The Mind Your Time Podcast | Empowering Six-Figure Entrepreneurs to Streamline, Scale, and Live Their Legacy

Stuck in the Chaos? How to Make Your Systems Work for Your Business

• Shannon Baker | Business Operations Strategist • Episode 183

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Are you feeling stuck because your business systems aren’t delivering the results you expected? You’re not alone! 

In this episode, we’re going to talk about why business owners often get frustrated with their systems and give up on them way too soon. I share my own story of switching between Trello and Airtable, and how I realized that it’s not just about the tools—it’s about giving your systems enough time to do their job. You’ll hear how I finally learned that patience, consistency, and small tweaks were the key to making my systems actually work for me instead of against me.

This is for you if you’re overwhelmed and feel like your systems are creating more work for you instead of making things easier. It’s time to stop hopping from one tool to another and start trusting the process. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of how to assess your current systems, know when to make adjustments, and how to get real results without wasting time and money.

So if you’re ready to stop feeling stuck and start making your systems work for you, tune in now! Let’s get your business running smoothly and see the progress you’ve been waiting for.

0:57 - Why abandoning your systems too soon is holding you back

4:25 - Lessons learned from jumping between Trello and Airtable 

7:56 - How to know if your systems are truly working for you

9:26 - Why patience and consistency are the keys to getting real results

11:43 - How getting to know your tech tools better will enable you to evaluate your systems so they support your long-term growth

14:19 - What to do next to make your systems work for your business

References Mentioned In This Episode:

Episode 171 - How to Achieve Business Stability After Hitting $100K

Episode 176 - How to Transform Your Business and Boost Team Productivity with monday.com

Episode 182 - How To Revolutionize Your Business Growth With Systems And Support

Download the free Biz Ops Checklist


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Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Check Out The MY-T Society Membership

Listen to My Free Audio Masterclass

Schedule a 20 Minute Chat with Me

Let’s connect online:

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker







Speaker 1:

Have you ever felt like your business systems are like a gym membership you show up, you put in the work, but you don't see the results you want right away. So you're frustrated, thinking maybe you chose the wrong gym or could it be your routine? Well, the truth is, real results take time. So today we're going to talk about how long you should stick with your systems if you want to see an impact, instead of giving up and jumping to something new. Welcome to the Mind your Time podcast. I'm Shannon Baker, your coffee-loving host and business strategist. Each week, I will share practical insights and bold strategies for six-figure entrepreneurs looking to clean up their back office and create streamlined systems. The weekly episodes will help you take control of your time, scale your business and create success on your own terms. So grab your cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and let's dive into today's topic. Let me guess you've tried just about every tool under the sun in your business, or at least it feels like it. You signed up for that project management app everyone swears by. You've automated a few tasks, maybe even downloaded a few fancy apps, hoping they were going to organize the chaos in your business operations, but you're still overwhelmed. Does that sound familiar. Well, you've probably got more tools than you know what to do with and, no matter how much time and money you invest in your tech stack, it probably feels like you're spinning your wheels, never making the progress that you wanted to have by now. Well, it's kind of like when you sign up for that new gym membership, you're excited for the first couple of weeks and you develop a routine, but then, after a couple of months, you're not getting the results that you wanted. You start to feel discouraged, right, I mean, you're putting in the work, but you're not losing weight or you're not building the muscles you want as quickly as you thought you should. So you think, well, maybe this gym just isn't the right one for me. So you consider canceling or even getting a membership someone else, but you never pause to evaluate what isn't working or why you're not getting the results. Maybe, even though you're working out regularly, it could be that your diet needs to change, or perhaps you need to switch up your exercises, maybe do less cardio and more weight training. But if you don't figure out what's missing or what the problem is before you jump to something new, you're going to continue to keep getting the same results, which is not the results that you want, because deep down inside, you know it doesn't work that way. You have to show up consistently, put in the time and keep tweaking your routine before you're going to see a real change. Well, your business systems are the same way.

