Why Solopreneurs Keep Avoiding Creating Systems in Business and Life | 123

(Note: This is a formatted and slightly edited, AI-generated transcript to make it easier for you to read through. Please excuse any spelling, grammar errors and filler words – it’s just how I speak LOL)

  I’m willing to bet that you’ve used at least one of these excuses this week, maybe even today. You already know you need systems. That’s likely not the problem. That’s why you’re here. So what’s actually stopping you from building them?   Today, I’m going through the top three excuses I hear most often, the obvious ones, and the honest truth behind each one.

 Are you tired of competing priorities, a messy task list, and constantly feeling behind? Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, and I help overwhelmed solopreneurs embrace faith-led productivity through simple systems for life, home, and business.  So if you’re ready to clarify your priorities, honor your energy, and feel accomplished every single day, welcome to the Cheers to Better Systems podcast. 

Hey, hey. If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you already know I’m a big believer in systems, and you probably are, too, since you’re here. So most solopreneurs that I talk to already know that they need systems.

That’s not the problem. The problem is the space between knowing and actually having them in place. That is where so many people actually get stuck. It’s in that space where there’s almost always this story that you’ve been telling yourself about why you haven’t been creating the systems.

So there’s actually seven excuses that I hear the most often. So we’re gonna split this episode into two parts. We’re gonna talk about part one today, which is the obvious ones, the top ones, the ones that I hear the most, the excuses that you have probably said out loud, and the ones that probably don’t even feel like excuses because they’re so reasonable, they’re so obvious.

And then next week, in part two, we’ll cover the sneakier ones, the excuses that you probably didn’t even realize you were making or maybe you do, but they feel like they’re not really excuses at all. It feels like you’re actually doing something productive with them. But let’s focus on today because today we’re gonna focus on the top three excuses that I hear the most often from solopreneurs about why your systems aren’t in place yet, the honest truth behind each one, and what to do once you spot the one that you tell yourself the most.

Are you ready? I think this episode is gonna rub a little bit of feathers. It might, you know, bring a big aha moment to you. It might make you realize, like, “Oh, crap, I’ve definitely been saying that,” and “Whoa! I don’t like what you’re telling me.” It might be a little bit hard to hear, a hard pill to swallow, but, you know, it’s all tough, tough love over here.

Tough love. Tough love, and I really, really want to help you out. So excuse number one: “I don’t have time.” This is by far the most common one that I hear. It’s the number one. It’s the one that most people say. It’s almost like the easy way out. It’s the one that feels so true. Like, I get it. I get it. Because it does feel like you don’t have time.

It feels like your day just passes you by. It feels like you’re constantly doing, and there’s literally no space. So I get it. However, when someone says that they don’t have time to make the systems, it’s usually not that you don’t actually have time, it’s that you’re using the time that you have to do something else.

You have intentionally chosen to make time for something else. So it’s not that you don’t have time, it’s that you’re prioritizing other things. Or it might be a signal that you need better routines, better rhythms to really free up your time in the first place. So that’s what this “I don’t have time” actually means.

And then there’s some irony to this one because I know you’ve, you’ve probably… If you have been in my world for a while, you know I have said this before, and it’s the fact that systems are literally the thing that gives you time back, right? And I know that so many people listening to this right now know that, and yet it feels so freaking hard to do anyways.

So this, when I was recording, or not recording, when I was brainstorming what to say here, I actually was reminded of what I read in a Bible study recently, which was 2 Corinthians 9:6 in the NLT version. And it says, “Remember this, a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.”

Now, this verse is really talking about giving, but the principle applies here too.  When you make a little bit of time to set up a few systems, you get a little bit of time back. When you make time to set up even more systems, you get even more time back. And just like the farmer, it takes work upfront, right?

You have to put in the time, you have to put in the effort, you have to put in the work, and then there’s a waiting period, right? There’s a waiting period to see how it works. There is some refining. So the farmer is out there watering, doing all the things that the farmers does that we’re not gonna get into.

