How to Start Simplifying Your Business in 30 Minutes a Week | 90
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Podcast Description
Juggling endless tasks and feeling like you’re getting nowhere? In this episode, I’m sharing simple, actionable strategies to help you simplify your business in just 30 minutes a week.
You’ll learn how to create repeatable systems that save you time, boost productivity and make your week more manageable. Tune in for easy systems and weekly productivity tips that will help you get organized, improve efficiency and take control of your business… starting today!
Links Referenced in Episode:
▶ Productive Entrepreneurs Club
Connect with me:
Episode Transcript
(Note: This is a formatted AI-generated transcript to make it easier for you to read through, but is not an optimized blog post. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors and filler words – it’s just how I speak LOL)
Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, your host of the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast, where I’m on a mission to help online entrepreneurs like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelm goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online business and impact lives sooner. It’s your time to shine. So, let’s get started!
Hey, hey! Welcome back to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast. Honestly, I’m not really feeling it today. We actually got snow here in Houston, and that’s a big deal because it’s not something we get often. I know if you live somewhere where snow is common, this might not sound like a big deal, but the snow here was beautiful, and nothing major happened—no freezing pipes, no power outages. It was just an amazing break.
My kids were home, my husband was home, and we spent the day outside in the snow, making snow angels, building a snowman, and having snowball fights. It was so much fun! But of course, this happened in the middle of the week, during my workdays. Typically, the kids are at school, and I’ve got my week planned out.
Despite the unplanned time off, I’m so grateful for it. But now I’m having a hard time getting back into work mode. I’m recording this on a Thursday, but it feels like a Monday. And since my husband might work on Saturday, I might end up working a little then too, so now my days are all scattered.
Today’s episode is going to be a bit different. I’ve got my notes in front of me, and I’m determined to get through this episode to stay on track. I’m working hard this year to stay consistent with the podcast, and while I’ve been going almost three years without missing an episode, I do know that there’s a lot that gets impacted because of that.
So, I really want to be more intentional with the podcast this year. We’re going to roll with it today, though. You might hear me clicking through my notes. I wrote this outline a couple of days before I went into work mode, and now I’m getting back into it. But this is a great topic to come back to, because it’s something we all need to do: simplify our business. We all need to do this, especially in the least amount of time possible.
Today, we’re going to talk about how to simplify your business in just 30 minutes a week. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by endless to-dos and want to start simplifying your business, I’ve got a simple 30-minute weekly strategy that will help you get organized and create more time for what matters.
For me, this week, the systems I have in place came in super handy. I haven’t listed my doula services yet, but you know what? I’m not stressing about it. Yes, mentally I’m still getting into work mode, but systemically and physically on my desktop, I know exactly what needs to be done. I’m so grateful for the systems I’ve built because they allowed me to be flexible.
They allowed me to just take a day off to enjoy the snow and not think about work or worry about what I had to do. When I came back, I already knew exactly what needed to be done. I had anticipated taking two days off, and I made the decision to not try to work while my kids were home. They were going to be all about the snow, and I didn’t want to take that away from them by saying, “Sorry, I have to stay here and work.”
No shade to anyone who has to work during this time. Everyone can make the best choice for themselves. For me, though, my systems allowed me to make that choice. Even if I had decided to work, I still would’ve known exactly what I could get done or what I could get ahead with. No matter the decision, having systems in place really helps you move forward.
So, let’s talk about some small but impactful actions that you can take every single week that will lead to big improvements.
1. Create Systems for Repetition
You want to create repeatable systems that save you time and energy. What does this mean? For example, if you’re a digital product creator, like a course creator, create a system that you can replicate every single time you create a course, workshop, or masterclass. Make it simple so you can just copy the Trello board, Airtable base, or whatever tool you’re using, and complete the steps again.
I do this with my podcast. I have a system for each episode. Every time I record a new one, I have all the steps lined up, and I just check them off. I don’t need to spend time adding steps or reinventing the wheel. It’s all ready for me. This is the power of systems—they let you do the same task repeatedly without rethinking every step.
If you’re thinking, “That sounds great, but I don’t know how to do this,” Taskflow Magic is exactly where I teach entrepreneurs how to streamline their tasks with clear, repeatable processes. You’ll learn how to create templates for your business that you can duplicate, copy, and reuse.
Systems are what allow you to go from one task to the next without rethinking the entire process each time. When you have a simple, efficient, flexible system in place, you can tackle multiple tasks without feeling overwhelmed.
2. Set Up Bite-Sized Processes
Next, you want to set up bite-sized processes. When people think about systems, they often feel like it’s this huge, massive project. But that’s not the case. Systems don’t have to be huge or overwhelming. Think about decluttering your home—if you were to try to declutter everything at once, it would take weeks. But if you tackle one small thing at a time, it’s manageable.
It’s the same with your business. You can start small with bite-sized processes. In the Systems Savvy Society, we have what I call “Efficiency Boosters.” These are short tutorials, usually five to ten minutes long, teaching you one specific thing you can implement in your systems. The beauty of these is they make you faster at getting things done. Members of the Society often tell me, “It took me two minutes to implement this, and now I’ve saved ten.” That time saved multiplies exponentially.
These don’t have to be big, overwhelming tasks. For example, a simple automation in Trello can save you time. You can set up automations to assign tasks to yourself or remove labels automatically. These take less than two minutes to set up, but they save so much time and mental energy. And these are just Trello-specific examples—there are other efficiency boosters in the Society for different tools to help streamline your processes.
Even just spending 10 minutes a week focusing on bite-sized processes can help refine your systems over time. If you spend a week setting up two Trello automations or organizing one thing in your email marketing platform, it will save you so much time.
3. Reflect on What’s Working (and What Isn’t)
Finally, take some time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. If you get to the end of the week and feel like you didn’t get anything done, reflecting can help prevent that feeling of burnout. You don’t have to do a weekly reflection forever, but when you’re not sure what’s going wrong, taking a moment to step back and reflect can help you see where to improve.
And, if you want some help with the weekly reflection process, I’ve got a Weekly Reflection Debrief worksheet inside the Productive Entrepreneurs Club. It’s just $7 a month, and it’s one of the resources that can help you evaluate your week and adjust for the next one. Over time, you’ll get better and better at this, and you won’t need to do it forever.
To wrap up: Here’s your 30-minute weekly strategy:
- Spend 5-10 minutes reflecting on your week.
- Spend 5-10 minutes implementing bite-sized processes.
- Use the rest of your time (10-20 minutes) to create systems for repetition.
It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start small, and your systems will grow stronger over time. If you need help with any of this, check out Taskflow Magic, the Systems Savvy Society, or grab the reflection worksheet in the Productive Entrepreneurs Club.
You’ve got this! Start simplifying your business today, and you’ll see results.Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me, Lucy Reyes. To view the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today’s episode, visit cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast. And before you go, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening so you’ll know when the next productive chat is released. Talk soon, and cheers to your productivity and success!
Episode References + CTA
Links Referenced in Episode:
▶ Productive Entrepreneurs Club
Don’t miss a single episode so that you can get productive and grow your online biz without overwhelm.
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