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#20 Complete management system for a one person business

A complete system for solopreneurs to manage everything in one place and avoid overwhelm...

  • How to build a second brain on Clickup
  • How to avoid overwhelm
  • How to turn your brainfarts into value

Hey Solopreneurs, this week I’m going to run you through a complete system for managing a one person business.

As a solopreneur, your ideas are your most valuable asset. But sometimes you can have too many ideas. It’s usually about 3am that I wish my brain had fewer ideas. 😅

You need a system to capture and organise all your ideas so you can store and access them later, when they are more relevant, and get some clarity and focus on the most important thing on your plate right now.

So first I’ll walk you through an exercise to avoid overwhelm, then show you how I built a complete management system for a solo business.

🎁 Subscribers will get a video walkthrough of my second brain on Clickup,
including a look at how I organize all of my systems, thoughts, notes and tasks in ONE platform that I have with me at all times,
to avoid the sheer pain and overwhelm of having too many things in my head.

youtube video thumbnail complete second brain on Clickup 1

Want to to see how I manage a one person business without overwhelm?

Subscribe for instant access to a tour of my complete management system on Clickup.

But first, there’s something I’ve really let myself down on the last few months.
I recommend to all my students take 10 minutes during the day just to sit with a notepad, let thoughts surface, and jot them down.
No music, no book, no distractions.
These are usually the best “big picture” insights that drive your business forward.
“All my best thinking happens in the hammock” I like to say.
Except it’s Scotland so it’s been raining for 6 months so I’ve allowed my habit to slide.

We all know that we have some of our most profound clarity on the toilet or in the shower.

“The reason people get good ideas in the shower is because it’s the only time during the day when most people are away from screens long enough to think clearly. The lesson is not to take more showers, but rather to make more time to think.”
– James Clear

Luckily my recent trip to Skye was the perfect chance to get some time away from the screen and reinstate this powerful habit of reflection,
Plus the downtime to make cross-pollinating connections which have a huge impact on my life and business.
I also had the chance to read Build a second brain by Tiago Forte, which tied in perfectly with my experience on Skye:

The abstract bit – journaling and reflecting

The big-picture thoughts I had,
how I distilled them into an insight that applies to my life and work.

The Concrete system – a CRM for solopreneurs

My system for recording thoughts, tasks, brain farts,
then digesting them into useful ideas you can reuse later,
or discard them without feeling guilty.

  • 0:00 A tour of my second brain on Clickup
  • 1:00 Braindumping
  • 1:20 Lineup
  • 2:50 Avoid overwhelm
  • 3:40 How I organise “Spaces”
  • 5:20 Separating areas of your life
  • 7:20 Project templates
  • 7:50 Client management & Comms
  • 9:20 SYSTEMS – support tickets, SOPS, social content library, automated enquiries
  • 12:00 Clickup automations
  • 12:20 SYSTEMS – linkbuilding, reviews, newsletters
  • 15:50 Activity overview snapshot
  • 16:40 Team support
  • 20:40 Managing a 6 figure design business on Clickup
  • 21:20 Managing freelance projects

Building a second brain on Clickup

Just before you think I’m turning into one of those despised “travel bloggers” 🤣
Don’t worry, I won’t be promoting affiliate links for swimwear on my blog anytime soon.

But I recently took a break to visit the Isle of Skye for my wife’s birthday.
During my break I read Build a second brain by Tiago Forte.
It’s a great book, but I found I was already doing almost all of the stuff in the book,
I just didn’t have a name for the things I was doing,
or a tangible way to describe the huge benefits.
Now I have the right labels for it, plus some improvements to the way I approach braindumping.

The premise of Build a Second Brain is the idea that your brain is built for having ideas not storing them.
The sheer amount of information we need to hold onto on a daily basis is the cause of a lot of anxiety, burnout and overwhelm these days.
I can say from experience, information overload is definitely my personal no1 cause of burnout.

Tiago teaches a how to build a system, or a CRM for solopreneurs, to build an online catalogue of all your thoughts, ideas, tasks, and todos that can be searched at any time to find information highly relevant to the thing you’re currently doing.

