This video was Live Streamed on 2019-10-15
hello we're live I think we're live okay
so I'm going to be pushing a few buttons
so I might lose focus so what am I going
to be talking about today tech
frustrations and IT frustrations now the
problem with IT is sorry something's
happening on my screen
the problem with IT I find is that
people don't quite understand how
difficult it is to try to figure out a
solution for the masses for more than
one person at the same time each
individual have their own way of working
their own systems in place and their own
yeah basically way of working mainly
because they've done the same work for
such a long time they've got a process
in place so when someone comes to me and
says can you help me with this the first
thing I have to do is well I need to see
what you're actually doing now last week
I had a client who is working as a
contractor he's working as a freelancer
but he's actually about to start his own
business his own practice and he we
spoke about he came to the office we
spoke for a little short while then I
then he showed me his system and it was
a complete mess he knew it was a mess I
don't think he'd mind me talking about
it the problem with the way he was
working is that like I find with
thousands of people that I work with
people get a computer that they work
they don't have a system in place but
the system kind of works into place as
they're working so there's never a
thought process of okay I'm gonna start
a business you go to the bank to get the
money or if you need to you go to your
business coach to figure out that what
you need to do
but no one's really thinking about tech
and IT and that kind of baffles me Oh
see it's my business it's like you know
having a car and going to the garage and
the guy saying well why don't you change
the oil every three months which is what
you're supposed to do but we don't do it
so the fact that I've seen so many
people were in this you know with this
problem basically so I have to basically
go and find the right solution so anyway
back to the story so he he works with
text files mainly and spreadsheets and
so on and he doesn't have like a
workspace or a to-do list or anything
like that everything was in email and
that's the topic on its own but he had
files with folders within folders within
folders within folders no real hierarchy
so it was called folder untitled folder
one two three four
untitled untitled folder and he was it
was a complete mess now we've all been
there don't get me wrong I'm not saying
that I've been a saint since I've had my
Mac and so on we've all definitely been
there but there are ways of doing things
than there are waves of ways of doing
things and you need to get organized the
other main thing is that you know we put
so much stock in our computers but we
don't really take care of them as as we
should I had the same conversation
Windsor's with the same client so
actually with a different client also
which was worse so just before the
weekend his computer died he needed to
work but I needed the computer for a day
or so to actually fix it but he's like
well I can't I need it so I worked over
the weekend and got it back to him
luckily on Monday but again we put so
much stock into our computers that we
don't think about what if it's basically
an insurance policy right what if
we hate paying insurance we really hate
it I hate it but we kind of need to have
some sort of a plan in place just in
case something happens to our IT so
that's why I'm kind of advocating going
over to the clouds because luckily this
this other client had everything in the
cloud so he was able to use his wife's
computer it was the weekend so she
wasn't working he could log in and
everything was there and we set that up
I think six months ago something like
that so he was really really pleased and
it's pretty simple to do but going back
to the folders and folders and folders I
mean people don't have systems in place
they have chaos in place and I see it
you know I've worked with you know
thousands of people repairing and fixing
consulting and everything to do with
Macs so I see people's computers in it
and how they being used and obviously if
I'm working on a project I don't think
about different things I will probably
mention it to the client but I see
folders all over the place I see files
all over the place I ask basic questions
like so if a client came to you and said
I want this do you have it in a specific
place do you have a client folder for
instance generally nine times out of ten
the answer is no I don't you know so how
do you look for something oh I do search
on the computer in which they're talking
about spotlight and then I find it okay
great but if you have thousands and
thousands upon thousands of files it's
going to take such a long time for
spotlight to index everything especially
if you get a new computer so it would be
virtually impossible for you to find
anything if we move all your data to
another computer because your computer
is broken so the idea of not having it's
it's funny for me to say not having a
proper system but not having a proper
system in place I mean you may well have
a system in place and it's your system
and I'm sure it works for you
but you've got to think about what if
and a lot of people don't think about
that and it's something that you kind of
need to look into so I've been look I've
been using many different I hate that I
hate the word project management tools
as soon as you say project management
people kind of glaze over and go or I
don't need it it's complicated Gantt
chart since no I'm the same I hate that
stuff I try to do things as simply as
possible so if you go back to look at my
video library you see how I work with my
projects and my clients and it's
insanely simple so it doesn't have to be
convoluted and insane people hate change
right look at my hair I shaved my head
it's really weird I shaved my head
because I just wanted to start all over
again and you know it took me a few
hours to get used to it and I hated it
and it's like well I've done it before
