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Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire
Wall Street Journal Bestseller
Learn to conquer the one real hurdle to scaling your company and growing Time
How you use your free time will make or break your success. The secret? It’s not about working harder or finding more time to do work. It’s about designing the freedom to engage in the high-value work that brings you energy and fulfillment. This is at the heart of the message that has made Dan Martell the world’s most popular SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) coach. Now, in his first book, Buy Back Your Time, he teaches entrepreneurs at every level how to scale their business, fast, while avoiding burnout. Trading money for time—that is, literally buying back free space in your calendar—will give you more financial success than you ever dreamed was possible.
With over two decades of experience as a serial entrepreneur and founder, Dan Martell will teach you the secrets to work less and play more while building an empire. He’ll dig into the practical steps that will allow you to start buying back time immediately , while also developing operating procedures and hiring practices that will ensure rapid and robust growth. And he will teach you how to invest in your newfound time wisely—at work and at home—so you keep building your empire while living your best life.
Buy Back Your Time is the definitive guide for entrepreneurs at every level on how to succeed in business while enjoying more freedom than you ever imagined.
Learn to conquer the one real hurdle to scaling your company and growing Time
How you use your free time will make or break your success. The secret? It’s not about working harder or finding more time to do work. It’s about designing the freedom to engage in the high-value work that brings you energy and fulfillment. This is at the heart of the message that has made Dan Martell the world’s most popular SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) coach. Now, in his first book, Buy Back Your Time, he teaches entrepreneurs at every level how to scale their business, fast, while avoiding burnout. Trading money for time—that is, literally buying back free space in your calendar—will give you more financial success than you ever dreamed was possible.
With over two decades of experience as a serial entrepreneur and founder, Dan Martell will teach you the secrets to work less and play more while building an empire. He’ll dig into the practical steps that will allow you to start buying back time immediately , while also developing operating procedures and hiring practices that will ensure rapid and robust growth. And he will teach you how to invest in your newfound time wisely—at work and at home—so you keep building your empire while living your best life.
Buy Back Your Time is the definitive guide for entrepreneurs at every level on how to succeed in business while enjoying more freedom than you ever imagined.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published January 17, 2023
2576 people are currently reading
13142 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 355 reviews
February 9, 2023
If you’re a business book junkie, most of the concepts are more of a review of things you’ve heard before.
The reason I’d give 5 stars is that although the concepts are familiar, Dan gives clear and actionable frameworks and tools for addressing them - and quite a few of those frameworks were fresh takes from someone who’s actually been out there doing the work.
These topics are foundational to entrepreneurs and leaders, so a well crafted description with new stories and examples is always a welcome way to revisit them.
The author’s philosophy on life leans toward ‘work hard, play hard’ and at times during the book it can feel extreme - but hey, when you look at what he’s accomplished it’s clear that by approaching life that way he has been able to accomplish more than the average person.
The reason I’d give 5 stars is that although the concepts are familiar, Dan gives clear and actionable frameworks and tools for addressing them - and quite a few of those frameworks were fresh takes from someone who’s actually been out there doing the work.
These topics are foundational to entrepreneurs and leaders, so a well crafted description with new stories and examples is always a welcome way to revisit them.
The author’s philosophy on life leans toward ‘work hard, play hard’ and at times during the book it can feel extreme - but hey, when you look at what he’s accomplished it’s clear that by approaching life that way he has been able to accomplish more than the average person.
June 7, 2024
I’m about half-way through this book and my head is about to explode. It’s a quick, easy read with some basic and some helpful comments.
The problem?
The author hasn’t seem to have met, work with or friended a woman besides his assistant, Lauren.
Seriously, almost every single anecdote in this book is about a male friend, client or successful business person (aside from Oprah, whom yes we all love, but there’s a lack of creativity in referencing one of the most successful female moguls of our time).
This book is targeted towards high-growth, high-scale, probably tech companies and representation matters. This book is confirming biases that woman wouldn’t lead these companies or be in his circle.
Even if the author doesn’t have natural connections with women, he could have sought out more examples from the broader industry as he references business celebs Andy Warhol and Richard Branson frequently.
I’m disappointed.
The problem?
The author hasn’t seem to have met, work with or friended a woman besides his assistant, Lauren.
Seriously, almost every single anecdote in this book is about a male friend, client or successful business person (aside from Oprah, whom yes we all love, but there’s a lack of creativity in referencing one of the most successful female moguls of our time).
