Do you ever feel like your business is running you and taking over your life? I have definitely felt like this before, on more than one occasion!
In fact, in the past I’ve gone through phases where I felt like I was spinning a million plates and that at any moment they could all come crashing down on top of my head! There was so much I had to do every day and I ended up feeling like I was at breaking point.
That’s when I realised something had to change, because I couldn’t go on like that anymore. So I ended up sitting down with a mentor and spending the whole day figuring out the mess I felt like I was in.
By the end of the day I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders – instead of being stuck in the million and one things going on, I felt like I could see everything clear, in an organised manor, because I’d created systems for my business.
It was no longer a mass of tasks – it was a selection of strategic systems that helped me to run the business with ease and efficiency.
Learning about systems has helped me SO much – there’s no way I could ever create the magazine each month without my systems.
If you ever feel like you’re getting dragged along behind your business then have a watch of this week’s video, where I’m joined by systems expert Natasha Vorompiova, founder of SystemsRock, who shares how to systemise your business in 2 easy steps.
Natasha explains that the first step you need to take is getting all the tasks out of your head and onto paper. You can do this over the course of a few days or a week and throughout the day make a note of all the tasks you’re working on. By doing this you can start to see what’s actually going on in the business – you can start mapping out the business and seeing a bird’s eye view of it.
Download Natasha’s Business Map Worksheet to help you consider different areas of your business that you might not have thought of.
Once you’ve mapped everything out you can start to look at the process you need to go through in order to complete the task with ease.
To give you an example, when I systemised the magazine I thought about if from a bird’s eye view – I mapped out on paper the entire process of the magazine and I started off by thinking “at the very beginning of each issue what’s the first thing I have to do, what’s the second thing I need to do and so on” then I started to work out the process I had to follow in order to complete each task. So I worked out the process for getting content, I made a process for bringing on board new contributors – including email templates, information pack with all the requirements and deadlines in etc. I also made a process for what happened once the magazine was ready to launch – my marketing system.
Having these systems in place makes it easy to delegate work – if I want someone to help gather and look after contributors I can just pass the “Contributors Manual” onto them.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed I can always go back to the map and the processes and see what needs to be done, when and how and it always makes me feel better.
So take some time to create systems for your business, you’ll be glad you did.
Carrie x
