How These Simple Systems Helped Me Get Stuff Done After Three Weeks Away | 131

(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)

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One day I was working on my business like normal, and the next day I wasn’t. I had no idea I was going to be out for three weeks before I was back. But here’s the thing, I came back and picked up right where I left off like I had never left. So today I want to pull back the curtain on the systems that made my comeback so easy, and why building them before the chaos hits is one of the most important things to do in your business

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. Welcome back to the show. If you’ve been following along, you already know the story of why I stepped away for those three weeks from episode 129, and you’ve heard about the automations that kept things running while I was gone in the last episode, 130. But today, I want to share the piece that I believe matters the most, which is what actually made it easy for me to come back in.

Because listen, stepping away is one thing, but coming back without losing your mind, that’s a whole different skill, and that’s one that systems make possible. So let’s get into it

Now, before we move on, I’m gonna mention these are the main systems that I started using as soon as I came back based on what I specifically had going on at the time. This is not a full list of all of my systems or all of the systems that you might need in your business, but it’s more of like a starting point for what to look at in your own business.

Okay? So these were the ones that I had started using as soon as I was ready to come back. Now, these systems were built before I knew the break was coming. That is another key element. I didn’t know that I was gonna be taking this break. I didn’t have a vacation plan. I didn’t know that this was going to happen.

So systems need to be built long before the chaos. They shouldn’t be built because chaos is happening. It’s gonna be so much harder to build them when you’re in the middle of disaster or panic or crisis. So the task is supposed to be supported by the system. Even an hour or two of setting up the system before your project just lives in your brain is going to be so incredibly helpful.

Like, we don’t know when life is gonna throw us a curveball. We just don’t know. But what we do know is that curveballs are inevitable. Like, so many times things have happened where I’ve had to step away, then I step back, and a lot of times it’s just for, like, a day or two because, like, someone got sick or someone got hurt or I had an appointment or just little things like that.

But then there’s times where it’s going to give you a really big, massive curveball that you did not see coming that’s going to take you out much longer than you had ever hoped for. And when those times happen, if the system isn’t already there, bouncing back from those longer breaks is going to be so much harder.

So here, like, here is what happened with me. Like, I was literally working one day just as normal, not knowing that I was going to be receiving the news that I got, to the next day I was not working, and again, I had no idea that I would be out for three weeks. And then just a few days ago, I decided I was back.

I decided I was ready. I had taken care of myself. I had rested, and I decided it was time to come back, step back into the business, and I did. I didn’t have to scramble to remember where I was. Or what the tasks that I was working on before I left were. I could be in and out as I please. I didn’t have to figure out, like, what were the projects that were pending?

What were the status on all of these different tasks? I already have these systems built, so they’re there and ready for me when I came back. Okay? So systems make comeback so, so easy. So these are the systems that made it easy for me specifically, again, based on where I was. I want you to look at these from a lens of, ” Do I have something like this?

Maybe a system like this would be helpful for me.” So first off, surprise, surprise, it’s gonna be task management systems. I have so many Trello project boards, and those are incredibly helpful because I had so many open loops on so many different projects.

And I could see exactly what was pending, what was, in progress, what I had already started, which I guess that’s all kind of the same thing. But I already knew what I had completed, what was in progress, what I was going to do later. And so my course, Taskflow Magic, is where I really dive in and show you how to set up these task management systems for yourself.

So if you already know, like, “Man, I don’t have any projects,” let me share some of the projects that I have, like, open. So one, I was supposed to do a launch. I was supposed to create, finish creating the premium tier of my school community. I had already started it. I can already see what’s done and what’s left to do, and also I needed to launch it.

So I hadn’t even started any of the launch yet because I hadn’t done the backend stuff. So that’s one open project. I also have another coaching, a coaching container that I’ve been working on, and I’ve been working with some beta clients. And I could see where was I in that. I can go back in. It’s on pause now, but I can see where I had left off.

Like, I’ve already worked on the sales page. I have a copy review where I need to watch it and then make the edits on the sales page. But that is on pause now. There was Taskflow Magic. I have to make some updates to the Evergreen funnel, which I have not started. But I have my notes there that tells me what those changes that I wanted to make are.

So these are just some, a few of the open projects that I had. And I can tell you exactly where I’m at. I can go in and know where everything is. I can find every single link, and I can get started on it straight away. So task management systems are so important. And if you don’t have those set up, I highly recommend you check out my course.

