Episode 6: #1 System We Can’t Live Without with Brooke Swan

Mar 7

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Alyssa Lang interviews Brooke Swan, owner and founder of Clarity Bookkeeping & Consulting who’s on a mission to help her clients gain more clarity in their finances. She’s become an educator in this space and today we talk about our favorite project management system and some key features that have helped created success over the years.

In this episode you’ll hear:

Why we chose the project management system we use
How to utilize the description boxes in your project management system
Creating daily checklists to make you more efficient
Features of our favorite project management system

Resources mentioned in this episode:

💻 Workflows Made Simple 5 Day Free Challenge (March 27th - March 31st)

💻 Breakthrough for Bookkeepers & Accountants

💻 Kickoff with Asana for Bookkeepers & Accountants

⚙️ Asana

⚙️ Notion

Listen to the Full Episode here 👇🏼

🎧 Or listen on our website here ⇨ workflowqueen.com/podcast

Work-life balance is something that, if you’ve followed me for a while, you know is SO important to me. I realized last year I was failing maaaajorly in this area and had to make some major tweaks. I bought a camper and lived/worked all over the country. But that’s a story for another day!

Finding the time to balance it all takes work. In this blog, Brooke Swan talks about using project management systems that will streamline your work life and lighten your mental load.

And you probably already know how obsessed I am about this topic, but just in case, check out my signature course I created specifically for bookkeepers and accountants who want to be more efficient and less overwhelmed!

Brooke is the founder and CEO of Clarity Bookkeeping & Consulting. She started her firm in 2018 with the goal of helping business owners not only understand their finances but enjoy a better work-life balance and helping them build the business of their dreams.

Want a smoother work life through better organization? In this blog/podcast, we tackle:

Why we chose the project management system we use
How to utilize the description boxes in your project management system
Creating daily checklists to make you more efficient
Features of our favorite project management system

Businesses of All Sizes Benefit From A Project Management System

So first off— please don’t shut your laptop when you read all about Asana. That’s what Brooke and I both use and love. But if you’re not an Asana fan, no matter what system you use— Keeper, ClickUp, or nothing (yet)--- I think no matter the platform, putting a project management system in place can transform how you run your business.

Brooke tried a few different platforms like Karbon and Clickup for a minute, but she always finds herself coming back to Asana because of how easy it is to use.

(I actually wrote a whole blog about how to choose the best project management system for bookkeeping and accounting firms. So If you’re not sure what you need- that’s a good place to start!)

I tried Jetpack Workflow, Clickup, and landed on Asana. I actually went back and forth a few times because I just kept feeling like I wasn’t totally using any to its full potential. Eventually, I figured out that no matter the platform, you’ll never know it fully until you JUST. PICK. SOMETHING. Anything is better than pen and paper.

Don’t get me wrong, ideas legit flow out of me like lava. I totally scribble my ideas into my notebook like a mad scientist because I get the most random ideas at the most random times.

But then I have a weekly task in Asana to actually go look at my notebook, then transfer those notes into Asana. That way those important ideas don’t just live in my notebook forever, and I’m not leaving something off my task list. Once my page of notes gets put in Asana, that page in my notebook gets a real cute giant X to know I transferred it. (I feel so accomplished when I can flip to the next page knowing I handled everything on that list.)

Brooke’s business is growing; she has tons and tons of clients and is at a huge capacity. So she may be at a different place than some of you in business. I know a lot of readers have businesses of all sizes, and the smaller ones may not feel like you have enough things to remember to justify a system.

She says when a business is smaller, you can get away without a management system, but you’ll barely be treading water. And who wants to feel like that day-to-day? Like you just barely survived the work day and may have left something on the table or totally dropped the ball on a task. It’s essential for her as a larger business to have a management system, but it’s sooo important for smaller businesses too.

Sometimes if you’re setting yourself up from the beginning, no matter how small you start, you can grow into more. Then when you grow your systems are already in place.

