A *simple* ClickUp guideline to take into the new year

2026 is here, and something tells me that you've decided this is the YEAR OF READER.

You've got BIG plans and big goals.

Your clients trust you now more than ever, which inevitably means MORE WORK is coming your way.

And what better feeling is there when a client is excited about a big project they want to do together, and there's a nice hefty price tag attached to it. 💸🥳

But then the second they sign the contract, all that excitement turns into wtf did I just do to myself?

I just wrapped a Focus Framework intensive right before the holidays with a freelancer going through exactly this.

Btw, I'm realizing that the 6-week intensive might be my favourite 1-on-1 offer bc MAN it's impactful.

Nothing will ever compare to being there together, and working through exactly what's happening in their biz at that exact moment.

--

So she had this big project. Lots to be done. It was feeling real daunting.

This is where my fav, stupidly simple Focus Framework concept really shines: the 2-3 hour rule.

Which just means... when you're planning out your work, every task you create has to pass one test:

Can I actually sit down and finish this step in 2-3 hours?

She showed me her first draft project plan with each deliverable broken out into its own project.

There were subtasks listed for each step.

A 10/10 perfect first attempt. 🏆

But when we started applying the 2-3 hour rule to each subtask, different questions started surfacing:

What's the specific action here? Should this be one step or two? Does this even belong in this deliverable?

I LOVE watching the lightbulbs go off as we explore this together and apply it in real time.

And wait, that's actually not a subtask, it's actually a full on project of its own, and now we're breaking out 8 steps that that weren't visible at all before.

Carmen said two things that are important here:

and

Both of those things are true.

And they mean that you have to push yourself to do it or it won't happen. 

Especially bc the short-term sacrifices are what lead to more control over your time, period.

Spending time creating detailed project plans and thinking through each individual piece and how long it will take...

... all of that preliminary work is how you get to a daily plan of 5 super specific 1 hour tasks and know it's ACTUALLY a 5 hour workday.

Versus 3 super vague tasks with fantasy time estimates that leave you feeling like nothing got done.

--

Want help building this into your own system?

The FRESH START Sale officially starts Jan 12th

But I'm kicking it off early with 1 six-week intensive spot for $500 (price goes up to $750 on Monday + the reg price is $997)

Intensives always include Focus Framework ($197) but I'm also throwing in Time is Money ($147) for the FULL send into 2026.

& in case you're bad at math like me, that's $644 of savings 🙃

The "intensive" part comes from three 1-on-1 90-minute working sessions over 3 weeks, followed by 3 weeks of live implementation support (that's 7.5 hours of 1:1 with me!!).

AKA: we build your complete client management system together in 6 weeks so you don't have to do it alone.

Reply to this email if this is speaking to you and we can talk through the details.

BRING ON 2026 BABY

XO,

Robyn

P.S. You may noticed I rebranded this newsletter to Crying Over ClickUp... Unapologetically Organized sounded like garbley gook and I couldn't take it anymore. NEW YEAR NEW ME.

Robyn Henke

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