Speaker 1:

Just like that fitness journey, you cannot expect instant results from your systems. They need time to work. You can't expect them to immediately come to chaos in your back office overnight, especially if you've been working in chaos for years. And, honestly, if your back office feels messy, it's probably not the tools themselves, unless you absolutely pick the ones that don't fit your needs or your business at all. That could be a possibility too, but more likely, you just haven't given them enough time to actually work or you haven't been able to figure out how to make them work for you. So today we're going to talk about what it looks like to actually give your systems the time that they need to work and how to make sure they're doing their job. Because, just like fitness, you can't see real progress if you give up on them too soon. And I know it's frustrating because you've invested in these tools right. You've spent hours setting them up or maybe even hire someone to help, which probably wasn't cheap. But somehow things still aren't running as smoothly as you thought they would. So you're thinking, well, why did I even bother to do this? But here's the reality. Systems are not a magic pill. They do not instantly take away that chaos. But when you have a good process in place and you give it time, you will start to see real changes for the better.

Speaker 1:

You know, when I first started using tools like Trello and Airtable in my podcast production process, I was totally convinced that I had it all figured out. I already had my documented process. I had used it a couple of times and I thought things were going smoothly. So I started integrating tech tools. I integrated Trello into my planning and then I started using Airtable for production. I even built an entire dashboard in Airtable and started making adjustments along the way, thinking that was going to totally streamline everything.

Speaker 1:

Well, after I got that entire system in place, I made the same mistake. I expected immediate results I mean, after all, I'm the systems person, right? But that didn't happen. Instead of me feeling more organized, I was overwhelmed by all the features and options of these tools. Every time I opened either Trello or Airtable, I felt like I was drowning in a never-ending to-do list. The biggest reason was because I didn't know how to use either one of them efficiently.

Speaker 1:

So my podcast production system was just creating more work for me, and while I had an assistant that was supposed to help me out, she couldn't figure out how to help me because my process was a bit convoluted, to be honest. So to get better results, I had to invest in getting some help to learn how to use the two tools better. So I purchased very specific Trello courses that helped me clean up my podcast board and implement some automations using features inside of Trello, and that increased my productivity and enabled me to be able to use my podcast VA more efficiently as well. Now I already had a course for Airtable, but I hadn't completed much of it, so I blocked out time in my schedule to really learn how to use Airtable properly, and I found that using Airtable as my podcast dashboard really helped me better organize episode ideas, guess details when I had them and even automate repetitive tasks like status updates, et cetera in my workflow. And then, after about six months, I actually stopped using Trello and updated my process to just use Airtable. It became a centralized location. That not only organized all the pieces of my podcast, but it also reduced the overwhelm that I felt trying to manage all of those pieces, and at that point my assistant was able to take a lot of the production process off my plate. And then we started to just keep tweaking the system as needed.

Speaker 1:

The point I'm making is just having systems in place. That's not enough. You have to trust them and give them time to do their job, and that's a process that requires time and patience. Now think back to that gym analogy. You wouldn't want to quit just after a few weeks because you didn't see these big muscles forming overnight or because you didn't lose 25 pounds in 30 days. Right, you have to keep showing up, you have to keep tweaking, you have to keep pushing forward. That's how systems work.

Speaker 1:

I had to step back, simplify and evaluate if my systems that I had created were even really working for me or if they were making me do more. And they were, and at first I didn't fully understand how to make Trello and Airtable work for my business. Both of these tools are powerful, but without that deeper understanding that I had to pay to get, I was getting nowhere. So after I made the investment and got more familiar with both tools, then I was able to make an informed decision about which one worked better for my process and my podcast. And even after using Airtable for a little over two years, my process changed and I switched to using mondaycom, not just to manage this podcast, but to organize my entire business, and I use it for my clients as well. Now there's another episode where I share how I was able to boost my productivity with Mondaycom, why I made the decision to switch. You know that includes me becoming a certified core builder as well as being a certified partner, and I'm going to put a link to that episode in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm sharing this with you so that you don't make the same mistake that I've made and that I see business owners make all the time they start using the tool because someone else says how wonderful it is and all the great things it's doing for them. Until it isn't. Then they jump on to the next shiny thing or the next tool or app, hoping it's going to save them from the chaos they've been working in. But they don't take the time to understand if it's even the right fit tool for them or how to make it work for their business. We're all so used to getting instant results in other areas of our life that we expect the same from our systems. But that's not how this works, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news.