Even though it feels like a tiny thing to remember you have a task to do, our minds get going a million miles an hour. As a business owner, I can’t rely on just my brain alone! So if you automate that one little task in your day, that frees you up to focus ONLY on what needs to get done. Save yourself that mental load.

Using a Daily Task List As Part Of Your System

Think of a routine task that you always have to get done. You do it every day, so you won’t forget to do it. Right? Wrong. As you get busier — and this is one of the biggest eye-opening tips I teach people who come into my world — even if it’s repetitive and the tiniest thing you might not remember.

This is when you set a Daily Task list. Set it to run Monday-Friday. And set up things that you just have to do. What does my daily list have on there?

Check my email (Including SPAM! People get flagged as Spam when they aren't! I have so many important emails that end up sitting in my spam folder that get overlooked.)
Check your sales pipeline. What potential money’s just sitting out there left for you to claim?
Check voicemail— yikes. I’m not proud of this one but I can leave a vm left unchecked for a solid week.

Starting with this daily task list really is the best part of my day. I love feeling that success right at the beginning of the day, and it makes me feel like I have even more time to crank out bigger tasks in Asana.

Brooke does the same thing with a daily task list. Those things that seem so easy— but we swear those are what you forget! The sales pipeline can feel flustering if you can’t remember where a potential client is. Did I send them that proposal? Do they need another follow-up call?

It is so easy to let that pipeline go cold and those potential sales fall through the cracks. I teach my students to set up a sales pipeline into Asana so they can easily stay on top of their leads and quit leaving money on the table!

Which Asana Features Help Keep Us On Track The Most

Most project management systems— whatever you choose to use— have the capability to have recurring dates, can be assigned, and allow for communication inside the system. These are our go-to, can’t live without features.

But the big feature that is sooo underrated — the description box inside each task. For me, that is prime real estate. My description box is something I use for every client with a ton of detail because it has so much room to list all the info and give you a snapshot peak at each client.

Brooke is a big fan of that description box too. She writes out the SOP, and includes a Loom inside the description box for each task. Whether it’s you or someone on your team, to be able just to pop in there and see everything in one spot is so nice.

You can link out from there too, people! ANOTHER time saver! Link out your task projections and KPIs. When it’s linked right there to a spreadsheet, guess what you’re not doing? You’re not searching in Google Drive. What does that save you, like 10 seconds? I get it that doesn’t sound like a lot— but I’m telling you, it saves soooo much mental bandwidth.

If using a project management system feels overwhelming for you, or you’re feeling information overwhelm, I promise you can do this. Just pick one and start. Brooke isn’t tech-savvy (her words, not mine!) and Asana was straightforward enough that it wasn’t scary to her. It isn’t rocket science. It’s just organization!

Don’t forget to focus on the foundation of what you’re doing for anyone who wants to learn more about project management systems! Without that, everything else will crumble. Bookkeepers and accountants can get a walkthrough of how to get started systematizing (even if you don’t use Asana!) with my Workflows Made Easy Challenge.

Or, if you're ready to officially organize your firm and save TONS of time, swipe our industry-specific workflow templates, and join our signature course, Kickoff with Asana for Bookkeepers & Accountants, you can do that right here! And yes, you need this even if you use a project management system other than Asana!

About our guest:

Brooke Swan is the founder and CEO of Clarity Bookkeeping & Consulting. She started her firm in 2018 with the goal of helping business owners not only understand their finances, but enjoy a better work-life balance and helping them build the business of their dreams. Through their advisory services and creative strategic approaches, Clarity has helped hundreds of business owners reach their goals!

Brooke operates her firm on a 4-day work week that values efficiency, collaboration, and positivity which also allows her team to enjoy a better work-life balance as well! Brooke has a burning desire to help others and has been coaching other bookkeeping business owners for years. She now exclusively coaches with Team Workflow Queen in their Breakthrough program. She has been featured on the I Love Bookkeeping Podcast, The Finance & Accounting Show podcast, and was a featured speaker at BKX 2022.

Thanks for listening. If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram stories and tag me, @workflowqueen

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