Does just the thought of working on your systems make you feel nauseous and overwhelmed?

I’m coming to your rescue!

Optimizing your day-to-day business activities is easier than you think.

5 Essential System Hacks

1.  Flip the Script

Stop telling yourself that you’re bad at systems.

Be nice to yourself as you work on creating structures and don’t badmouth yourself when you find yourself in a dead-end. Don’t give too much energy to your negative thoughts.

Focus on the positive outcomes.

Here’s what I want you to do right now.

Make a mental note of 3 situations where you created structures that were effortless to follow.

Got them?

Creating another structure doesn’t feel so impossible now, does it?

Also, think why those structures felt so easy to follow, which brings me to my next point. . . .

2.  Integrate Your Personality

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to organizing a business.

You must respect your personal preferences and inclinations.

If you can’t visualize a process unless it’s a graphic, go for mind maps and charts. Prefer lining up a process in a linear manner? Use checklists and step-by-step instructions.

Pick the route of least resistance when selecting how you’re going to record your systems:

• For repetitive tasks that you do on your computer, record your screen as you do them.  Narrate the steps. Demonstrate what you do as if you were explaining the process to someone else.

Tasks you can record in this way are:  uploading and formatting blog posts, scheduling social media updates, or filling out online standard non-confidential forms.

• For repetitive tasks that don’t require visual directions, record audio instructions.

Do this for explaining the steps for preparing a webinar, signing up a new client, or putting together a gift basket for a referral partner.

• Streamline activities that require your soft skills by role-playing with someone, noting the questions you ask and recording the process.

Introductory sessions with clients, handling phone inquiries, or closing sales are great to role-play.

Remember, creating systems doesn’t have to look a certain way.  What’s most important is that they match your personality and inclinations.

3.  Give Yourself a Head Start 

Recording structures still might feel like an insurmountable task.

Here’s another solution.

Let’s say you want to create a checklist for uploading a post, signing up a new client, or putting together a gift basket.

Record the audio or video that I recommended earlier, send it to Fiverr to transcribe, and then simply edit the transcript.

It will cost you $5 to transcribe a 10-15 minute recording, but delegating this part in an affordable manner will lift part of the burden from your shoulders.

4.  Impose the 15-Minute Rule 

Creating systems can be the least appealing task on your to-do list, especially for the artist inside of you.

So, why not make a game out of it?  A game that takes only 15 minutes a day?

Let’s say you need to record the steps for setting up a webinar, so that next time you do it, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel all over again.

It’s not a very exciting task, and it keeps getting pushed aside.

All you need to do is promise yourself that you’ll spend just 15 minutes working on that task and not a minute more.

Put your timer on—a timer on your cell phone or e.ggtimer —and go!

Don’t worry about completing the task.  You don’t need to list ALL of the steps.  Start wherever you are and record as many steps as you can in those 15 minutes.

As soon as the timer goes off, you’re free to stop!

Maybe completing the entire list will take you multiple sets of 15 minutes.  But I promise you, having this list next time you run a webinar will save you 3 times as much time!

5.  Take Advantage of the Magic of Technology

Following your system, once you create it, is absolutely essential and can be the hardest part.

Put technology to use!

Go with software that feels comfortable to use.  If you are a visual person, experiment with Trello or Basecamp.  If checklists are your thing, try Evernote or Asana.

We’ll take Asana as an example, but you can use the same approach with just about any project or task management software.

Templates are my secret.

Let’s say you’ve finally finished that webinar setup checklist.  What do you do with it?  Move it into Asana as a new project.  Mark it as “Template,” so you don’t mess it up.

Next time you run a webinar:

• Pull up your template
• Copy it
• Replace the word “template” with your webinar date or name
• Assign tasks to you and/or your team member(s)
• Assign due dates

Follow your system by checking off the tasks one at a time.  Nothing will fall through the cracks now.  Even if something does, just adjust the template.

No more pulling your hair out trying to finish a million things at once right before the event and patching up the holes as you go.

You and your clients deserve better!

Don’t underestimate tools like Asana.  A lot of times what stands between you and an organized business is making better use of tools you already know and love.

Back To You

Do you feel like systematization is easier now? Which hack are you most looking forward to trying?