In the book he describes many tools to connect your thinking and your work in a meaningful way,
but over the last 5 years I’ve been building my own second brain on Clickup, which contains everything I use on a daily basis to run both my businesses.

So how is this applicable in a practical sense for you right now?

🔥 Unfinished tasks leave a mental “nag” on your brain. You can Increase focus by dumping your brainfarts into your 2nd brain.
🔥 Tasks lead to more tasks, make sure you capture unfinished threads to revisit later before you forget your best ideas.
🔥 You become faster at doing things as you don’t need to look up or research information you already have it.
🔥 Reduced mental load and stress as you capture unfinished tasks.
🔥 Any designer can design. Your true value is not what you do, it’s how you think. If you plan to scale or have a team, a second brain is going to be essential to teach them how you think.

Part of Tiago Forte’s process to turn your thoughts into value in Build a Second Brain is CODE

  • Capture
  • Organize
  • Distill
  • Express

I capture all my thinking as tasks or notes in Clickup.
I organize them into relevant projects (my next planned newsletter)
I distil my notes into something tangible by reviewing them
What you’re seeing now is the Express stage (tangible output)

Capture – avoid overwhelm by braindumping

So here’s a system from a recent coaching session, which I use to quickly to capture my thoughts, and
filter out the truly unimportant, and identify the right things to do on a daily basis.

Here’s how it works:

YouTube video player

Notice I don’t sort or categorize them.
Instead I regularly triage my list:

  • Instead of acting on things straight away I leave them on the list to see if they are genuinely important.
  • This is a chance to vet your todos, instead of doing admin and firefighting.
  • I move tasks above or below my line to set an intention to work on them or not
  • I allow myself to “let go” of tasks that I’m not getting round to….
  • I regularly clear out or delete old todos, if I haven’t done them they often aren’t important.
  • If they are important I create a task for them under the correct project
  • Another thing I do is use indentation and tabs to list the micro steps to complete that particular task, or add relevant info.

But recording your thoughts isn’t enough.
Knowledge without action is just wasted potential.
Here’s how I organise my thoughts across hundreds of different projects and responsibilities…

Organize and Distill – Building a Second brain on Clickup

Clickup is a tool I’ve used for years,
it’s slowly grown from a simple notetaking app to keep track of client feedback,
into an indispensable CRM for solopreneuring, and holds everything in my whole life.
Here’s just a few things Clickup does for me

  • Manage my calendar
  • Store all my notes
  • Project management for projects
  • Automated lead gen systems
  • An automated CRM for enquiries
  • Client Comms, emails and chats
  • Link building system
  • Team hub
  • SOPs and training

A lot of the value that comes out of your notes and your second brain requires making time to review, or distil, your thoughts.
I do both organise and distil in the same step.

Express – Observations and insights for life

So instead of just shitting out unprocessed brain farts, or parroting common advice like many gurus I read on Instagram, I run it through the filter of my own life to distil the knowledge into something practical and useful for my audience, and for myself.
If you weren’t here reading this article, I’ll still be writing this every week.
I’m writing for me, not for you. (sorry🤣).

Writing helps me digest my thoughts into something longer-lasting and useful.
I still regularly use my own articles on Life by Design as check-in points in my life, and also as a system for generating social content, and as guides for my students.

At least I hope it does…
Here’s how I manage my whole life on Clickup:

youtube video thumbnail complete second brain on Clickup 1

Want to to see how I manage a one person business without overwhelm?

Subscribe for instant access to a tour of my complete management system on Clickup.

 

Subscribe for instant access to a tour of my complete management system on Clickup

💡 Key Insights for solopreneurs

Running a solo business means you’re juggling a lot of plates.
If you try to manually hold all this in your head,
You’ll implode with stress and forget your best ideas.
Use braindumping as a way to avoid overwhelm,
and build a second brain to turn your brainfarts into brilliance.

🛎️ Daily reminder for solopreneurs

Your brain is meant for having ideas, not storing them!

Trying to hold all your ideas in your head will lead to overhwelm.