This book is targeted towards high-growth, high-scale, probably tech companies and representation matters. This book is confirming biases that woman wouldn’t lead these companies or be in his circle.
Even if the author doesn’t have natural connections with women, he could have sought out more examples from the broader industry as he references business celebs Andy Warhol and Richard Branson frequently.
I’m disappointed.
July 14, 2024
Very much enjoyed the ideas presented in this book. As a new entrepreneur, this helped empower me to feel more purpose and have a larger vision than I previously had. Not only that, it leaves you with very actionable steps on how to get closer towards a true entrepreneur and empire-builder. I love the synergy around not waiting on retirement to live the life you want to live. Entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to immediately impact their life and the lives around them. Why retire when you have the perfect schedule and are fulfilled on all key pillars of life? Buying back time to focus on moving towards the “Productive” quadrant (maximum state for money and energy) in the DRIP matrix is the key takeaway, and the notes below are some core ideas to extract from this book:
Buy back your time
- the buyback principle. Don’t hire to grow your business. Hire to buy back your time. Invest the time into what brings you more energy and money.
- Too many people with GSD mentality - get shit done.
- Pain Line. Hit when founder hits their stress and anxiety wall. Leads to premature selling of company, sabotaging of company (unconsciously making poor decisions like firing for small mistakes, missing opportunities, rash decisions, and gets company back to a level they can micromanage), stalling to avoid growth into uncomfortablity (a decision not to grow is a decision to slowly die).
- More business growth does not equal more pain. It equals more freedom.
- Winners and losers have the same goals. You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
- Buyback loop - audit time to determine low value tasks. Transfer those tasks to someone better and enjoys them, ideally. Fill your time with high value tasks that light you up and make more money.
- Don’t hire to grow your business. Hire to buy back your time.
- Lower expectations on employees. Sounds bad, but 80% of the work done by someone else is 100% awesome. Hard to get someone else to care as much as you about your clients your product and your money.
- Science shows people perform better working on tasks they enjoy. High performance leads to high pay.
- Every task you do is on a chart of money vs energy. Many entrepreneurs hire away the parts of the business they enjoy accidentally. They hire to grow, not to buy back time which is a mistake, making them an admin of the company.
- the DRIP matrix: Delegation (less money, drains energy, admin or purchasing or easily repeatable tasks), Replacement (more money, drains energy, may be more challenging to replace like sales or marketing). Investment (less money, gives energy, typically networking or taking care of yourself, hobbies). Production (more money, gives energy).
- Buyback rate - if you can hire someone to do a task for you at 1/4 your hourly rate, do it immediately. Ex) $200K / 2000 hrs / 4 = $25/hr.
- We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.
- Research confirms most entrepreneurs are addicted to chaos. Your ability to deal with chaos gives you entrepreneurial advantage, but can also make you seek out chaos.
- Your chaos addiction shows up as one of 5 time assassins: the Staller, the Speed Demon, the Supervisor (micromanager), the Saver, or the Self-Medicator (over indulgence good or bad).
- Different levels of traders. 1 - employee trading time for money. 2 - entrepreneur trading money for more time. 3 - empire-builder trading their money for more money. If you want to upgrade your trading style, quickest action is eliminating tasks in delegation quadrant. A time and energy audit will help determine these.
- $100MM companies were not built on $10 tasks.
- Build the machine that builds the machine.
- 10-80-10 rule when wanting to still be involved in certain results. You do first 10% in ideation, then delegate 80% for execution, then do final 10% integration.
- After delegation quadrant, entrepreneurs typically get stuck in replacement quadrant. To get out, use the replacement ladder to systematically follow the rungs to achieve freedom and flow. Follow ladder in order. Admin - Delivery/Ops - Marketing - Sales - Leadership.
- Admin assistant or personal assistant is a non negotiable for buying your time back. Easiest way to begin delegation quadrant task transfer. Consider virtual assistant at the very least. Can set rules they stick to.
- Create email GPS system with following folders: Your Name, To Respond, Review, Responded, Waiting On, Receipts/Financials, Newsletters. Plan day, auto-filter, give assistant access. “This is Alex’s Assistant. I got to this email before he did, and thought you’d appreciate a speedy reply…”
- Admin assistant should be fully managing your calendar and inbox. Founders wear multiple hats, and so should your employees at times.