But the point is, it’s the same concept, where you do a little bit and you get some back. You do more, you get more back. And the longer you keep putting off building your systems, the longer you’re going to stay stuck in this lack of time cycle. Now, I could go honestly on for a whole episode, so there will probably be a deep dive into this one specifically at a later time, but let me go through the next excuses that I hear often.

 So let’s move on to excuse number two, which is, “I don’t know where to start.” This one sounds reasonable on the surface. It feels like it’s not an excuse, because it’s an actual problem. “I don’t know where to start, Lucy. Like, how do you want me to get going if I don’t even know where to start?” And listen, to be fair, I know that there is a lot of systems, a lot of frameworks, a lot of tools, a lot of choices out there, and it is so easy to feel overwhelmed by all the directions that you could go, so you end up not going anywhere.

So I understand why this one is an excuse. But really underneath all of that is what I said. It’s the overwhelm of all of the options, but not just that. It’s wanting to know the outcome before you even start. So you’re wanting to make sure that the step that you take forward is the right step. And listen, I understand this.

I understand this, okay? I’m a planner. I want to know the outcome. It’s something that I’ve been working on releasing in my own life, okay? So I get it. And at the same time, you don’t need to know the whole plan. You just need to take the first step. So again, this is something that has been coming up for me recently.

I’ve really been having to learn this specific thing in a lot of areas of my life and business, and it’s a message that’s woven all throughout the Bible. One step at a time, okay? You don’t need to see the whole future. You don’t need to see the whole plan. You don’t need to see the whole path. You just need to take the next step in front of you.

And the good news is that when you do that, when you start, when you take that next step, you’ll know whether it was the right one or the wrong one. And even if it turns out to be the wrong step, it doesn’t really matter because now you have information that you didn’t have before. You have clarity that you didn’t have before.

Now you know, “Oh, I made the wrong decision. Let me come back and make the other decision,” right? Whereas if you just stay stuck, you don’t actually know. So the only way for you to actually know where to start is to start somewhere. So not knowing keeps you stuck, but starting, even imperfectly, gives you guidance.

So that is excuse number two.

Now, excuse number three is “It keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list.” Now, again, I get it. I get it. Systems is not your favorite thing. I understand that. It’s not always my favorite thing to do either, but I like my time. I like my peace. So this one I know it sounds like it’s true. You know, like, you know you need it.

You know you’re going to at some point. And this one is also a priorities thing because you’re thinking that you’re gonna make a plan, right? It’s almost like having a false plan where you keep telling yourself that you’re going to do it after X, Y, and Z, and the next day it happens again. “I’m gonna do it after I finish doing the X, Y, Z.”

So every day you keep telling yourself this false plan of yours, but really you’re kind of quietly wishing and hoping that one day you’re just magically gonna have time for it. One day you’re gonna have this empty space on your calendar where there’s going to be no tasks, and then that’s gonna be the day.

That is going to be the day where you finally get your systems in place. I get that. I get that. And we gotta be realistic. We know deep, deep, deep down inside, it might not be that deep, but we know that as much as we wish that there was never things on our to-do list, we know that that’s not going to happen.

There is always something getting added to your to-do list. So it’s not really about your to-do list, it’s about being intentional. You have to be intentional about making systems a priority because otherwise, your task list, your to-do list is going to take over you. Your task list and your to-do list is going to tell you what to do instead of you taking over and you telling your to-do list, “No, this is what I’m going to do.”

So honestly, this one also comes down to a bit of accountability because it is so easy to blame the to-do list. “Ugh, things keep getting added to the to-do list.” But why? Why do they keep getting added to the to-do list? Someone is putting it on there. Yeah, sometimes it’s not you, but you are still ultimately the one that decides whether a thing stays on your to-do list or not.

So you are the one letting your systems fall to the bottom of that to-do list. So it’s not your task list’s fault, it’s the decision that you have made, even if it feels like you’re not making one. The lack of a decision is still a decision. I’m gonna say that again. The lack of a decision is still a decision.

So the more you keep pushing systems to the bottom, the harder everything else on your list becomes to manage, or you can’t keep doing things from your to-do list and then hope that your to-do list is magically going to get smaller, because there’s always more things getting added to it.