💥 How to take action in the next 5 mins

  • Create a Clickup account to track all your projects
  • Create a new note,
  • Braindump all your ideas.
  • triage them at the end of each day.

😍 Something I'm grateful for this week
Picture of Nicholas Robb

Nicholas Robb

Founder, Design Hero
Author of Life by Design

Ready to...
 Win your freedom? Put life before work? Grow a solo business? Redesign your life? Systemize your business? Gain back time? Quit the rat race?

I'll audit your solo business with you 1-1.
I'll show you simple systems you can use
to redesign your business for maximum profit & freedom

Book call
Nicholas Robb, Founder of Design Hero, solopreneur and author of Life by Design

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FAQs from solopreneurs about Systems or Productivity

I’d liked more examples of deep work because I don’t quite know how to differentiate yet (I’ll check out your article to see if I got more understanding)

I know coding and designing and systemising is deep work, but as a solopreneur that has to be do everything I’m not sure if working on my CRM or content creation would be shallow or deep(Edited)

thanks so
Deep work is not about the task itself,
Deep work is more about a pattern of working that is extremely focussed and proofed against distraction.

The tasks that go into the deep work block are your choice.
It should be your most important work that grows the business.

Shallow work is the opposite:
stuff that drains you, that maintains the business.

Here’s a few resources which might help you with that:

Goals to actions framework for freelancers

Deep-dive on building focus as a freelancer

examples of deep work from the past few days

  • Condense Lifestyle design workshop
  • Write Life by Design #45
  • bug testing and feedback for Emerdentist
  • rewrite welcome sequence for Life by Design
  • Build reminder system for networking and outreach
  • call back Hot enquiries

examples of shallow work from past few days:

  • work through emails (daily)
  • catch up with team
  • minor website changes for client
  • deal with support tickets
  • book Subaru in for MOT

Was nice to meet you!

So at the summit, we were talking about giving your day structure, about getting back free time so you can work ON the business instead of IN the business.

If you have to work longer hours to grow your business,
then you will ALWAYS be working longer hours.
You need to systemize your business to multiply your outputs without putting in more time.

SOPS are the first step to build leverage in a solo business.

Here’s how to systemize your business:

You write down your processes,
Then you improve them,
Then you automate, delegate, or eliminate everything you can do you have more mental space and more free time.

If you want a step by step guide for writing SOPs. Theres a box at the bottom where you can put in your email and you’ll get sent a video walkthrough of how to do it all

I go on and on about consistency being key.
I’m pretty consistent about it 🥁😂

But the gurus are right about x1 thing:
Consistency IS key to growing a solo business…
IF you want to do it without burnout.

like most of us,
I’m easily distracted.

My daily world is full of shiny objects, hacks, distractions.

If you want to grow a 6 figure freelance business there’s a lot of stuff to do.

But the more you add to your plate,
the less you’ll get done and
The worse you’ll about it

The only strategy that works for me?

I’m easily distracted.
The only strategy that works for me?

↘️ Take a big project,
↘️ Break it into steps,
↘️ Turn steps into habits you can repeat daily
↘️ Put it into your daily schedule
↘️ Do daily, weekly and monthly reviews to make sure I’m on track

This keeps me working on the important things everyday,
Instead of whatever cr💩p comes up in my inbox

___

If you feel like you need to get better at consistency,
On Life by Design #26 I share x5 consistency systems for freelancers,
that helped me double my revenue every year for ten years..

The key is to let go of the idea of getting everything done.

Draw an actual line on your list.

Everything below doesn’t get done.

Plan weekly.
Triage daily.

Read my full guide to how I manage my todo list without overwhelm.

I used to be obsessed with productivity hacks.
Then I read 4000 weeks, you read it?
I’d also read The 80/20 principle

Here’s a 5 second summary of time management that goes beyond “productivity hacks”

The better you get at your job, the more things you’ll have to do.
You think by being more productive you’ll be able to complete tasks quicker and clear your plate.
But here’s the secret:

Tasks lead to tasks.
The more productive you are, the busier you get.
There will never be enough time to do all of them.