- Checklists are powerful. Use them to gain consistency. Consider TRAINUAL for all manuals and documentation housing.
- Most successful companies execute consistency and excellence for scale. Every playbook (SOPs) should have 4 C’s: Camcorder, the Course, the Cadence, the Checklist. Great method to stay consistent. Recommend starting with videos, then delegating to someone else to complete the playbook, then back to you to confirm. Genius.
- Can be reactive or proactive. Reactive person is available for anything. Proactive person has designated time slots to route demands on their time. A proactive, planned week will allow you to get far more done, as most important tasks are in the calendar. Energy changes when you change tasks. Podcasts versus financial analysis is 2 different energies. Batch similar tasks to allow for the right headspace.
- Plan your perfect week around your energy.
- Time Hacks: 1) $50 magic pill - assign spend allowances to all roles to eliminate you dealing with smallest problems. 2) Sync meetings with repeat agenda with admin. Follow the sync meeting template to optimize time - Offloading, calendar review, past meetings, my action items, feedback loop on admin projects, emails, questions for Alex. 3) Definition of Done. Every time you transfer task or responsibility, give your employee a DoD that includes facts, feelings, and functionality. 4) 1:3:1 Rule: to avoid too much upward delegation, require everyone define the 1 problem, provide 3 solutions provide 1 recommendation.
- Give up Ego!! That’s the only way to live in production. Get over it. You are telling others “you can handle this”.
- Test first hiring method. Be clear, cast a wide net, require a video - who are you, where do you want to be in 5 years, etc, use profile assessments to determine personality fit, have final candidates do a simple test project to see how they work, sell the future - your turn to sell the job to them. Understand their goals and vision, and how your company helps them get there.
- You build the people. I am a people builder. People build the business.
- Smart leaders don’t tell others how to do something. They tell them the end results they need. They allow the other person to use their individual creativity to figure out how. Don’t accept other people’s monkeys. Put it back on them to solve and empower them to see through.
- Transactional leadership = tell-check-next. Hits a ceiling. Transformational leadership = outcome-metric-coach. CO-A-CH framework: core issue - actual story 1 change.
- Employees will quit if they aren’t allowed to voice concerns. A culture of low feedback will slow productivity. Small interpersonal issues will halt progress. A high feedback culture will accelerate progress and help people feel heard and appreciated.
- Founder must set example by asking others to provide feedback. Then leader must listen. Others will see that they are heard and validated. CLEAR method for offering clearing conversations - Create warm environment. Lead them to offer critical feedback. Empathize. Ask if there’s more. Reject or accept feedback
- Need a huge inspirational picture of what you’re working toward. Entrepreneurs are uniquely situated to positively affect change. Big ideas inspire others and help you overcome distractions. Phase 1) Dream without limitations. Focus on what without the how. Phase 2) attain crystal clarity. Describe future vision with same specificity and detail as present day.
- Clear vision must have: a team, one business at a time, their empire, their lifestyle. Vision boards can be helpful too!
- Preload your calendar with what’s most important, the “big rocks” first. You’ll not only fit in the big things (birthdays, vacations, anniversaries), but the fun little parts of life as well. The more planned and scheduled you are, the more spontaneity you can enjoy.
- Use the preloaded year to help execute on your 10X vision. Break vision down to 5/3/1 year goals. Ask yourself is this a “hell yeah” opportunity if ad hoc opportunity comes up! If not, stay on course.
- Visualize consistently and intentionally. 1) Watch yourself on the movie theater. Feel the space. Watch the movie of you living your 10X vision. 2) Walk up to that screen, and enter the movie. Make it reality. Visualize what you look like, what it smells like, what it feels like to live the precise life you want. 3) Repeat to yourself - thank you not necessary for questions. “How do I plan on doing this, what will my friends think, this will require so much work”. Free yourself from these thoughts.
- 7 Pillars of Life: Health, Hobbies, Spirituality, Friends, Love, Finances, Mission “the why”.
Buy back your time
- the buyback principle. Don’t hire to grow your business. Hire to buy back your time. Invest the time into what brings you more energy and money.
- Too many people with GSD mentality - get shit done.
- Pain Line. Hit when founder hits their stress and anxiety wall. Leads to premature selling of company, sabotaging of company (unconsciously making poor decisions like firing for small mistakes, missing opportunities, rash decisions, and gets company back to a level they can micromanage), stalling to avoid growth into uncomfortablity (a decision not to grow is a decision to slowly die).