it my hair grows back really quickly
luckily I'm not yet going bald but
people hate change but we have to deal
with it and once you adapt to a new
system it makes it that will make your
life so much easier after a short period
of time you go I wish I did this before
so I'm actually going through change
with my hair and what they're
recognizing me but I'm also going to
through change with my system and I'm
going to be going through that through
the next videos and talking about that
as well so I don't like project
management systems they're too
convoluted for for some people I mean I
work with freelancers businesses and
professionals and there is differences
like some businesses need a project
management tool so obviously I help them
consult and install asana and things
like that but they don't always work for
everybody a signer will not work for me
I've tried it it's way too complicated
for what I need and too complicated for
a lot of people who
just you know small teams what we need
is a workspace we need a desk where we
have a filing system where we have all
the client information all the internal
communication or the client
communication everything in one place
and I'm going through a couple of
systems for myself and I've used these
systems before and I moved away from
them because I thought it was too
complicated but I realized I think I
might need to step up my game in the
what-if scenario so I'm kind of looking
into a different system for myself but
right now I'm using todoist
it's not a project management tool per
se it's not a filing system per se but
I'm using it for my prospects I'm using
it for my projects I'm music for my
personal things I'm using it for pretty
much everything even I'm even using it
as like a what's it called a Web Clipper
effectively so if I find something on
the net I put it in my to-do list which
is basically a to-do list like a but I
figured out a system that I'm able to
work with and this is the thing a lot of
people need you know they've created
systems that they can work with but it's
they don't think about what if and I'm
starting to think about what if and
again to do this is great I love the
company culture I love the way it's
built I love the way it looks the fact
that it works on everything on my phone
it syncs amazingly touchwood it has
never died on me so yes it's great why
am i moving that's a topic for another
video but so yeah this is a quick video
cuz I've actually got to go to my
dentist I'm not going to stay too long I
don't know how long it's been but think
about what if think about how you're
working what's your workflow from you
know if you're working with clients of
your consultant most of my clients are
consultants actually and trainers and
speakers and stuff like that which is
kind of interesting but anyway think of
your client process think of your work
process so from the tyent time
you get the email or the contacts from
the client too when you send an email or
an email yeah an invoice to the client
what is that process look like what I
usually tell people is work backwards so
you've got the invoice and you do the
work and so on and so forth in it you've
got the email if you work backwards you
kind of think more logically as to the
steps that you energy need to do whereas
what if you work forward sometimes I
find you go through it too quickly and
you miss some steps so you could do that
but I would suggest working backwards as
well and think about the journey
the client has yeah from the moment of
first contact to the moment of invoice
and work out the system and figure out
the holes in your system and figure out
what things apps services that you could
use to gap those systems and make the
experience not just for the client but
for yourself much easier and simpler
I oughta mate so many things I don't
over automate but I automate so many
things that things just get done that's
what computers are for right computers
are there to help you not to annoy you
so when a client books an appointment
with me by Mike and ee-vie my website it
goes straight into my sales process and
I contact them it sends me a
notification saying oh there's there's
somebody there and I contact them and I
deal with it and and go on from there so
think of a process think of your process
and think about how you can plug the
gaps what things are annoying you the
one thing that you need is a workspace
is a desk whether you work for remotely
or whatever you need a desk a digital
desk so you can work you know on a beach
with margaritas not a problem however
your desk has to come with you which is
your laptop and you need to be able to
work and have all your data or your
client information everything at hand so
if someone asks you can I have or do you
know you go to one place ago there is
not sir
oh my god is not there let's go and
search somewhere else let's go I mean
that that's it that's a headache because
that happened to me a long time ago did
happen to me and it was annoying like oh
where did I buy this part from or did I
do this with the client and so on so
forth so you need processes and they can
merge together but having hard borders
but again that's another so that's a
topic for another video anyway
that's it I again I need to go to the
dentist sorry to keep to make it short
today I may do another video later on
this week going through different apps
and different services if you have any
questions let me know in the comments or
send me an email in fact this is my
website there you go I like this thing
this is this is great so obviously if
you have any questions you know ask me
send me a message through my website and
then I can you know we can go through
the steps and help you that way you can
also just simply book a call with me and
hopefully we can go through it and
hopefully we can get your digital desk
and your IT frustrations out the window
so you can actually concentrate on
working and not fight with the tools
that are supposed to be helping you
anyway enjoy the day and remember keep
it simple talk to you soon ciao
you