So you have to create systems in place and set them up so that way, you can manage those tasks that get added a whole lot better. So listen, if this hit you and you’re like, “Whoa, okay. I kind, I kinda see what you’re saying here, Lucy. I get it,” that’s what my free workshop is all about. It’s called Three Steps to Say Goodbye to Task Overload.

It’s a 60-minute workshop where I guide you through clearing out the mental clutter, understanding why your to-do list keeps growing, and spotting what is actually a project versus a super simple task. So the link is in the show notes. It’s free, it’s on demand, and it’s a really, really, really good starting point if you’re stuck on this excuse specifically.

So those are the three most obvious and the top excuses that I hear the most often from solopreneurs. These might be ones that you say all of the time. You might have said them this week. But, you know, I’m not here to shame you, but I am here to shed light to something that you may or may not have realized has a deeper root cause to it.

Okay? So let’s quickly recap. The first excuse we talked about is, “I don’t have time,” which is not really a time problem, it’s a priorities problem, and systems are the very thing that gives you time back. The second excuse is, “I don’t know where to start.” And this is where you don’t need to know the whole plan or see the whole path.

You just need to take the first step, and once you do that, you’ll know what to do next, and you just take it one step at a time. And the third excuse that we covered is, it keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list. You’re letting your task list take over you. But when you’re intentional with systems, you’re intentional about choosing to move systems up your priority list, that means that you are making the decision to give yourself something that you really, really need.

So maybe one of these or maybe all of them are ones that you have said. Maybe they’re ones that you still continue to say, and that’s fine, because naming it is the first step. If you listen to this episode and you’re like, “Nope, not me,” but then I know, I know that you’ve said this before, that’s denial.

But if you listen to this and you’re like, “Ugh, yeah. You know, I don’t want to admit it. I don’t like that I say this, but I do say this,” great job. Like, great job. Because naming it sometimes is really, really hard to do. But let’s turn it into something practical that you can actually do this week. So here’s what I want you to do.

I want you to keep a running list of moments in your life or your business, because, again, not again, but in the previous episodes we’ve talked about how you don’t just need systems for your business, you need systems for your life. So as you’re moving about your day, I want you to keep a running list of moments that feel harder than they should be because there’s no system in place to support the thing that is harder to do.

Just write it down somewhere you’ll see it, so a notes app, a sticky note, your Trello board, your phone, whatever. But just write things down. Just write things down. You’re not going to fix anything. You’re not going to go and create systems for absolutely everything in your life and business. We’re not doing that.

But you’re going to start collecting evidence. You’re going to start making your list of things that you wish would be easier. And by the end of the week, you’ll have a list that’s basically a map of all of the systems that you wish you had in your life and business. And from there, once you can visually see it, you’ll at least start to be like going down the list and say, “Oh, this is more priority than that.

Oh, this one happens the most. This one happens five times a week versus the one that only happens once a week.” Which one do you think should be a  priority? The one that trips you up the most, right? So that is it. That is what I want you to do this week, and that’s it for these obvious excuses. Next week in part two, we’re gonna get into the sneaky ones, the excuses that you didn’t even realize you were making.

So make sure that you’re following the podcast so you don’t miss it, okay? And then last thing before we wrap up, if that third excuse really was the one that touched you the most and you’re like, “Oh, my gosh, yeah, my to-do list has definitely been taking over,” be sure to sign up for my free workshop where we can go deeper into that.

It’s that 60-minute on-demand workshop where I guide you through clearing out the mental clutter, understanding why your to-do list keeps growing, and figuring out what’s actually a project in disguise.   All right, friend, that’s a wrap on part one, and I will talk to you next week.

 If this episode inspired you, challenged you, or gave you a fresh perspective, I want to encourage you to take one small action today. And if you want to go deeper and connect with other solopreneurs on a similar journey, come hang out with us inside of our free community. It’s where we keep the conversation going. And be sure to follow the podcast so you don’t miss what’s next. Talk soon, and cheers to more peace, faithful steps, and steady progress, one system at a time.