The link is in the show notes. Okay? Another thing that I needed to do was I was receiving follow-up emails from Bundle Host where I had said like, “Yes, I’m in. Be on the lookout for my application.” And then because of my time away, I didn’t get my application in. So I let them know like, “Hey, you know, this is the situation, this is what happened.”

And as soon as I came back, I was able to use my Bundle Contributor Hub, which is in my shop. I do have that one as a template. But I was able to use my Bundle Contributor Hub. I duplicated it, put in the new bundle information, and got straight away with getting my application turned in, with getting the sales pages duplicated, and the coupon codes created.

And everything is listed in that hub for that bundle, and it was done under an hour. Like, under an hour, I had duplicated the entire process and submitted an application because of this hub. So, so helpful. This one, along with my Business Hub, actually, ’cause the Business Hub is where I have a lot of the copy and paste of, here is my website link, here is my email address, here is my support email address, here is my bio.

Um, so those two combined made that process super, super easy. Another one is my Podcast Episode Workflow. I don’t have that one templatized yet, but that is another one that saved me, because I was able to pick right back up with brainstorming and recording new episodes. Everything’s already laid out. I could see what episodes were in the pipeline and decided that maybe I’m gonna hold off on those, because now I have a bunch of new ideas on other episodes I can record.

And bam, I have four episodes already mapped out, ready to go, ready to record in the pipeline, and I’m just kind of going through and knocking them out. And it’s amazing, and it’s great, and that is another one that has supported me in coming back. and then lastly, I use Airtable hubs as well. So if you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m a Trello girly all the way.

I love Trello. However, I’m also not an all-in-one. I’ve tried things like ClickUp. I have another episode on this. But I’ve tried things like ClickUp, and I just don’t like it. I, I just can’t wrap my head around it. So I would prefer… I prefer to use, like, Trello and Airtable. They both have their specific uses, and I can find all of my links easily still.

So I do use Airtable for some other things, like scheduling or hosting, my school content, uh, for some collab statistics tracking, for my beginning of the month stats, things like that. Anything that involves, like, data or forms, I use Airtable for. So whenever it was time to start, writing posts and scheduling them out for my community, I did all of that in Airtable So these are the main systems that I have already used coming back.

So by the time this episode goes out, it’s already been a few weeks since I have been back. But at the time of recording this, it’s only like day number three of me being back. So that’s how many, three episodes out that I’m recording for this, and these are the one, two, three, four, five systems mainly that have helped me really bounce back and start getting back to normal in just these four to five, three to four days

So again, this isn’t just about one break. This isn’t just about those sick days, those single days off. This is also about every future curveball that we wish doesn’t happen to us, but sometimes it does and takes us out unexpectedly for a week or more. And honestly, the real gift that I have received in this time is that freedom to be able to step away and then come back without panicking because I know everything’s under control.

I feel calm and at peace. Everything is under control. My system has given me that freedom to allow me to not have everything living in my head and not hoping that I would just be able to come back and remember. Because spoiler alert, when you have a crisis or curveballs, it is really hard to remember all of these other little tasks, other little unimportant things when you have this much bigger weight on your shoulders.

So I really want you To think about this and really figure out if the systems are something that you have set up. I know it can be so hard to take time to slow down, to set up your system when it feels like all you want to do is go and make money, all you want to do is go and put out your content. But it is going to be so much faster.

Even just set aside that one hour, those two hours to create one system at a time. You don’t have to create all of them at a time. Just create one at a time. Dedicate that time to your system and then use it and you’re going to see how much more helpful, how much less stressed you are, and how much more at peace you’ll now be knowing that it’s going to be there to catch you the next curveball you receive.

So I really hope this landed with you. If today’s episode has you thinking about the systems that you don’t have in place yet, the ones that would hold your business together the next time life throws you a curveball, then go ahead and start with my free workshop, Three Steps to Say Goodbye to Task Overload.

It will help you get clear on where to even begin. And if you are ready to go ahead and build out these task management systems so you’re never starting from scratch again, that’s exactly what we do inside of my course, Taskflow Magic. It’s the same kind of system that let me come back to my business after three weeks unexpectedly

And I was able to pick right back up where I left off without scrambling or needing to rebuild. So the links to both are in the show notes, and I will be back next week with another episode on another habit that really saved me in, during this time of crisis. So I’ll talk to you in the next one.

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.