Using Systems to Get More Done

I get asked OFTEN how I manage life with a thriving business, 2 small children and another on the way, and a great marriage.  There are a couple of big answers there.

1.      We have a great babysitter! At first I was really against sending my kids to a sitter b/c that’s why I left the corporate world in the first place, was to have more time with my kids.  BUT I have learned that having my kids go to the sitter a few hours a day actually makes me a BETTER mom. I’m more focused on my kids when they are home instead of trying to manage work and kids at the same time.
2.      Date night.  My husband and I are super diligent about date night. We don’t go out every week. Sometimes it’s just watching a movie and putting away our phones.  But it’s important to us to have time together without work distracting either of us.
3.      Systems.  I have been talking a lot about these lately in my blog and newsletters. Before I systemized everything, I was working close to 60 hours a week.  You can imagine how hard that was and how unenjoyable life was. Well now – I work about 20 hours a week. Very rarely at night and on the weekends (unless I have a big project coming up).

     Systems is a pretty versatile word.  To me, I create a system for anything I do more than once. Seriously. Anything. Grocery shopping, laundry, managing my email, how I manage new clients.

     The first step to creating more structure is to figure out what you need to systematize.  So I tell my clients and friends, keep a list of anything you do twice. It’s a good starting place. Work on that list for a few days.  Then go through it and pick out the top 2 that take the most time in your day. Those are the systems you want to create first. I like to then write out the steps that are included in that process.  This will give you a pretty good idea of what is working and what isn’t.

      The best thing about having systems though – is then you know easily what you can outsource.  What is taking the most time and where you could use some help. For example. With dinner. I realized I was always getting dinner on the table later than I planned b/c I didn’t have time to set the table.  So now, my 4 year old sets the table while I cook. See systems can be used in your home life too!

 If you want to learn more about the amazingness of systems and how to use them, I have a new course !   It walks you through how to create the systems needed in your business, so you have more time, energy, and it’s more enjoyable.