Imagine waking up in the morning. Grabbing your first cup of coffee and staring outside for a bit. You don’t have to be at the office at 9. And you're not forcefully glued to your desk until 5.

You’re free to choose your own schedule. Take a short walk in the afternoon. Or pay a visit to your friend whenever you want.

This lifestyle might sound unlikely, but it is real. And it is possible.

We are taught to believe that work means locking yourself in a room from 9 to 5. Even when we know deep down that being productive isn’t as simple as that. Especially in a creative career.

We are taught that work controls our time. And if we just sit at it long enough, good things will come. But this is a trap.

Taking back control over your time and schedule is one of the most fulfilling journeys to pursue. It creates room for other areas of life besides work, like health, friends family, hobbies or kids.

Humans aren't made to be locked up in a box. Our natural desire to explore new things, form relationships and care for others is deeply embedded into our system.

And contrary to popular belief, there is no one system or one hack that fixes it all. The balance between multiple areas of life is deeply individual and yours to freely explore. But you must understand a few things.

Imagine creating a life that is balanced. One that allows you to orchestrate multiple areas of life into a fulfilling symphony instead of making compromises.

This is how you fundamentally shift the way you think about work; charge more and work less in the process.

The myths of work

Before going any deeper into why I believe charging more and working less can enable you to pursue your life's goals, I want to clear up some things.

Let me be clear: charging more while working less is not about working 1 hour per day and getting rich quick. It’s about reclaiming the balance that makes you human, by allowing you to pursue multiple areas of life instead of losing yourself in work.

Next, we have to talk about what work actually means.

Work can mean many things. For the sake of clarity and providing some mental context, this is what I mean by work:

"Work" is the main activity you perform for others, in exchange for money. In other words: it is the time you spend completing the tasks that are necessary to provide you with an income, so that you can pay your bills and fund your ambitions.

Working less is not about diminishing the importance of generating an income. Rather, it is about spending less time doing the tasks required to maintain or grow this income, so that you are free to pursue other interests that are important to you. It is, in fact, about decoupling your time from money.

Finally, charging more and working less is a journey, not a destination.

The balance between multiple areas of your life is fluid, as some things may temporarily get more or less important. You don’t simply arrive at the perfect balance from one day to the other. Nor is it something that can be permanently achieved.

Instead, it is a continuous path of self-discovery. It takes time. So don’t let the gurus convince you that it is as simple as a 3-hour morning routine. Or getting into a shady pyramid scheme. There are no hacks.

Building the financial freedom that allows you to invest in multiple areas of your life is a long-term artwork that is never complete. The perfect balance is only temporary.

With that out of the way, charging more and working less is an exciting discovery of unlocking your true value.

Orchestrating a perfect symphony of the things in life that you find important.

Charge more

In order to reclaim your time and fund dreams well beyond your work, you’ll need money. This is undeniable. But money is often misunderstood.

Many creatives see money as something limiting, undesirable and even dangerous.

From a very young age we are taught to believe that money only exists to pay bills and taxes. Maybe a dinner or holiday or two. It is perceived as a burden. A must-have.

But we are rarely taught the real purpose of money.

You see, money wasn't invented to pay for your necessities. It was invented as a system to exchange value.

Before money was a thing, farmers used to directly trade sheep for grain. Or grain for salt. But as supply chains got more complex and exploiting land became a widespread, this system became very limiting. What would a sheep's farmer do with tons of grain?

Instead of trading one thing directly for the other, money was invented. This way, the farmer could trade sheep for pounds. And later, use the pounds to buy something else.

Fundamentally, money is a piece of paper that represents value and that can be redeemed at a later date in exchange for something else.

Because wages are usually expressed in money per hour or per month, this creates a false sense of correlation. You are not actually paid for the amount of hours you work. You are paid for the value you bring within those hours.

Charging more can be achieved by breaking free from the idea that you have to trade time for money.

Work still requires time, yes. But there is no ceiling on how much your time can be worth. Your value goes beyond time. Ask actors who get paid millions to show up on set for 20 days.

You must trade value for money instead.