You need learn to focus,
and do only the 20% of stuff that makes a difference.
And get ok with letting the rest slide.

It’s easier said than done though hahaha
As a completionist myself, this is hard.
Welcome to the joys of solopreneurship.

Get in.
Do the important work.
Get out.

I’m a terrible overthinker.

Sometimes it’s a superpower, which helps you brainstorm ideas

But often it’s a crutch which has you cycling through the same problem over and over with no progress.

  1. If it doesn’t need actioned now, write it down in a braindump list. Your mind is designed to hold onto unfinished tasks. braindumping reduces mental overwhelm
  2. If it’s a relevant problem, then try to work through it.
  3. Pick a habitual task that requires a little thought with movement like mowing the grass or walking the dog
  4. Process the problem while you do that
  5. If mind wanders bring it back gently to the problem
  6. Write down any insights that occur for clarity. Writing helps your process and define your thoughts.
  7. Notice when you’re “stuck in a loop” covering the same thoights over and over. Jot it down and move to the next stage of the problem.
  8. At the end tidy up your notes into an action list with microsteps that you can do now or later.
  9. Store it in your second brain or personal knowledge system for Solopreneurs that you can access later, and let go of for now .

Good Q man. There’s quite a few parts to it…

🔵 Eliminate, Systemize, Optimize, Automate

Before I automate I’ve already cut a lot of stages out that don’t add any value to the project.
Most of the stuff I’m automating is admin and busiwork.

Instead of calls I do Looms.
The client sees my face & gets the personal touch, but without the small-talk.

🔵 Email

Emails are a major time sap for projects.
Many freelancers waste a lot of time emailing back and forth.
Every email generates more emails.
I’d say 80% of emails aren’t needed.
Emails are an art.
Spend 50% longer on every email you send.
Use conditional statements, offer multiple A/B/C options, pre-empt the next step, the next question, make sure you have all the needed info to progress.
Spend longer now, to eliminate future emails.

🔵 Comms

Make sure all your comms are on one channel.
Use apps and  tools to gather the info you need in one place in advance to speed up the timeline.
I have an onboarding system that means I get all the info I need collected upfront, which skips a lot of emailing throughout the project.

🔵 Templates

You find yourself saying the same things over & over.
Never do things twice.
Create email templates for the FAQs.
Write guides for the complex topics.
Record Looms with SOPs.
When asked you can simply paste a link to your client so it looks like you’re going the extra mile with advice.

🔵 Feedback

Many freelancers still emailing designs and drafts across.
You can’t get quality Feedback over email.

I do fewer, in-depth 1-1 zooms at key milestones.
Zooms take longer than emails, but there’s less rounds of revisions,
Plus the client gets to feel ownership over the project.
In the long run it saves time to spend a bit longer with clients.

🔵 Always get a happy ending.

People only remember the beginning & the ending.
The lasting impression they have of your service is based 80% on the end.
Most people fuck up the end.

I do “offboarding” to get feedback, improve my process, get a video testimonial, so the last thing the client sees is my face.

I go the extra mile.
I put together a “superhero pack” for my Design Hero clients and post it to them. It’s go some merch, sweeties, a superhero outfit, some lego. Each pack costs me about £30.
But it leaves them with a next level experience, and it sticks in their head, for the next time they get my referral email they are more likely to pass my name on.

There’s no way to automate these special touches.
Sometimes going that extra 10% manually pays off in the long run.

So that’s how I do Personal touch + time saved.

 

the best time to start automating is yesterday. The second best time is now. 😂

Lol seriously though, start as soon as you can so you can buy back your time.

The only caveat:

Automation multiplies your inputs
If you automate a bad process,
you multiply the bad outputs.

Make sure you’ve done the messy manual work first,
So you can optimize the process before you automate it.

When to automate a solo business

Rule of thumb:  If you’re going to do it more than once a week, try to automate it,
or at the very least build a template.

Example: even the smallest things like LinkedIn connection messages can be templated, and saved as a snippet in your notes.

