The Minimum 4-Bucket System | 56
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Podcast Description
Something I hear often is that you don’t even know where to start with getting your strategic systems implemented. That’s why I created the Minimum 4-Bucket System.
And because I’m all about efficiency here, instead of recording an episode explaining what this is – I decided to pull out the lesson directly from the Systems Savvy Society.
After this episode, you’ll leave with many ideas on how you can create systems that overwhelm you and allow you to get tasks done with ease.
Links Referenced in Episode:
▶ Learn more about the Systems Savvy Society
Connect with me:
Watch on YouTube:
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)
Episode Intro
Something I hear often is that you don’t even know where to start with getting your strategic systems implemented. That’s why I created the Minimum Four Bucket System. And because I’m all about efficiency here, instead of recording a new episode from scratch explaining what this is, I decided to pull out a lesson directly from the Systems Savvy Society.
After this episode, you’ll leave with many ideas on how you can create strategic systems that don’t overwhelm you and allow you to get tasks done with ease. Are you ready? Let’s dive in.
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 overwhelmed goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online biz and impact lives sooner. It’s your time to shine. So let’s get started.
My Organizational Strategy
Hey, welcome back to the Cheerful Productive Chats podcast. I’m so excited to dig into this episode as I usually am. So for these past few weeks, we’ve been talking a lot about the importance of using the strategic systems in your business and how they can help you achieve your goals sooner with less overwhelm.
And up until now, I have solely focused on teaching how to create these strategic systems using Trello.
However, while Trello is still my preferred project management tool of choice and the one that I use for a lot of my examples, I realized that the overall organizational strategy can work, regardless of which project management tool you’re using. Whether it’s ClickUp, Asana, Notion, Airtable…regardless, the strategy is the same.
So today I’m bringing out a lesson from the Systems Savvy Society. The link is in the show notes that teaches you what the strategy is and it’s called the Minimum Four Bucket System.
This organizational strategy is one that’ll help you understand how to categorize your systems so that they don’t feel so overwhelming and so that you can actually get the task done with ease.
And while I do mention Trello specifically in the lesson, the same is true for most project management tools. So just plug in, skip over Trello if you don’t use it and plug in your own project management tool as it’s the same concept.
This lesson will explain what the strategy is and even give you some examples you can run with an implement for your own. All right, let’s do this. I’m about to share what that lesson is and then I’ll come back and then close up this episode.
The Minimum 4-Bucket System
Now, what I’m about to share with you next is something I’ve tested with students, and I want to help you achieve the same amazing results too.
Results that will give you time back in your day while helping you feel more focused, accountable, and accomplished. So let’s get into the different types of systems that will make it easy for you to get back on track or regain your focus, even if and when distractions happen.
So what I’ve done is I’ve broken down the strategic systems I recommend you implement into just four buckets, which is what I’m calling the Minimum Four Bucket System.
There are so many moving pieces that we’re responsible for, even if you’re newer. So it’s so super easy to get sucked into this overwhelm hole, right?
But what if you could combine all of the moving pieces into just four core buckets? Four sounds a lot less overwhelming than what it seems like to be like a hundred or more, right?
And though, depending on your business, you may expand past this, like these four at minimum. And here is where you should start.
Bucket #1: Biz Growth
So the first bucket is the biz growth bucket. Inside this bucket, you want to create unique systems that will benefit your biz growth. Hence the name.
So think about this one system as being your go to for anything that will help you run your online business a whole lot smoother as the business owner that you truly are.
So things like important information for your business, any links, branding, comment reply swipes. This is also where you can think of systems that you can pull from to either learn or create, for example, a place to store your course library because, let’s face it, I’m not the only course and bundle junkie around here.
And so this is where you can create a place to help keep track of your course progress so that you can actually implement what you learn because when you learn and implement, you grow.
And lastly, this is also where you can store market research from your competitors, your ideal audience, and even keep a running log of all of the nice things that people say to you, including testimonials that you can pull from and use in your marketing, or just refer to it whenever you need a little boost and reminder that you’re doing a great job.
All of that can be stored inside of this business growth. And although this may seem like it’s something quite simple, or maybe you’re on the other end and you’re like, I’m not quite there yet. Then I invite you to think again.
This is one of those things where you don’t know how valuable it is until you actually do it, and then when you try it out and you get it implemented, then you’re left thinking, like, “I should have done that sooner.”
Bucket #2: Planning
Bucket number two is planning systems. Now, here is where things get fun and likely the system that you’ll be inside every single day once you get it implemented.
Because remember how I said you need to create detailed and flexible plans? Yeah, this bucket is your planning hub and where you’ll store all of your different plans for the different aspects of your online business.
What we’re not going to do, though, is lump all of your plans together into one place as it doesn’t allow room for specifics. Instead, you’re going to break down the plan, your bigger plan, into manageable systems and separate them out as needed.
And yes, what I’m saying here is that you will need to have more than one plan. I mean, you’re doing all of the things, right? And each one of those things needs its own plan. But if you were trying to dump everything into one massive plan or one massive planner, that’s where things start to fall apart.
So instead, I want you to create several planning systems. These plans or planners can include things like your weekly planner, plans that specifically highlight and outline your business goals for the month, quarter and year, even creating a plan for your email newsletters can help you schedule them out at least a month in advance each and every time.
