I’m not always on top of my shit. But I've learned I don’t need to be.

As an Online Business Manager (OBM) my work focuses on operations strategy and business management, and for most of the three or so years I’ve been doing this, I’ve felt like a fraud.

I mean, really, where do I get the audacity to think I can run someone else's business when I have days when I can’t remember if I’ve cleaned my teeth that morning? Or times when I walk into a shop and can’t remember what I went there for. And when I look around at my peers in ops-based services, all I see are A-types who clearly have it all figured out.

I got my accreditation, took mini courses, listened to podcasts, attended webinars, you name it—all in the name of upskilling and out-credentialing the feeling that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this kind of work. That was until I got really honest with myself about what I sucked at, the bits that I don’t enjoy, and where I excelled. The rational part of my brain understood my value. I just needed the other part of my brain to get the message—the part that was telling me I needed to be everything for everyone.

When the A-type in me taps out

As the person who is essentially the backbone of the business, I’m supposed to have my shit together all the time, right? And yes, I do have days when the A-type in me takes the wheel, but I also have days where my brain is like a pinball machine and I constantly get sidetracked. Just like the delightfully chaotic puppy we brought home last week. (And did I just sneakily drop in this analogy so I could win you over with a cute picture? You betcha!)

Meet Eddie. He has two modes: mayhem or sleep.

When I’m having one of those days, I will open my laptop in the morning, knowing exactly what I need to get done, but before I know it, it’s the end of the day and I've barely touched my to-do list. Instead, I’ve gone on a million side quests. Like sorting my inbox, or watching tutorials, or going through the many, many browser tabs I have open, or playing around with a new tool. Do I feel like I’m being productive? Sure. But is any of this aligned with my current business goals? Nope.

I’ve tried all the productivity hacks (time blocking, the Pomodoro technique, the 2-minute rule, the 5-minute rule) with mixed results. Mostly because I was trying to force myself into the same ‘on-top-of-it’ mold as everyone else. But what really turned things around was when I started working with my rhythms instead of against them.

Structure, routine and systems that work for me, not against me

Which is kind of crazy to me because back when I was in school or working a 9 to 5, the day-in-day-out routine and rigid structures sucked the life out of me. Turns out it wasn’t routine I hated; it was someone else’s routine that was forced on me. The structure, routines and systems I’ve established for myself keep me anchored and focused and help me maintain momentum. They are my foundation, my security blanket, if you will.

Build the structure around the person you actually are, not who you think you should be

Your version of this won’t look like mine. Maybe the days when you can’t focus look different, or they hit at different times, or you need different guardrails. But the principle remains: understand your rhythms and work with them.

Here’s what that looks like when you break it down.

Anchor your days so you don’t have to think

Pick a few things in your day or week that are non-negotiables. It could be a gym class, the school run, standing weekly check-ins. It doesn’t matter what they are, the point is your brain gets a fixed reference point and it doesn’t have to negotiate with itself over what’s happening every day. For me, it’s walking the dogs and gym at the same time every day, the weekly grocery shop, and weekly catch-ups. All of these anchor my days, and I don’t have to think about them or plan ahead. The rest of my day can then flex around them.

I can’t build your routine for you, but if the day-to-day running of your business keeps eating into it, I can step in to clear up the operational noise.

If it happens on repeat, systemize it

If there’s something you do on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, systematize it by making the process repeatable. As you do this, more and more of your day-to-day will happen on auto pilot. This is also going to help to reduce your anxiety and decision fatigue—no more worrying that you’ve forgotten something or trying to work out what comes next. And what this translates to is a whole load of time, energy and mental capacity that you can redirect to bigger things.

This is exactly what I do for my clients. I take the repeatable stuff out of your head so that it stops costing you time and energy every time you have to do it.

Stop winging it; plan for it

You have goals for your business, right? Maybe it’s more revenue, more clients, you want to step back, launch a new offer… Whatever your goals are, if you don’t have a clear roadmap for how to get there, there’s a high chance you might get lost along the way and you could miss your destination altogether.

A clear plan will keep you on track and focused on the things that matter. It takes the guesswork out of knowing what you need to get done each day, and it gives you a timeline of what needs to happen and when.

But, here’s the thing: as entrepreneurs, we don’t have corporate overlords dictating our deadlines—we have to set them for ourselves. At the same time, you need to not only have a grasp on your capacity (and your team’s, if you have one) but also your rhythms. If you know you have days when you go off-piste, give yourself some breathing room in the timelines. Because there is nothing more demoralizing than not being able to meet the deadlines and goals you’ve set for yourself.

It’s the same kind of plan, one with flexibility built into it, that I build with clients so that they can stop white-knuckling their way through a system that was never designed for the way they work.

The part where I bring this back to me

Fast forward to today, I have made peace with my inner puppy, and I’ve learned that not every client needs or wants an A-type operations person. And that there are, in fact, amazingly capable and talented women who aren’t looking for rigid systems that would stifle them but rather structure that bends around who they are.

So, while I may not be the right operator for everyone, I am the right operator for that person who needs someone to help them contain their particular chaos into a structure that works for them.

If any of this hits home for you, and you’re tired of trying to build your business around a structure that wasn’t designed for how your brain actually works, or you're trying to build with no structure at all, I would love to have a talk with you.

Book a free strategy call using the link below, and let me help you get on top of your shit!

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