healthily modeled in your childhood.
When there has been trauma, people tend to steer in one direction (either being more rigid with no room for flexibility or being too loose and not feeling in control).
There is also often doubt when it comes to your overall judgment and follow-through of boundaries.
Take a moment to really think about what your limits are. Consider things like:
What drains me of my energy?
How many hours do I want to work?
What times do I want to be available?
When/how do I want to respond to inquiries/clients?
Don’t worry if you don’t have it all figured out.
Remember that boundaries evolve over time and give you many opportunities to trial and error certain things.
How to achieve what you really want: Be a good boss to yourself
When you treat yourself well, that’s when you achieve fulfillment, be more productive, and experience more energy.
Imagine how much easier it’ll be to achieve your goals.
However, if you’re struggling with making the most of your time, generational trauma might be impacting you.
As with anything, you can’t change what you can’t see.
That’s why having these 3 ways childhood trauma impacts your ability to be your own boss in your awareness is so beneficial.
The process to becoming your own boss isn’t easy and requires a lot of internal work. However, there is a strength that comes from surviving trauma and that same strength will ultimately lead you to success!
Always remind yourself that being your own boss takes so much courage and vulnerability.
And when in doubt, always go back to why you started your own business, make sure your needs come first, and reach out for support from trusted therapist or coach.
Want to feel confident, in control, and at peace with your time? Click here to get free + supportive resources!
About the contributor
Susan Abdel-Haq, LMFT is a trauma informed licensed psychotherapist practicing in California. Susan is trained in both EMDR and Brainspotting and enjoys integrating other modalities in her clinical work. She is passionate about holding space for people to work through the hard stuff and tap into their strengths. Susan specializes in working with folks who are struggling with relational trauma, Narcissistic abuse recovery, toxic family of origin work, people-pleasing, substance-use disorders, anxiety, and exploring aspects of their cultural identity to work towards healing.
Franco, D. F. (2021, January 7). Understanding intergenerational trauma: An introduction for clinicians. GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/Understanding_Intergenerational_Trauma
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read full privacy policy here.
How to Delegate So You Fall In Love with Your Business Again
It’s exciting starting and growing your own business, isn’t it? It’s an opportunity to create something exactly as you envision it.
No one is there to tell you what to do or how to do it. It’s your baby to nurture and develop and give you the freedom to be yourself.
But all too often, reality sets in. And it’s not always a great reality. Your baby is demanding. There are so many things to do.
So many behind-the-scenes tasks it takes to run a business that you weren’t exactly thinking about when you pursued your passion.
Tasks that aren’t necessarily in your zone of genius and are taking way longer than you know they should.
So there you are with this amazing thing you’ve created, but you’re tired. You’re stressed, you’re overwhelmed, you’re headed for burnout (or maybe you’re already there), and you might even feel like shutting it all down.
If it’s any comfort telling you you’re not alone, please know that is true. I’ve seen it time and again with the business owners I work with.
So many of us are extremely capable and could probably win a multi-tasking contest if there was such a thing. We figure, hey, I’m great at getting lots of things done, so that’s what I’ll do in my business - all the things.
But guess what? Doing everything in your business is exactly what you should not be doing. In this post, I’ll be stepping you through a simple delegation process that I take my clients through.
Written by: Cory Zacker
Learning how to delegate
The key to a successful business that can grow and flourish is learning how to delegate. If you get clear on the tasks you love doing most (and that light you up) and get even more clear on the things that drain you, you’ll be well on your way to improving your delegation skills.
And hear me when I tell you this: assigning tasks to someone else does not mean you’re any less worthy. It does not mean you’re lazy or incompetent or less than. It means you understand what you do best and are willing to entrust someone else with those things you want to let go of. That’s a big part of the mindset of delegating and something I encourage you to embrace.
Assigning tasks to someone else
So how do you get clarity on what exactly you want to pass on to someone else? I like to use a simple strategy I call the Yea, Nay, Give Away exercise. It’s concise, clear, and will probably take no more than 15 minutes to complete.
Make three columns on a piece of paper (or a document on your computer) and label them Yea, Nay, and Give Away.
Yea
In the Yea column, list those things you love doing in your business. The tasks that energize you and come easy. For me it’s face-to-face client work, networking with colleagues, and writing. Those are three of the things that light me up.
Nay
In the Nay column, list the ones that take too much time and sap your energy. Things you might not be that great at and resent spending your time doing. (Remember, you might add a few personal things in this column that are taking you away from your business, e.g., cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.)
This one is easy for me. Numbers are important in any business, but they’re just not my thing. I pay attention to them, but I don’t want to spend time doing my bookkeeping and accounting myself. It doesn’t come naturally to me and it takes way too much time.
Give Away
Then in the Give Away column, choose some items from the Nay list that you can either get rid of altogether or delegate to someone else. (Hello, accountant!)
Once you have your Give Away items, take a good look at them and figure out who or what can help you. Would hiring a virtual assistant for a few hours a week take care of some of those tasks? Or maybe a babysitter/mother’s helper can tick a few of those boxes. Can a bookkeeper take over your billing? Or maybe a tech person could set up automation for you.
Why delegating actually makes you money
When you get clarity on what you need and who can help you, delegating doesn’t seem so hard. I’ve seen just a few hours a week of hiring help make a huge difference in someone’s business.
Take Sherri - an amazing woman I know with a hugely successful business. She was doing everything herself and was overworked and overwhelmed. Once we figured out who she needed to hire and what tasks she was going to delegate, Sherri had way more time to nurture her current clients and find new ones. Within a month of hiring a project manager, she was able to sign a new client who paid 5x what Sherri was paying her new team member. So delegating actually made her money.
What assigning tasks to others can do for you
So what does delegating in your business bring you?
Time - sweet, delicious, abundant time just for you. Time to not only rest and recharge, but to do what you love doing (remember that Yea list?).
Growth - yup, it’s true. With more time on your hands, you’ll be able to nurture your leads, create new offers, and reach more potential clients. I’ve seen it happen.
Peace of mind - fewer tasks equals less stress. Less stress equals a calmer you.
You created your business out of passion. So I’m inviting you to take some time to make more time for this thing you love. And more time to step away from it when you need to. (And it’s okay to need to.)
Let’s try to eliminate the word solopreneur, shall we? There’s no reason to do it all by yourself and learning how to delegate is the key to falling back in love with your business.
Want to feel confident, in control, and at peace with your time? Click here to get free + supportive resources!
About the contributor
Cory Zacker is a business consultant and strategist, as well as a certified Positive Psychology coach. She helps brilliant service providers grow, nurture, and manage their business with personalized growth strategies and business mindset coaching. With over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, Cory uses her business wisdom plus her warmth and humor to help entrepreneurs align with their core values, simplify their systems, and manage and grow their teams all while reducing the stress and overwhelm of growing their thriving business.
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