- More business growth does not equal more pain. It equals more freedom.
- Winners and losers have the same goals. You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
- Buyback loop - audit time to determine low value tasks. Transfer those tasks to someone better and enjoys them, ideally. Fill your time with high value tasks that light you up and make more money.
- Don’t hire to grow your business. Hire to buy back your time.
- Lower expectations on employees. Sounds bad, but 80% of the work done by someone else is 100% awesome. Hard to get someone else to care as much as you about your clients your product and your money.
- Science shows people perform better working on tasks they enjoy. High performance leads to high pay.
- Every task you do is on a chart of money vs energy. Many entrepreneurs hire away the parts of the business they enjoy accidentally. They hire to grow, not to buy back time which is a mistake, making them an admin of the company.
- the DRIP matrix: Delegation (less money, drains energy, admin or purchasing or easily repeatable tasks), Replacement (more money, drains energy, may be more challenging to replace like sales or marketing). Investment (less money, gives energy, typically networking or taking care of yourself, hobbies). Production (more money, gives energy).
- Buyback rate - if you can hire someone to do a task for you at 1/4 your hourly rate, do it immediately. Ex) $200K / 2000 hrs / 4 = $25/hr.
- We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.
- Research confirms most entrepreneurs are addicted to chaos. Your ability to deal with chaos gives you entrepreneurial advantage, but can also make you seek out chaos.
- Your chaos addiction shows up as one of 5 time assassins: the Staller, the Speed Demon, the Supervisor (micromanager), the Saver, or the Self-Medicator (over indulgence good or bad).
- Different levels of traders. 1 - employee trading time for money. 2 - entrepreneur trading money for more time. 3 - empire-builder trading their money for more money. If you want to upgrade your trading style, quickest action is eliminating tasks in delegation quadrant. A time and energy audit will help determine these.
- $100MM companies were not built on $10 tasks.
- Build the machine that builds the machine.
- 10-80-10 rule when wanting to still be involved in certain results. You do first 10% in ideation, then delegate 80% for execution, then do final 10% integration.
- After delegation quadrant, entrepreneurs typically get stuck in replacement quadrant. To get out, use the replacement ladder to systematically follow the rungs to achieve freedom and flow. Follow ladder in order. Admin - Delivery/Ops - Marketing - Sales - Leadership.
- Admin assistant or personal assistant is a non negotiable for buying your time back. Easiest way to begin delegation quadrant task transfer. Consider virtual assistant at the very least. Can set rules they stick to.
- Create email GPS system with following folders: Your Name, To Respond, Review, Responded, Waiting On, Receipts/Financials, Newsletters. Plan day, auto-filter, give assistant access. “This is Alex’s Assistant. I got to this email before he did, and thought you’d appreciate a speedy reply…”
- Admin assistant should be fully managing your calendar and inbox. Founders wear multiple hats, and so should your employees at times.
- Checklists are powerful. Use them to gain consistency. Consider TRAINUAL for all manuals and documentation housing.
- Most successful companies execute consistency and excellence for scale. Every playbook (SOPs) should have 4 C’s: Camcorder, the Course, the Cadence, the Checklist. Great method to stay consistent. Recommend starting with videos, then delegating to someone else to complete the playbook, then back to you to confirm. Genius.
- Can be reactive or proactive. Reactive person is available for anything. Proactive person has designated time slots to route demands on their time. A proactive, planned week will allow you to get far more done, as most important tasks are in the calendar. Energy changes when you change tasks. Podcasts versus financial analysis is 2 different energies. Batch similar tasks to allow for the right headspace.
- Plan your perfect week around your energy.
- Time Hacks: 1) $50 magic pill - assign spend allowances to all roles to eliminate you dealing with smallest problems. 2) Sync meetings with repeat agenda with admin. Follow the sync meeting template to optimize time - Offloading, calendar review, past meetings, my action items, feedback loop on admin projects, emails, questions for Alex. 3) Definition of Done. Every time you transfer task or responsibility, give your employee a DoD that includes facts, feelings, and functionality. 4) 1:3:1 Rule: to avoid too much upward delegation, require everyone define the 1 problem, provide 3 solutions provide 1 recommendation.