Speaker 1:

But systems don't just require your time to set them up. They require your time to evaluate their efficiency and adjust them as your business grows. That's why I'm always saying systems aren't a set it and forget it solution. They require patience, constant tweaking and streamlining. I mean it took me months really almost a year to make sure that Trello first was a fit and then Airtable was a fit. And even now, after more time, I had to make adjustments and realize that neither one fit where I wanted to go. But I started using Mondaycom because it did. The more I learn about the tools that I use, the more updates I make to my systems to improve them, and investing in help from others and updating my business strategy has also played a huge role in the evolution of my business and my systems, because they need to support my goals.

Speaker 1:

Now, in another episode I talked about why support from someone else and ongoing adjustments are vital when it comes to your business systems. A course may give you the information you want, sure, it might even walk you through a step-by-step process, but you know what it doesn't do. It doesn't guide you through those small adjustments and changes that are necessary when your systems aren't working quite the way you want them to. And let's be honest, how many times have you signed up for a course, gone through it and then struggled when it came time to actually implement what you learned in the lessons? That's because, without support, without feedback from someone who is outside of the jar as Stacey Harris of the More Profitable podcast would say you're left to figure it all out on your own. And who has time for that? Nobody, right. That's one of the biggest reasons I created the Mighty Society membership. I know from firsthand experience how important it is to have ongoing, real-time guidance as you're building and refining your systems and really everything in your business. So if you haven't listened to last week's episode yet, go back and give it a listen for a deeper dive into why the structure of my membership makes such a big difference.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about how I got out of that overwhelmed state with Trello and Airtable. Again, I had to take a step back and I realized I couldn't just figure it out on my own. So when I invested in those online courses and got a better understanding of both tools, I realized it wasn't enough to just have them in place. But that knowledge really helped me learn the ins and outs of the tools, understand their capabilities, their limitations and really see how they could fit into my workflow and evaluate if they will be able to grow with me, so that I wouldn't have to start that process over again in the future. And even after investing time and money into learning those tools and getting my mondaycom core builder certification, I realized that no tool was going to instantly solve everything. It has taken months, years of testing, refining and making adjustments to see if my systems are actually doing their job.

Speaker 1:

And here's the thing you might think that once a system is set up, that's it. But it's not. Systems have to be adjusted as your business grows and evolves. The problems and pain points you have today are going to look different six months from now, a year from now or more. Your systems need to evolve with you and your business, and you have to think about that when you're choosing your tech tools. Now let's talk about that for a second, too often I see way too many frustrated entrepreneurs who blame their systems for various points of failure. So what do they do? They toss it aside and move on to something else. But here's the reality If you keep jumping from one thing to the next, you're never going to see results, not the ones you want anyway.

Speaker 1:

Again, you have to let your systems gain momentum, really start working, give them time to do their job, and sometimes that means sticking with them long enough to see whether or not you can just make small tweaks to get better results. That's much better and more efficient than just jumping ship as soon as something feels off or isn't working the way you want it to. And that's what I want to emphasize today. Seeing if your system is working takes time. Again, that's six months to a year or sometimes even more.

Speaker 1:

Just because you have a system set up doesn't mean that it's going to instantly solve your operational problems. You have to give it time to start working. Then you can tweak it and see if it's truly helping you move forward instead of creating more work. So where do you start? Well, this brings me to the BizOps checklist. If you're wondering where to even begin this process of creating your systems. This checklist is designed to help you assess the systems you have in place right now or don't. More importantly, so that you can fill in the gaps. It helps you take stock of your business operations where you are right now and see what's working and what isn't Now. It's not going to put you in a position where you can fix everything overnight, but it is a perfect starting point to help you get clear on where the bottlenecks are in your business. And while this checklist is one of the many resources available inside of the Mighty Society membership, you can actually grab a copy today by clicking the link in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

But I wanna make one thing clear this isn't a one and done kind of deal. Systems will not ever give you instant relief. That's the reality. You have to be patient with the process. Again, even after I used Trello on their table for months, I still had to make adjustments and I am still constantly making changes to my processes and my systems. Now. And that's where the entrepreneurial journey roadmap inside of the Mighty Society membership comes into play, because this roadmap helps you figure out what systems you should focus on, based on where you are in your business journey, because the systems you need when you're just starting out are completely different from the ones that you'll need as you start to grow and scale. And if you've hit the six-figure mark, what worked before might be what's holding you back now. I talked about this very topic in a previous episode, because your business operations require your attention if you want stability to be able to continue to succeed after you've hit that six-figure mark. That roadmap breaks everything down into clear, actionable steps, guiding you through the process of building a solid foundation. You can build on one system at a time with the other resources inside of the membership.

