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Heyyy {{first_name}}!

I’ve spent the last 3 weeks in a HUGE creative sprint for my other business. I also finished up a Claude Skill that I’d been working on for AGES (first being released as a bonus for SOP Bank Starter Kit buyers). Then last night, I wrote my first real case study.

Needless to say, I’ve hit a wall and I’m tired. I need a break from creating and systems is such a safe place for me when my creative side needs to take a step back.

I do feel like there is creativity that goes into operations and my systems building, but it’s a lot less taxing on my brain and body than designing and more artistic thinking is.

Systems is the default of how my brain thinks and works.

I get how absurd that sounds if you are more of a creative type, and considering that so many people use creativity as a break from reality, but systems, organization, and problem solving are my creativity and release.

And those thoughts lead me to today’s Future You Systems topic.

In regards to the case study I mentioned above, I got the template I used to create it from Stacy Eleczko. She actually reached out to me a few months ago, doing market research about the template, and I told her it was done.

Yesterday, I went to FINALLY put it on my website, and guess what…

It was not done.

Not even a little bit.

Why??

Because this was a new process and I didn’t have a definition of done.

I had gone in, added a ton of notes, so I remembered “doing” it, but I didn’t remember that I had just thrown in my thoughts and not actually finished anything.

But also, “done” can mean something different for different businesses, and even different processes within a business.

Which is why you should have a definition of what done looks like in every scenario (which is a component in my SOP template BTW).

Each process you complete should have a “definition of done” that is documented and that you follow each time.

Think about what it means to actually be finished, and not just complete the task.

For example, when I write my emails, I’m not fully done when the email is written.

I’m done when it has been proofread and is scheduled to go out to the right people.

If I had previously documented what done meant for a case study, it would have looked more like having it on a webpage on my website, having proofread it, and having pressed published on the webpage. Not just getting the copy written.

And that’s how I was able to make such a huge mistake.

So here’s my challenge for you this week, so you don’t make the same mistake I did.

Pick ONE recurring task or process.

Document 3-5 things that signify that you are done with that process. Keep the following in mind:

Remember, “done” is a repeatable system decision, not a gut feeling. Documenting it now will save you brain space later on.

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