Hello Reader,

After I started my business, I didn't take a true vacation for 5 years. I fell into that hustle mindset (which is its own problem), but that wasn't why I hadn't taken a real vacation. I didn't know how to walk away from my business for a week.

I'd tried to take time away a couple of times before that. Every time, I spent part of the day on my computer dealing with client issues or answering project inquiries. I know that sounds like a good problem to have, but it's actually a recipe for burnout.

Which is exactly why I took that vacation at the 5 year mark.

I even went somewhere I had NO cell signal so I could make sure I unplugged! I came back from that two weeks away in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with a clear mind and a determination to change a few things in my business.

That's when I went all in on client management, started implementing systems in my business, and made the decision that I wanted to run my business. Five years of my business and my clients running me were more than enough.

I didn't change everything overnight, but I did change it. And it all started with one SOP. That's what I want to talk about today. What SOPs are, why they matter for your business as much as they do for big businesses, and how they're going to give you a whole new level of freedom.

Reinventing the wheel is a time-waster

One of my biggest headaches was reinventing the wheel for processes that were basically the same every time.

Every new client I'd have to remember what I'd sent in the welcome email. What was that new clause I needed to make sure was in the contract? Where did I put that new client checklist?

Invoicing was no different. I sent invoices hundreds of times. But every month I had to sit down, figure out who needed an invoice, figure out what I'd been paid for and what needed chasing down, and then get ready to do it all over again.

I wasn't an absolute disaster, but I was spending a lot of time on tasks that I could automate, or at least systematize. .

Enter SOPs

SOPs (standard operating procedures) get a bad rap in any business that doesn't have a huge number of employees. I have to say I bought into the bad reputation. To start with, the name sounds like it's an inch of boring papers in a three-ring binder. (And some of them are!) It's also one of those corporate catchphrases. "We want to make sure we're following the SOPs so we can meet our KPIs."

In reality, it any system you use to write down and record how you already do something so you don't have to create it from scratch next time. Mine tend to read like notes to myself, because that's what they are. When I'm slammed or distracted or short on sleep, I don't have to think. I open the doc and do what it says.

This is the same thing big companies spend huge amounts of money to create. A McDonald's in one town makes its fries the same as the one three states over because the process is written down and anyone can follow it. The employees have good instructions, so they can create a consistent experience. Those mechanics don't change just because your business is one person instead of ten thousand.

If you write for a living, I can already hear the objection, because it used to be mine. Won't this make everything more difficult? Doesn't writing down your process kill the creative process?

Nope. It's the other way around.

You're not systemizing the writing itself. You're making the business tasks easier so you can focus on the writing. Every minute I don't spend hunting for my logo file (my computer files are impossible) is a minute I get to focus on the important work.

Rubens ran his painting studio this way four hundred years ago. He documented the prep and the underpainting so his assistants could handle it, which freed him up to paint the faces and the hands himself. He spent his hours on the work that he signed his name on, and handed off the rest. Not that you need to hand anything off to someone else to make SOPs valuable.

A few tips to simplify the process

Creating an SOP might feel stressful, and creating one for most of your repeatable tasks and processes can seem overwhelming. Here are a few pieces of advice to simplify the process for you.

Messy is okay

For years I assumed an SOP had to look professional. I needed to have steps, and formal checklists. You know: formatted, polished, and pretty. So I never made one.

Mine now are nothing like that. My most-used SOP is a short list in a Google Doc with a couple of typos I've never fixed. (Don't judge me. I forget them until I see them again, and then I'm busy!)

It works for me because it gives me a few simple steps I can follow that create a consistent experience for my clients.

Don't write them from memory

Don't sit down and write your process out from memory. You'll blank or leave out steps. If you're anything like me, most of what you do runs on autopilot, and you don't really know the steps until you watch yourself take them.

So catch it live instead. The next time you do the task, record your screen and talk through it, or keep a doc open and jot each step as you go. It only adds a few minutes of writing it down.

SOPs give you options and you only need one to start

Don't document your whole business. You'll burn out and quit.

Pick one thing. I'd choose whatever task you like least, since that's the one you'll be most happy to not have to actively think about, and the first you'd hand off if you ever get help. Or pick something you do constantly, like onboarding a client or sending your newsletter.

Record your process and then formalize it in some way. Even if it's just adding the steps to a checklist. I have one on a paper to-do list sheet someone gave me for Christmas one year. It lives under my keyboard, and I pull it out when I need it.

Try it out for a few cycles and adjust as needed. Then add the next one.

Creating SOPs is what finally let me take a real vacation.

When the steps for a process live in your head, you're the only one who can do then. Someone else could do the task, but they might not do it the way you want. That's one of the reasons you write them down.

What happens when you have an SOP?

• You could bring a subcontractor to your client work for a month while you go on a family roadtrip. They'll be able to do exactly what you need because the steps are all listed out or you have a recorded loom video
• You might hire a VA to handle the repetitive tasks that take up most of your time.
• Automation! You could set up a tool to do part of the job
• When it comes to client communication, an SOP allows you to proactively send a client the information they need before they have to ask.

You don't need a special tool to create them

No. I'd even recommend against looking for one at first. Shopping for the right app is a great way to avoid starting (for those procrastinators among us). Start with your normal process and then, if an opportunity or tool comes along, you can test it out.

Here are some of the tools I use now:

• Loom records your screen while you talk through a task.
• Scribe goes a bit further and writes the steps out for you as you click.
• If you want everything in one place, Notion is a great option.
• Google Docs or sheets is a free, low entry place to start.

Remember that plain Word doc or even a notebook is enough to start!

I can take time off now!

I'm not going to tell you my business runs itself now. It doesn't, and I still have weeks when I let things slide. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, and I don't think you should either if you miss a few things.

What I celebrate is that I take real vacations these days. I can be gone for a week without opening my laptop, because the things that used to live only in my head are in SOPs.

That's the freedom I came back from Michigan wanting, and it started with one SOP. What changes can you make in your writing business by simplifying processes and creating SOPs?

Highlight for the Week

Trudy had a chat recently with Lindy Alexander, a highly experienced and very successful travel writer, about her brand-new podcast, Inside Travel Writing. It's just getting off the ground, and if you've ever wondered what the working life of a travel writer looks like, it's well worth a listen to our conversation.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Treasa (and Trudy)

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