Thursday, November 20th, 2025. I remember it all too clearly.
8:33am. Computer fired up. Coffee in hand. Ready to tackle the morning.
I opened up ClickUp specifically to do my daily outreach.
I ended up spending 45 minutes reorganizing a workspace that was already working fine.
Then I hopped over to check on an automation in Zapier. Also running fine. I tweaked it anyway.
I added a task I’d already completed… because yes, I get that much satisfaction from ticking things off my to-do list.
Answered every Slack message. Checked email. Got lost in my calendar.
By the time I looked up, it was 6:12pm.
The outreach didn’t happen.
I wasn’t lazy. I wasn’t distracted.
I was in my comfort zone… and calling it productivity.
If you’re busy but not making money, I’d bet you know a version of that day. A full calendar, a long list of things done, and a bank account that doesn’t reflect any of it.
In this post I’ll walk you through the difference between maintenance work and revenue work, why smart, capable business owners get stuck doing the first one, and how I pointed my own week back at the second.
The short answer
If you’re busy but not making money, you’re most likely doing maintenance work (the tasks that keep your business running) instead of revenue work (the actions that bring in clients and money).
Maintenance work resets every week. Revenue work compounds. And you can be fully productive all week and still do zero revenue work. Let me explain.
Why being busy doesn’t turn into revenue
Most of us operate from urgency.
From inboxes.
From whoever needs us loudest that day.
Because revenue work is silent and busy work is noisy.
Urgent work feels productive, but the work that actually grows revenue almost never feels urgent… which is why it keeps getting pushed aside.
You know that feeling when you close your laptop at 6pm, exhausted… and realize you answered 47 emails but didn’t do the ONE thing that would actually bring in revenue?
That was me. At the end of the month, my revenue didn’t match my effort. Even though I worked hard. Because my week was designed to keep me busy (and in my comfort zone). Not to produce revenue.
There’s also a delay that makes this so easy to miss. Revenue responds to what you did 6–8 weeks ago. So a few weeks in maintenance mode doesn’t hurt today. It shows up later, as a quiet month you can’t explain.
Maintenance work vs. revenue work: what’s the difference?
One of my clients said it perfectly during an office hours session. She was describing how she’d spent way too long organizing something, and she just tossed it out, mid-sentence:
“Maintenance-ing instead of revenue-ing.”
It was the most perfect summary of a very specific problem I’d been trying to name for years. Grammar was never my strong suit, so I’ve been happily using her made-up verbs ever since.
Here’s how I define them.
Maintenance-ing /ˈmeɪntənəns·ɪŋ/ · verb
Real work, done at speed, in the wrong direction.
A few ways it shows up:
- Rebuilding the onboarding flow for a client you haven’t signed yet.
- Renaming folders in Google Drive at 2:40, because outreach was scheduled for 2:30.
- Work that pays out in dopamine instead of dollars.
- The reason you end the week exhausted and can’t name one thing that made money.
Revenue-ing /ˈrevənuː·ɪŋ/ · verb
The eleven minutes of your day that actually pay you. Usually scheduled last. Usually skipped.
- The one thing your project management tool has never once forced you to do.
- Sending the message. Just the message. That’s the entire activity.
Maintenance work and revenue work, side by side
| Maintenance work (resets every week) | Revenue work (compounds) |
|---|---|
| Reorganizing ClickUp, Notion or Asana when it already works | Sending one message to a warm lead |
| Tweaking an automation that’s running fine | Following up on an open proposal |
| Rebuilding a process for clients you haven’t signed yet | Asking a happy past client for a referral |
| Learning the new AI tool | Checking in with a past client |
| Answering every Slack message before anything else | Telling someone “I have an opening, let’s connect” |
Maintenance work isn’t bad. Your business needs it. The problem is doing maintenance work while believing it’s revenue work (so revenue work doesn’t happen at all).
Why smart, capable people get stuck in maintenance mode
Here’s the thing about maintenance-ing: it isn’t laziness. It isn’t even procrastination, exactly. You’re working. Hard. That’s what makes it so sneaky.
It’s the work that makes you feel competent within 90 seconds. And when you’re good at what you do (when you can build the automation before breakfast… I see you), that fast little hit of competence is almost impossible to resist.
I lived in ClickUp and Slack and email. I built automations for fun on a Saturday. I’m really good at this stuff. It comes naturally.
So you do the easy, satisfying backend work. Again. And the thing that actually pays you sits there untouched.
Revenue-ing rarely gets done, and it’s not because you don’t know how. It’s because the payout is slow and invisible, and maintenance-ing pays you in good vibes right now.
Geeks like us can optimize ourselves right out of revenue. We’re that good at avoiding the uncomfortable stuff while still feeling productive. It’s an art.
