45 - The Get Clear System

Scale Your Small Business

This week, Jillian is tackling overwhelm. So many people are finding themselves with too much on their plate, not enough hours in the day, and become paralyzed by the number of tasks that pile up, seemingly out of nowhere. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and today we’re talking about systems that can get you through your day.

Before we dive into Jill’s Get Clear System, it’s always important to remind ourselves that ‘no.’ is a complete sentence all by itself. Not every ‘no’ needs an explanation.

The first step in the Get Clear System is Collect. This step has different sub-steps to it, one being getting a planner or notebook and filling it with every meeting, sticky note, thought, whatever it is you have in your brain. Then, put everything into your current, up to date calendar so nothing slips through the cracks. Gather everything into one space.

The second step is List. In this step, you’ll want to list out everything that you gathered in your last step. Don’t worry about organizing it and give yourself time to list things out--you’ll probably come up with a few things after a while of wringing out your brain.

Three, Evaluate. This is a big one. Within this step, you’re first going to go through your list and itemize it by anything that has a firm, date, deadline, anything that makes you money, or any tasks that you can accomplish in less than two minutes. For those tasks that take over two minutes, we're going to formulate a system that will help you through that task. From there, you’re going to engage. Do you need to reach out to any members of your team? Add to your team? If these are big tasks, consider delegation. Then, estimate. Take a hard look at that task and give yourself an estimate of how long you think it will take to complete.

The fourth step is Act. That means go through your list and do everything that takes two minutes or less. Next, delegate anything that is outside of your skillset. Then, schedule any remaining tasks on your calendar. When you schedule things and stick to them, sometimes you’ll get a bonus if you complete a task sooner than you thought it would take.

The final step in Get Clear is to Review. Did you reach your goal? And if not, how much closer did you get? What worked and what didn't? What do I need to improve on? How do I feel about my progress?

Any new system is going to take a little while to adjust to, but be cognizant of those feelings, allow them to be felt, and see what you can do to improve in the future. Don't just try something once and give up. This is the long game. So just like if you were training for a marathon, you wouldn't give up after your first mile.

Key Takeaways:

1. Get Clear: Collect, List, Evaluate, Act, Review.
2. ‘No.’ is a complete sentence all by itself. Not every ‘no’ needs an explanation.
3. Any new system is going to take a little while to adjust to. Be cognizant of those feelings, allow them to be felt, and see what you can do to improve in the future.