So this planning hub is essentially where you can store all of your checklists for all of the different projects that you have going on, no matter what it is.
But the best part about having multiple planning systems is that these are what will help you combine and mix the two personality types mentioned earlier, which is the planner and the spontaneous.
And the more you use these planning systems, the easier everything gets over time, including planning itself.
Bucket #3: Social Media
So bucket number three is social media. Social media needs and deserves something better than the notes app on your phone.
I know. I know. I’m guilty of this too back in the day, but truly every single social media platform has its own algorithm and unique features with updates happening constantly.
So it’s incredibly important to have individual systems in place for every single platform that you’re on. So this includes Pinterest, Facebook, and especially Instagram or TikTok.
If you’re posting on it, it needs its own system, period. Lumping everything onto one note’s app or sticky note, or worse, just not having a system at all, it will likely be a huge time waster.
Why? Because you need to be able to see your full picture strategy for these platforms. Otherwise, you’ll be posting at random, which doesn’t give the algorithm what it wants, meaning your post won’t get that much reach.
Like I’m not saying to ditch social media. It’s a great place to build genuine connections with your audience and build a know, like, and trust factor with them. But social media should not feel like a chore, which is what it can feel like when you’re just letting it run all over you.
So instead, you want to develop a strategy and unique system that allows you to post consistently without the overwhelm.
And honestly, I won’t lie, but personally, my Instagram Content Planner Trello board is one of my pride possessions and is my favorite, favorite one that I use all of the time. And I wouldn’t be able to create as much content on Instagram or Reels without it.
And the beauty of having social media systems in place is that once you get going, you can then just rinse and repeat it for a new platform. So you can build up a system, get your flow going in it, and then it’s going to make it so much easier if you later on want to expand and try out a new platform because you already have some sort of system in place that you can repurpose into this new platform.
Bucket #4: Workflows
So lastly, bucket number four are workflows. The final set from the Minimum Four Bucket System are workflows, and this is where my famous brain dumping sessions happen the most.
Because workflows are what allow you to visually see all of the steps involved in a certain larger task or project. This includes things like writing blog posts, creating courses, creating a new freebie.
Workflows help you break down what may seem like small tasks that don’t require much effort, but when you think about it. My own personal blog post workflow actually includes over 25 steps. Yeah, 25 steps from the moment I start researching and thinking about writing a blog post to the point of when it gets published.
Not even considering marketing and all of that. Yeah, it’s a lot. But there are so, so many workflows involved with your business, many of which you may not even realize.
And this is why it’s super important to make them visual by listing out all of the steps to every single process. And I’m talking about every step.
So, you have to break it down. You’ll start with the brain dump. You’ll think about the task that you’re working on and then just start writing. Start listing out every single task involved. Even the small, tiny ones that you think only take you like 30 seconds or two minutes or five minutes. You need to write those down as well.
And you can really do this in whichever project management tool of your choice but as I’ve mentioned my preferred tool and the one that I use to manage my entire business including my tiny but mighty team is Trello.
Trello makes it super simple to get super super detailed with each step and allows you to easily copy and paste your workflow so that you can use the workflow as a to do list the next time you’re about to get started on that task. So that way you can either label it or mark it off as you work through the task.
Now I won’t lie, when I first started trying out Trello. It instantly overwhelmed me, but after three tries and me forcing myself to learn it, I fell in love and realized that this is actually a great tool for visual learning type of people like me, and it actually does really make it super easy to get these systems implemented.
Now those were the four buckets within my Minimum Four Bucket System. But like I said, I want you to keep in mind that as your business continues to scale, so will your systems.
And that’s why I’ve called this the Minimum Four Bucket System, because these are the buckets you want to implement at least, first, and then add in more when the time comes and by sorting your systems in this way, it also helps you by not trying to force everything into one place.
It will become a rinse and repeat system that can be repurposed and it will make it so much easier for this detailed flexible planning to happen, which is what we want. Remember?
So listen, if you take away one thing from this training is that you can grow your online business without the overwhelm when you have strategic systems in place.
Because remember, overwhelm costs time, and time is money. And by reducing the overwhelm with your strategic systems, you’re already cutting down on the time it takes you to complete certain tasks.
Plus, the additional time that you’re saving because you have systems in place. By being able to break down all of the different things that you have going on and the different things that require your attention with your business and being able to sort out the different tasks into different planning systems, workflows or hubs, or even a mix just makes this so much easier to actually get the things done and schedule yourself the realistic amount of time to get those tasks completed.
Episode Wrap-Up
And we’re back. I hope that you enjoyed that lesson and can begin to visualize what having multiple strategic systems inside your project management tool could look like.
Inside the Society, we expand on this further and cover how to identify your own buckets. And what to do when there’s an overlap of systems, too.
So if you’re ready to level up your systems and want to learn more about becoming a Systems Savvy Society Member, head to www.cheertoproductivity.com/sss.
And stay tuned for next week where I’ll be sharing some mistakes to avoid when creating your strategic systems. All right, friend, until next time.
Thanks so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me Lucy Reyes. To get the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today’s episode, visit www.cheerstoproductivity.com/55. And before you go, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening so you know once the next productive chats is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success!
Episode References + CTA
Links Referenced in Episode:
▶ Learn more about the Systems Savvy Society
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