Systems will save you!

If you are anything like me, the first time I heard this, I cringed and gagged a little bit!

“I can’t have systems, I am creative, I am a go with the flow kind of girl.”

At that point, my business was running me into the ground, I was tired, burned out, not even a tiny bit creative and running my life based on whims and constantly putting out the fires that my whims had created.

That was the real ewww.

My work and existence had become 100% unmanageable, sure my business was successful- but most days I just wanted to burn it to the ground and runaway. 

Ever feel that way?

If you have built your business and your life around your whims, you likely know the pain I am talking about. When going with the flow, feels more like a raging river in the Rockies during spring run off- if you are riding that river- it’s flippin terrifying- because you have NO control.

Entrepreneurship is problem solving, creating solutions, changing the world!

In my mind- systems would only slow me down.

But...

Things couldn’t have possibly gotten any worse! So I decided to listen to the advice at the time, and start with creating systems at home, and actually keeping track of how I was spending my time.

My first discovery, I was not working as much as I thought I was. Sure I was putting in the hours(12-18 hour days), but the quality of my productive output was sad (like 3 hours of real needle moving work a day.)

My second discovery was, that simply by implementing simple systems at home for meals, housekeeping duties, and grocery shopping- I could breath a little deeper and my family stopped walking on egg shells around their stressed out mom/wife. 

I had clarity, structure and a path to move forward.

Then I decided to tackle the beast of creating systems in my business- all I could think was- I really should have done this sooner…

Simple systems like…

… how to hire

… how to train someone I hired

… what their role entailed

… expectations (the poor people who worked for me in those early days had no chance of winning in their work, I didn’t know what I expected, they didn’t know I expected, and heaven forbid anyone did anything unexpected, it was a state of constant chaos!)

… keeping track of basic things like sales and expenses (instead of running my business by brail)

… booking appointments and not forgetting about them because the sticky note was misplaced (online schedulers to save the day!!!)

All of those systems were just scratching the surface, but everytime I created a new system, I could breathe better, my team could breathe better.

I became fanatical about creating systems once I realized how systems simplify business, but most entrepreneurs are treading water so much, that systems and structures seem like this insurmountable task.

I mean who has the time to work out how the work is done?!

Lord knows, in the beginning I didn’t, but when you know better you do better. So over the course of a year I overhauled my business, by simply getting detailed, and creating sanity saving systems. 

Every new system completed, recorded, and implemented brought new success to the business and my employees- suddenly people knew what winning in work looked like!

By creating systems I was able to better delegate and manage my team and my time, and for the first time in my life experience the beauty of leveraging people to grow a business. It was amazing.

I went for working 120 unproductive hours a week to 8 supremely productive hours a week, where I would complete in 8 hours what had previously taken me 3 months to complete. I became hyper- focused, hyper- creative and was finally able to run my business the way I had dreamed of running a business.

Systems saved my life and my sanity!

Are you a system junkie like me? What’s your favorite system you have ever created? 

My favorite system is my time blocking and planning system- that helps me get the things done that matter most to my business and my life. It’s pretty simple at the beginning of each week, I jot down 3-5 things that will help me move the needle forward in my life and business, and schedule them in. Then when Sunday rolls around whatever isn’t done- must get done and prevents me from doing the things I truly want to do. It’s definitely a carrot/ whip motivation tool I use to handle my business and get things that matter done.

Comment what your favorite systems are in the comments section

If you don’t have systems and you have no idea where to start get instant access to my FREE Momma Boss Sanity Saver Course, as soon as you sign up I will email your login deets, so you can start finding immediate relief from overwhelm and confusion that is ruling your life right now!