Speaker 1:

Think about where you are in your journey right now. Are you in that place where you're feeling stuck, like you can't grow because everything is so chaotic? Or maybe you're on the verge of going, but you can't grow because everything is so chaotic. Or maybe you're on the verge of going, but you can't seem to figure out why it's not happening. That's where the roadmap comes in. It shows you where to focus your energy with your system so you can make real progress instead of just being busy.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about one more thing the fear of facing your system. You might be thinking, well, I don't even want to take a look at this because I'm so behind? Or what if I look at it and I see I've been doing everything wrong? Well, that may be true, because fear is real and it can paralyze you. But staying stuck in that fear is not going to help you make progress forward. It's a trap that keeps you spinning your wheels and you're not going to make progress.

Speaker 1:

Every successful entrepreneur has had to step back, assess where they are, reassess and adjust their systems at some point. No one is exempt from this process, not even me, the systems expert. But it's not about feeling guilty about what you haven't done. It's about taking control of your business right now and doing what has to be done to make sure it's working for you. And that's another reason I created the Mighty Society membership to help you break free from that overwhelm and give you access to the resources and support that you need to build a business that runs smoothly, without you having to micromanage every little detail. I mean, imagine what this could look like for you six months from now. Your main systems are in place, they're running smoothly, you're not spending time putting out fires and missing deadlines. Instead, you've got the mental space and space in your calendar to focus on growing your business. You're spending more time with your family, you're thinking about your next big move and you are not drowning in your inbox. That's what happens when your systems are working for you and not against you. That's the kind of freedom that we're building inside of the Mighty Society membership, and you don't have to figure it out alone. We're doing this together. So if you're ready to stop feeling overwhelmed and want to start getting organized, head over to theshannonbakercom forward, slash membership and join the Mighty Society today. You're going to get immediate access to that Entrepreneur Journey Roadmap and more, and you can take that BizOps checklist audit that you completed and start making progress, because I promise this is going to bring you the clarity that you need to make sure your systems are actually working for you.

Speaker 1:

So let's do a quick recap of what we covered today. First, we talked about how having systems in place isn't enough, but you have to give them time to start working. They need to gain momentum, let them do their job. I shared my personal experience that I had with Trello and Airtable and how they're both powerful tools, but I had to invest time and effort to make sure that they were working for my business. Then I talked about the BizOps checklist, which will help you identify the gaps in your back office that you need to fix, and the Entrepreneur Journey Roadmap, which shows you what systems you can focus on, depending on where you are in your business journey.

Speaker 1:

The last thing I encourage you to stop letting fear hold you back. Take control. Join the Mighty Society membership so you can get the guidance, resources and support you need to make your systems work for you. And remember this systems are powerful, but only if you trust them and give them time to do their job. It's not just about instant results or perfection. It's about persistence, patience and allowing the systems that you put in place to help create the freedom you want and deserve. So today I challenge you to take the first step. Grab the BizOps checklist from the show notes and audit your back office to see where you are right now. If you want to take it further, join me inside of the Mighty Society membership. I would love to see you in there. Then you can focus on refining your systems and letting them do the heavy lifting for you. I know you've got this. I'll see you inside the membership. Thank you for tuning in this week.

Speaker 1:

Remember, just listening to this episode will not get you better results, so I challenge you to break the mold and take action today. If you're unsure where to start, book a call with me to get your questions answered about the Mighty Society, membership or anything else that I mentioned. A link to my calendar is in the show notes. Not ready to take that step yet? No problem, be sure to connect with me on Instagram at the underscore Shannon Baker. You can ask me your questions there, or let me know that you enjoyed the episode by taking a screenshot, sharing it and tagging me Now.

Speaker 1:

If you haven't already grabbed my free audio masterclass, why don't you just start there? It's a great first step to assess your back office on your own, and this masterclass provides valuable insights and practical steps to help you organize your processes, reduce chaos and improve efficiency. Go to theshannonbakercom forward. Slash audio masterclass Now. If you haven't left a review for the podcast yet, please do so. I would love to hear from you, and it's an easy way to show some love to the podcast and help me reach more small business owners who are ready to defy the status quo. I can't wait to hear from you. So until next time, keep calm and streamline.