I had to laugh the other day when I realized my husband and I have very different definitions of the word reliable.
To him, reliable means: It still works.
To me, reliable means: I don’t have to fight with it every time I use it.
And apparently, this difference of opinion has been sitting in our garage since 2014.
It’s mowing season around here, and my husband has had the same lawn mower since 2014. Let me paint you a picture. Some of the wires are being held together with a vice grip. The blades are dull. Getting the motor started requires pulling the cord several times.
And sometimes, it leaks gasoline. Every now and then, it just stops in the middle of mowing. But my husband has a solution for that too. He turns it on its side, refills it with gasoline, shakes it for a little bit, and keeps going.
I finally asked him, “Aren’t you tired of having to deal with all that?”
“Nope. He is my Old Reliable.” I just looked at him.
But then I tried not to be too judgmental because I remember those days when I had systems that technically worked, but most of the time it was chaotic. Sticky notes were everywhere, calendar appointments were conflicting and client files weren’t organized.
Before I actually got systems in place with the right tools, most days I was scrambling because I told myself that I’ve figured out all the little tricks and workarounds, so I stuck with it. My motto was: “It’s fine. It still works.” Maybe you’ve said the same thing too.
Looking back. It totally didn’t work. I think I had just gotten really good at compensating for what wasn’t working. I was so familiar with the workarounds that it made me believe it was reliable. There was so much frustration and extra hours lost here and there trying to keep the chaos together. The mental energy I spent trying to remember which workaround to use was so not worth it. It just eventually became the thing that exhausted me. A workaround can be useful but it’s not the same thing as a system.
So What Does Reliable Look Like?
For me, reliable means creating processes that don’t depend on me remembering every little step.
It might mean:
- Creating templates for things I send repeatedly.
- Automating reminders and follow-ups.
- Documenting a process once instead of reinventing it every time.
These small changes can remove a surprising amount of mental clutter, and that’s really what we’re after.
Final Thoughts
We have to remember that we built our business to create more freedom in our lives, and not to spend our days pulling the cord over and over again just to keep it running.
We get so accustomed to our workarounds that we stop noticing how much time and energy they’re costing us. Our workdays get so much easier when we make the things we already do easier to do.
Shamayne Brown is a virtual assistant and the founder of Camp Virtual Assistance.
She works with busy executives and solo professionals who are ready to invest in their business and need the support that she offers.
She specializes in creating email newsletters as well as other admin and creative design tasks.
Click here to connect on LinkedIn.
Click here to set up a discovery call.