It may take you an hour to build an automation for a 5 minute task.
Most people aren’t willing to do this.
But those 5 min tasks are going to continue to pile up, and a good automation quickly returns your time back to you.

Ok, Here’s what I would tell you if you were one of my team.

Lifted directly from my team SOPs

Here’s the Deadline Policy

I want you to take the time to do good work, I don’t want you to feel rushed.
But timeliness is very important.
It’s critical that we show clients regular progress, especially in the early stages after a project, when money has just been exchanged.
So don’t wait until the deadline to start the project.

As soon as you are given a job, start it.
Set your own internal deadlines to be proactive.
Things will come up, feedback will be delayed etc.
So always be as far ahead as you can.

Time only runs one way,
so if the client comes back with feedback late, we adjust the timeline to give us more time to work on the project.
But if client comes back with feedback early, we don’t bring the deadline forwards.
The client gets the results earlier, but the timeline will stay the same which buys us time for future unforseens.

We make sure the client knows we are ahead of schedule.
But we don’t squander this extra time by waiting;
We move ahead with the project and build ourselves a safety buffer.

Agreeing Deadlines

We will agree deadlines that work for both of us at the start of a project.
All tasks and subtasks will have deadlines set in Clickup.

I will try very hard to make sure that you are not rushed in your work, that you have plenty of time to think about things, and that the pace is relaxed. Good work can’t happen in a rush 😊.
Once a deadline has been set we need to meet the deliverables for that deadline.

Client Deadlines

Please note deadlines in Clickup are client deadlines.
“due dates” are the final dates by which the phase should be complete, so includes feedback, mistakes, revisions etc.
You should be working to “review dates”.
Internal review dates are about halfway between formal client review dates.

Review Dates

The review date is the date by which you should have progressed as far as you can,
and then you share the work with me for internal feedback.

There may be informal reviews or feedback needed before that deadline, so please factor this in, and don’t leave work until the client deadline, as this may be too late.

If you’re working by yourself, you can set internal dates for yourself to keep yourself in check:

  • Pretend you are the client
  • set your own internal review date ahead of the deadline your aiming for.
  • Self critique your own work
  • Roleplay and ask yourself what I’m going to say, and fix them in advance.

Changing Deadlines

If you think a deadline is too tight
Please tell me so I can factor this into my communication with the client. I don’t bite. 😁
I would much rather you told me a task will take 4 weeks and complete it in 4 weeks, than tell me that a task will take 2 weeks and instead take 4 weeks to complete it…

If things are running behind schedule

Sometimes the client is slow to respond, people get sick, and you might have creative block.
If you feel you will be unable to meet a deadline or feel you are falling behind.
Please let me know as far in advance as possible so I can adjust my response to the client, and adjust any future deadlines to suit.
The earlier I know, the earlier we can find a solution or manage client expectations. 😊

The Key point

If you plan well, optimize your process,

and set internal deadlines well in advance of the actual deadline then you should rarely miss a deadline.

Unforeseen stuff comes up. Always make sure the client knows about it, why, and what the new timeline is.

This way you’ll always be ahead of schedule.
Always underpromise and overdeliver.
That’s how you get happy clients that keep coming back for more.

The short answer is you do have to do a hell of a lot of learning.
At the start, you’ll need to learn all the skills that a business normally has staff for.
You’ll spend half your time doing the work, half the time on “support tasks” that run the business and find the work.
So there’s the project work itself, having some kind of marketing strategy (which you’re always improving), sorting out background admin like contracts and invoice etc.
Once you reach a certain level of retainer income you can invest that regular income to get a VA.
This is a game changer which will free you up to focus on big-picture thinking instead of “doing”
In the meantime systems and automation are the way.
If you’re going to do something more than twice, then spend a little extra time to figure out a system or a way to automate or reduce the steps.
Use templates for everything.
Create template emails for onboarding, feedback request etc.
I’m going to expand this later…

frantic freelancer → systematic solopreneur

Subscribe for x3 systems you can use right now
to grow a profitable solo business
on a 3 day week

Nicholas Robb, Founder of Design Hero, solopreneur and author of Life by Design

Life by Design

systems for solopreneurs

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