- Give up Ego!! That’s the only way to live in production. Get over it. You are telling others “you can handle this”.
- Test first hiring method. Be clear, cast a wide net, require a video - who are you, where do you want to be in 5 years, etc, use profile assessments to determine personality fit, have final candidates do a simple test project to see how they work, sell the future - your turn to sell the job to them. Understand their goals and vision, and how your company helps them get there.
- You build the people. I am a people builder. People build the business.
- Smart leaders don’t tell others how to do something. They tell them the end results they need. They allow the other person to use their individual creativity to figure out how. Don’t accept other people’s monkeys. Put it back on them to solve and empower them to see through.
- Transactional leadership = tell-check-next. Hits a ceiling. Transformational leadership = outcome-metric-coach. CO-A-CH framework: core issue - actual story 1 change.
- Employees will quit if they aren’t allowed to voice concerns. A culture of low feedback will slow productivity. Small interpersonal issues will halt progress. A high feedback culture will accelerate progress and help people feel heard and appreciated.
- Founder must set example by asking others to provide feedback. Then leader must listen. Others will see that they are heard and validated. CLEAR method for offering clearing conversations - Create warm environment. Lead them to offer critical feedback. Empathize. Ask if there’s more. Reject or accept feedback
- Need a huge inspirational picture of what you’re working toward. Entrepreneurs are uniquely situated to positively affect change. Big ideas inspire others and help you overcome distractions. Phase 1) Dream without limitations. Focus on what without the how. Phase 2) attain crystal clarity. Describe future vision with same specificity and detail as present day.
- Clear vision must have: a team, one business at a time, their empire, their lifestyle. Vision boards can be helpful too!
- Preload your calendar with what’s most important, the “big rocks” first. You’ll not only fit in the big things (birthdays, vacations, anniversaries), but the fun little parts of life as well. The more planned and scheduled you are, the more spontaneity you can enjoy.
- Use the preloaded year to help execute on your 10X vision. Break vision down to 5/3/1 year goals. Ask yourself is this a “hell yeah” opportunity if ad hoc opportunity comes up! If not, stay on course.
- Visualize consistently and intentionally. 1) Watch yourself on the movie theater. Feel the space. Watch the movie of you living your 10X vision. 2) Walk up to that screen, and enter the movie. Make it reality. Visualize what you look like, what it smells like, what it feels like to live the precise life you want. 3) Repeat to yourself - thank you not necessary for questions. “How do I plan on doing this, what will my friends think, this will require so much work”. Free yourself from these thoughts.
- 7 Pillars of Life: Health, Hobbies, Spirituality, Friends, Love, Finances, Mission “the why”.
April 9, 2023
Truly enjoyed this book. It does teach so many valuable lessons about time, but there are just as many lessons about life. And they’re not just for those who have started their own businesses. I never considered myself an entrepreneur because I have worked for others my entire professional life. In this book, though, Dan talks about entrepreneurs ‘building an empire’ as building a life of unlimited creativity from which you never have to retire. That’s a life anyone can have, no matter who you work for. It’s also a life you can keep on living for the rest of your life. If you want to make an impact, pick up this book and follow its guidance.
December 17, 2023
Definitely had some generally applicable good ideas but this was written for entrepreneurs and the title should have made that more clear.
February 2, 2023
It's closer to a 5 than a 4! It's a recap of several other books I have read before but it's not long and drawn out. Great reminder on how to move forward in business.
January 4, 2026
Dan Martell enseigne que la clé du succès entrepreneurial n’est pas de travailler plus, mais de reprendre le contrôle de son temps. L’objectif est de “racheter son temps” (Buy Back Your Time) en déléguant, automatisant et structurant son entreprise pour se concentrer uniquement sur les tâches à haute valeur et haute énergie.
Principes majeurs
1.Le Buyback Loop
Un cycle en trois étapes pour libérer son temps :
Audit du temps : identifier les tâches répétitives et à faible valeur.
Transfert : déléguer ou automatiser ces tâches.
Investissement : réutiliser le temps gagné pour des actions stratégiques (croissance, innovation, relations).
2. La règle du retour sur temps (ROT)
Chaque heure rachetée doit générer un impact supérieur à son coût. Ex : déléguer une tâche à 20 $/h permet de consacrer son temps à une activité qui en rapporte 200 $/h.
3. Les “4 Quadrants du travail”
Zone de distraction : tâches inutiles → à éliminer.
