Forget Candle-Lit Dinners, I Want Organized Workflows

Some women want flowers, luxury handbags, or candle-lit dinners. 

Me? I live for moments when expectations are clear, roles are defined, and no one’s asking, “Wait, what am I supposed to be doing again?”

Here's a quick story.

Last week, I started working with a new client and immediately got a sense of their mayhem—missed deadlines, duplicated tasks, five tools doing the job of one, and a team that looked like they’d given up on trying to stay ahead. The founder slumped into the call like she’d just finished running a marathon barefoot…through Legos. She didn’t need motivation—she needed a system.

Fair question. The answer: this is my version of romance. Some people light up over roses and fine wine—I light up when a team finally stops spinning in circles because the process just works. Clear expectations, smooth handoffs, zero panic.

Here are six things that make me ridiculously happy—plus what problems they solve, and how you can get a little of that operational zen yourself.

1. Turning “WTF is going on?” into “Ahhh, this makes sense.”
2. Documenting the Undocumentable
3. Making You Less Needed’
4. Next Steps Are Crystal Clear
5. One Source of Truth
6. People Use the Damn Wiki

Turning “WTF is going on?” into “Ahhh, this makes sense.”

What makes me giddy:
Taking total chaos—missed deadlines, finger-pointing, "who's doing what?" energy—and turning it into a clean, streamlined project plan that actually works.

The problem it solves:
Unclear priorities lead to duplicated work, delays, and everyone blaming the calendar. If your team constantly feels lost, it’s because the work isn’t organized clearly.

3 things you can try:

• • Pick one project that’s currently in chaos. Don’t fix everything—just one.
  • Create a list of every task involved, including who’s supposed to do what and by when.
  • Drop it all into a centralized tool (ClickUp, Asana, etc.) and share it with the team—so everyone sees the full picture.

Documenting the Undocumentable

What makes me giddy:
Taking a messy, founder-only process and turning it into a clean SOP that anyone on the team can follow. It’s like magic. Boring, beautiful magic.

The problem it solves:
If your knowledge is trapped in one person’s head, it becomes a liability. When that person’s out sick—or just distracted—everything grinds to a halt.

3 things you can try:

• • Pick one process that only you know how to do.
  • Record a clip or video of you doing it. Talk through every step—even the “duh” stuff.
  • Turn that into a bullet-point checklist or short doc. Congrats, you just made your first SOP.

Making You Less Needed

What makes me giddy:
Watching a founder not get tagged in every. single. task. When a team can operate without the boss hovering? That’s real leadership.

The problem it solves:
Being the bottleneck is not a badge of honor. It burns you out and slows everyone down. If your team can’t make a move without you, it’s not their fault—it’s a systems issue.

3 things you can try:

• • Identify one area where your team constantly waits on you (approvals, info, direction).
  • Ask: Can this be delegated, templatized, or scheduled? (Hint: yes.)
  • Build a workflow that removes you from that touchpoint—then test it for a week.

Next Steps Are Crystal Clear

What makes me giddy:
Ending a meeting where every single person knows exactly what they’re doing next. No vague follow-ups. No “wait, what was I supposed to do again?”

The problem it solves:
Projects stall when people leave meetings with fuzzy assignments and unclear deadlines. "Circle back" is not a plan.

3 things you can try:

• • Assign a note-taker for every meeting. (Yes, every one.)
  • At the end of each meeting, list 3 clear next steps: what, who, and by when. Even better, start using ClickUp's new Notetaker feature and it'll generate next steps for you. 
  • Put those next steps where the work happens—in your project tool, not buried in a Google Doc no one reads.

One Source of Truth

What makes me giddy:
When project info isn’t scattered across 14 platforms. One place. One version. One place to go when you need to find something.

The problem it solves:
When project info is scattered across 3 spreadsheets, 5 Slack threads, in someone's head, and 17 folders deep in Google Drive - it's a recipe for disaster.

3 things you can try:

• • Audit where your team currently stores info. List them out. It’ll be messier than you think.
  • Choose a primary tool for each specific purpose: project management, communication, document storage, etc
  • Start linking, consolidating, and redirecting people to that tool. If it’s not in there, it doesn’t exist.

People Use the Damn Wiki

What makes me giddy:
Watching someone solve their own problem by searching the wiki instead of bugging 5 people. It’s like watching a toddler tie their own shoes for the first time. Just beautiful.

The problem it solves:
When answers live in people’s brains (or a million Slack threads), no one knows where to go. The result? Constant interruptions and repeated questions.

3 things you can try:

• • Pick the top 5 most common team questions. Write or record simple, searchable answers.
  • Organize them in a shared folder or SOP hub with obvious names.
  • When someone asks a question you’ve documented, tell them to search the Wiki/hub/whatever you name it. DON'T be tempted to find it yourself and send them the link. Let them do the homework themselves. Train the habit.

So if you ever catch me getting unreasonably excited about that SOP library or geeking out over a beautiful ClickUp dashboard... just know this is my version of romance.

But I'll never turn down a porterhouse steak and a bottle of cabernet.

If any of that makes your heart race just a little faster—congrats, you’re my kind of people.