Your competence isn’t always the solution. Sometimes it’s the hiding place.
Revenue is oxygen
I learned how to scuba dive in the Red Sea. Calm water. Beautiful reefs. I felt confident. Capable. Like, “yeah, I know how to do this.”
Five years later, on my honeymoon, we went diving off the southern coast of Spain. Darker water. Choppier. Less predictable. My brand-new husband (who’d done every kind of military dive training imaginable) was completely fine.
I hyperventilated 20 feet underwater.
Think about snorkeling first. That’s what it’s like when you’re first dabbling in business… you’re testing things out and you can pop up for air whenever you want. No real consequences.
But once you go deeper (when your business needs to support you, your family, your life), oxygen is no longer optional.
In business, revenue is oxygen.
Not the reward.
Not the bonus.
It’s the thing that keeps you alive.
Most businesses don’t fail because the idea was bad. They fail because they run out of air… while telling themselves they’ll “figure it out later.”
If revenue feels stressful, inconsistent, or like you’re constantly holding your breath, that’s not a mindset problem. It’s an oxygen problem. And for most of the women I work with, the oxygen problem started as a maintenance-work problem.
The one question to ask about every task
On my coaching calls, there’s one question I come back to more than any other. Whenever something wants your time or your attention, ask yourself:
“Is this going to get me closer to someone saying yes to my paid offer?”
If yes, it’s revenue work. If no, it’s maintenance work.
You can still do it. You just stop pretending it’s the thing that’s going to pay you this month.
How to do more revenue work (without working more hours)
1. Make the decision once
The simplest fix I’ve found is deciding your revenue actions in advance: daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly actions that are revenue-aligned.
It’s not rocket science. It’s… obvious (in the best and easiest way).
No fancy frameworks. No 47-step diagrams. Just:
→ What do you do daily that supports revenue?
→ Weekly?
→ Monthly?
→ Quarterly?
So I rewrote my entire team’s job descriptions. Yes, mine too. Each one has its own daily, weekly and monthly revenue actions baked in. My daily revenue action, for example, is to have five human touchpoints with potential partners (or GeekPack members).
The result: way more clarity. Way less decision fatigue. Nowhere near as many “what should I be working on?” moments.
(Turns out, knowing exactly what to focus on each day is weirdly calming… who knew?!)
Pre-made decisions are wildly underrated. When you already know what matters today, you stop negotiating with yourself.
2. Do it first
Revenue work is usually scheduled last, which is exactly why it gets skipped. So flip the order.
The first morning I revenue-ed before I opened Slack and ClickUp, I was unbearable about it for the rest of the day. Highly recommend.
3. Keep it small enough to survive a messy month
In the summer of 2026, I spent four and a half weeks working from my childhood bedroom in Georgia. Out of routine. Working from a table we found in the garage. A team member left, so there was offboarding and a pile of tasks that suddenly landed back on me.
And revenue still happened.
Not because I worked harder… I absolutely did not work harder. Because the revenue work is small, decided in advance, and survivable. It fits inside a crazy month instead of requiring a calm one.
A system that only works during a good week isn’t a system. It’s a fantasy with a checklist.
Start here
What’s ONE thing you could do daily that would actually move revenue?
Not ten things. One. Write it down, put it first thing in your day, and do it before you open the tools that make you feel productive.
Not sure what that one thing is? Look at where your last few clients actually came from.
Want help pointing your week at revenue?
Your automations are beautiful. Your SOPs are immaculate. Your systems are on point… but your bank account doesn’t know any of it.
That’s exactly what I teach in my free class, Busy Weeks, Broke Months. I’ll show you why your revenue problem can’t be fixed this month, the two types of work, and why smart women pick the wrong revenue work (and how to pick the right one).
Save your seat in the free class →
Frequently asked questions
What is revenue work?
Revenue work is any action that moves a real person closer to paying you: reaching out to a warm lead, following up on a proposal, asking a past client for a referral, telling someone you have an opening. It’s usually small, it’s usually a conversation, and it rarely feels urgent.
What is maintenance work?
Maintenance work is everything that keeps your business running: admin, tech fixes, reorganizing your tools, tweaking automations, answering messages. Your business needs it, but it resets every week. It doesn’t bring in new money.
Why am I so busy but not making money?
Most likely because your week is designed to keep you busy, not to produce revenue. Urgent, satisfying maintenance work fills the day, and the quiet revenue work keeps getting pushed to “later”. Because revenue responds to what you did 6–8 weeks ago, you don’t feel the gap until a quiet month shows up.
How much time should I spend on revenue work?
Less than you’d think. I call it “the eleven minutes of your day that actually pay you.” What matters is that it happens every day, first, and in a size small enough to survive a busy week.