Zone de compétence : tâches que l’on fait bien → à déléguer.
Zone d’excellence : tâches importantes → à structurer.
Zone de génie : ce qui nous donne énergie et croissance → à garder.
4. Systémiser avant d’embaucher
Créer des processus clairs et mesurables avant de déléguer, pour éviter la surcharge et les erreurs de gestion.
5. Construire une équipe autour de sa liberté
L’auteur montre comment concevoir des postes et recruter non pas pour “faire plus”, mais pour libérer l’entrepreneur.
6. Réinvestir son temps personnellement
Le temps racheté sert aussi à améliorer sa santé, famille, apprentissage et créativité, piliers d’une réussite durable.
Le succès durable repose sur la maîtrise du temps. En apprenant à acheter son temps plutôt qu’à le subir, on peut scaler son entreprise sans s’épuiser, et vivre libre tout en construisant un empire.
Très Intéressant
Principes majeurs
1.Le Buyback Loop
Un cycle en trois étapes pour libérer son temps :
Audit du temps : identifier les tâches répétitives et à faible valeur.
Transfert : déléguer ou automatiser ces tâches.
Investissement : réutiliser le temps gagné pour des actions stratégiques (croissance, innovation, relations).
2. La règle du retour sur temps (ROT)
Chaque heure rachetée doit générer un impact supérieur à son coût. Ex : déléguer une tâche à 20 $/h permet de consacrer son temps à une activité qui en rapporte 200 $/h.
3. Les “4 Quadrants du travail”
Zone de distraction : tâches inutiles → à éliminer.
Zone de compétence : tâches que l’on fait bien → à déléguer.
Zone d’excellence : tâches importantes → à structurer.
Zone de génie : ce qui nous donne énergie et croissance → à garder.
4. Systémiser avant d’embaucher
Créer des processus clairs et mesurables avant de déléguer, pour éviter la surcharge et les erreurs de gestion.
5. Construire une équipe autour de sa liberté
L’auteur montre comment concevoir des postes et recruter non pas pour “faire plus”, mais pour libérer l’entrepreneur.
6. Réinvestir son temps personnellement
Le temps racheté sert aussi à améliorer sa santé, famille, apprentissage et créativité, piliers d’une réussite durable.
Le succès durable repose sur la maîtrise du temps. En apprenant à acheter son temps plutôt qu’à le subir, on peut scaler son entreprise sans s’épuiser, et vivre libre tout en construisant un empire.
Très Intéressant
March 12, 2025
This book is aimed at entrepreneurs and high-level people at companies. It could be good for admin assistants or first line managers, but it doesn’t always focus on the average person. Sometimes you can’t offload tasks to other people and you have to do the dirty work.
He’s sometimes out of touch with the average person by admitting he has a house manager who basically does all the mental load and tasks of a household that many people cannot afford.
He’s sometimes out of touch with the average person by admitting he has a house manager who basically does all the mental load and tasks of a household that many people cannot afford.
January 30, 2024
I'm not an entrepreneur (yet!), but I still think this is an incredible book to challenge how you manage your time, in business and in personal life.
January 10, 2025
Not much for me here.
May 31, 2024
Honestly some really great stuff in here and I’ll definitely be trying to apply some of the concepts to my own life.
December 4, 2024
a couple of great ideas. Got me thinking.
Not agreeing with everything. But got me thinking
Not agreeing with everything. But got me thinking
March 21, 2025
At one point in the extended audio, Martell mentions that sometimes you don’t have to read a book, you can just read the title. I felt that way through most of this book. The ending did give me a few things to think about, but the title mostly explains it all. I like the concept!
August 14, 2024
Made it to my top 5.
February 9, 2025
Lots of actionable suggestions - strategies that helped him become a success and strategies that he uses to coach his clients. Highly recommend for any solopreneur who has big dreams!
November 10, 2024
I can’t say enough good things about this book! It’s the best book I’ve read for business owners and entrepreneurs in the last few years. Practical with easy implementation.
