When "getting organized" is actually *avoiding* client work

Have you ever tried Notion before, Reader?

I remember the first time I signed up, I just about fell over with how much FUN I had putting it together. The AESTHETICS were unlike anything I'd experienced before with Asana or Teamwork. Could business organization actually be pretty?

I built and built and built... I probably dumped a stupid amount of hours into it, all the while feeling real productive.

But when it was all said and done, I was stunned to realize that what I'd built didn't really help.

It didn't ease the feeling of overwhelm I felt about client work, and managing my time. In the end, I was STILL begrudgedly using Teamwork for client work, but now I had a second tool at play.

It turns out it was a BIG FAT WASTE OF TIME

Which got me thinking... CLEARLY sometimes the passionate pursuit of organization... is actually just an elaborate avoidance tactic.

Client work at the end of the day, while it pays the bills, may not be the most enlivening experience. The days when I pick up the guitar is when I really know that I don't wanna do what I gotta do 😂

Being self employed and really only accountable to yourself and your clients can make it real hard to buckle up and get'er done when doing anything else seems like more fun.

I think that's why I've taken so intensely to ClickUp

A while back my aunt was depressed, and they had her creating daily checklists of small mundane tasks JUST for the dopamine hit that comes from checking it off. Brush teeth, CHECK. Eat breakfast, CHECK.

^ That dopamine shit is REAL bc I feel it everyday in ClickUp.

But there's a bit of an art to doing it right, and that starts with breaking what's big into small steps.

> So "launch campaign" sitting there on your checklist feeling like a dark cloud turns into...

> "Brainstorm messaging hooks" which is actually kinda fun and creative, and it can be done in an hour.

When the checklist item gets smaller and the deliverable gets more tangible, it gets easier to check it off and cash in on that totally free, 100% natural dopamine rush.

And weirdly, that really works for driving momentum.

You check one thing off your unified task list, and suddenly there's a lot less resistance to moving on to the next thing, and the next. Ending the day with zero unchecked items in your daily plan is one of the best feelings a freelancer can have, no matter how nerdy that makes me sound. 🤓

Notion was an elaborate distraction–that much is clear.

ClickUp can also be a distraction when there's too much focus on all the fancy bells and whistles and not enough on the basics. That's why I created Focus Framework.

I can't bear the thought of you wasting one more minute on ClickUp's summer school bc wtf are they even talking about?? 🤪

Catch you next week,

RBH

Robyn Henke