Communicating value

Value discovery is a game that is played by the seller and buyer simultaneously, until they feel like a match has been achieved.

You see, humans only pay money for goods and services because they believe that the value they receive is bigger than the money they pay. This value can be an actual return on investment. But it can also more abstract: such as joy, experience, taste.

Consider how we happily spend $40 on a meal in a restaurant because we need food, and because we believe that the joy of sharing a moment with friends or family is worth more than $40. The value here is both physical and mental.

Or think about the tens of thousands of dollars we spend on weddings because we believe that the experience of being together with all friends and family is worth more than tens of thousands of dollars.

This proves that people don't just care about the price. They care about the value.

The same logic applies to creative services.

Companies pay $10.000 for a logo not because they know how many hours you spent making it. But because they are convinced that a good logo may contribute to a stronger brand, which could generate millions in sales.

Not all customers are aware of the value your offer brings. Customers come in many shapes and sizes.

But one thing remains true. Whether your client is aware of the value or not, being able to clearly communicate your unique value is the key to charging more.

Discovering your value

As creative entrepreneurs, we sell value packaged as services or products. For example: an artwork, a video, a course or a logo.

But at its very core, customers don't pay for the logo. They don't pay for the video. They pay for a solution to a specific problem. They don't pay for time, as time in itself is useless. They pay for the value of solving this problem.

If you want to escape the trap of exchanging your time for money, you must think about the problems that your offer solves.

Here are two questions that can help you understand this value:

  1. What is the positive outcome achieved by solving the customer's problem?
  2. What is the negative outcome avoided by solving the customer's problem?

In the case of a logo design, the answer could be:

  1. By crafting a logo that tells a clear and differentiating story, the customer is able to build a distinct brand that stands out from the competition, ultimately generating hundreds of thousands in sales.
  2. On the contrary, if they don't choose for a logo that has a clear and differentiating story, the customer might end up blending in, losing traction and losing market share.

If this sounds scary to you, or if you don't yet have the answers...

Don't worry. Discovering your unique value is a life-long journey that requires continuous improvement and experimentation. It's a game.

When I first started a video production company in 2013 I didn't know my unique value either. But by asking the right questions, learning new things and focusing on solving problems instead of selling time, the answer slowly revealed itself.

Ask your client about the deeper problems they are trying to solve. Ask them what happens if they don't solve it. Ask them to quantify the impact, so that you may solve their problem to the best of your ability, and adapt your offer to suit their unique desires. This is a win-win for everyone.

By getting a deeper understanding of the problem, the value will become clear. The unique way in which you solve the problem by combining skills and insights, is your competitive advantage.

As value becomes more clear... you become better at solving the problem.

So you can charge more.

Translating value into price

Let me ask you a question. How would you determine the price of your offer? If your answer is any of the below - keep reading.

  1. You look at peers and see how much they charge. You charge the same.
  2. You set a low price and hope clients will agree.
  3. You guess how much your time is worth per hour and hope it sells.

Any of these approaches can work in the short term. But they are entirely disconnected from the value you offer.

If you really want to structurally make room to grab that coffee in the morning. Be in charge of your own schedule. Or visit a friend whenever you feel like... These approaches will most likely not succeed.

You have to base your price on the value you deliver, not on the hours you work.

That raises the question. How do I convert value into a price? How do I know exactly how much to charge?

As mentioned before, pricing is a value discovery. A good price is the intersection of what the customer is willing to pay and the value you have to offer. All you have to do is find that intersection. But you will have to take a first step to find it.

So here is my practical advice, based on my own experience. Start by charging more right now. Listen to the customer's response, ask questions. Adjust accordingly. Find new value. Improve your offer. Become more useful. Repeat.

In the end, you don't have to sell a certain amount of hours to fund your freedom.

You just have to sell a certain amount of value.

Work less

It is autumn. The leaves are slowly turning yellow. You're going for a walk, breathing in that first crisp air and enjoying the views. It is Tuesday 11am. While everyone else is still at work, you close your laptop and go for a walk.

You're walking with confidence and without stress.

That is the power of charging more.

That is how you work less.