November 3, 2024
Didn't feel hooked in the beginning, but really grew to enjoy his outlook and approach. Worth coming back to
December 28, 2024
Audiobook. 4.5 stars. I don't think this book would be valuable to all. It's very specific to business owners, but it definitely still applies to all business owners. As a small business owner, all of these things were still extremely relevant and I have 'accidently' done this in the past and completely agree it was the most valuable thing I've ever done for myself in my business. Funny enough, after my assistant left, I didn't refill the position and a few years later I'm realizing that's why I have been so stressed and this book motivated me to refill the position again. It also called out the things I knew I should be doing and broke things down to make them as simple and manageable as possible. No excuses lol. The free online resources are great and rarely offered for free. I also like how the author included other principles and gave credit to those creators. It truly felt like this author wrote this book to help you succeed, not for himself. I like how the audiobook included extra 'bits' at the end of each chapter from the author. I normally don't rate books like this very high but this one was easy to follow, made sense, felt manageable, and walked you through the the 'how' which is rare in books like this. Overall very pleased and I even noticed a boost in energy from me back into my business right when I needed it.
October 8, 2023
Cannot recommend this enough for anyone in any kind of SCALE phase.
October 25, 2024
Great information if you are an entrepreneur. Good information & principles throughout the entire book. Some stuff was repetitive just a different story.
January 11, 2025
To sum it all up, he basically is encouraging people to pay other people to do things for him in order for him to buy back his time to do the things he enjoys.
May 22, 2025
The whole book can be summarised as "document, delegate, and pay'.
It's worth reading.
Rating - 3.25/5
It's worth reading.
Rating - 3.25/5
July 8, 2025
In short, this book is a guide on how to delegate.
Like most ppl I struggled with the mentality that “it’s just faster if I do the work myself.”
Over time I realized this has become a real bottle neck for my personal and professional growth.
There are tons of interesting frameworks in the book, but one sentence really stood out to me: “80% of a task done by smb else is 100% awesome.”
At the end of the day, you may be better at doing certain tasks. But you’ll also be limiting yourself to them. Dan lays out a compelling case on the life you can lead if you learn how to delegate.
I’m glad I happened to pick up this book at just the right time in my life when delegation is top of mind for me.
Like most ppl I struggled with the mentality that “it’s just faster if I do the work myself.”
Over time I realized this has become a real bottle neck for my personal and professional growth.
There are tons of interesting frameworks in the book, but one sentence really stood out to me: “80% of a task done by smb else is 100% awesome.”
At the end of the day, you may be better at doing certain tasks. But you’ll also be limiting yourself to them. Dan lays out a compelling case on the life you can lead if you learn how to delegate.
I’m glad I happened to pick up this book at just the right time in my life when delegation is top of mind for me.
March 26, 2023
If I was an entrepreneur I might have given it a 5. I’ve had to put aside my entrepreneurial ideas in my current season but was suggested it through my job. I definitely see things in a new light after reading it. Valuable nuggets for all of us to ponder. We all have the same 24 hours but we also need some rest in there. Find what you are best at and allow others to take those tasks they are best at.
March 15, 2024
This book was INCREDIBLE! Once I got started (the second time - I didn’t start early enough the first time and the library took it back so I had to wait), I couldn’t put it down. It’s full of exceptional ideas and many things that I’ve put into practice but this helps solidify and put some bows on things that maybe weren’t completely tied up.
July 8, 2025
I rated this book 5 stars because it taught me about the Buyback Rate Calculation; the Replacement Ladder; and, task basking to make my perfect week!
All the other information was valuable as well, but not something I hadn’t heard before. Because of the new information I learned, I know how to figure out the pay rate for an admin. Really appreciated this info!
All the other information was valuable as well, but not something I hadn’t heard before. Because of the new information I learned, I know how to figure out the pay rate for an admin. Really appreciated this info!
December 11, 2024
A powerful reminder of the importance of your time and how you spend it. Well-written with stories to illustrate the author’s main points and step by step strategies to implement. This book is best for a leader who supervises others but value can still be gleaned by any entrepreneur.
June 5, 2024
Great business book with tactical takeaways for entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and higher level managers.
Major takeaways:
1-3-1 Rule
Building your perfect week
Feedback feedback feedback
Major takeaways:
1-3-1 Rule
Building your perfect week
Feedback feedback feedback
August 6, 2024
Tienes principios básicos pero que son explicados y puestos en un solo lugar de una excelente manera. Muy recomendado principalmente si estás buscando productividad aunque no seas emprendedor.
October 3, 2024
Titles like this can be hit or miss. Easy 5 stars for me - super practical and dozens of new mental models on how to best allocate time for impact.
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