table of funtents

1. 👋🏼 it’s me, hi

2. 🫠 welp, i f*cked up

3. 💌 upgrades for scale

4. 💩 no bs reminder

5. 🎁 from my ops toolbox

👋🏼 it’s me, hi

HI MISFITS 💘

Hope y’all have had a fab start to the week! I personally saw the sun* A WHOLE 3 times this week, so I’m an entirely new human being.

(*famous last words: it’s meant to rain tomorrow)

ICYMI: Fractional Cupid stopped by last week with a light (albeit, high-calorie) episode.

This week, as promised, we’re going to get a little real-er. Because even if you’re #DisciplineGoals, there will be some weeks (or months) where we go against our own advice and get things really wrong.

The last month has been that for me. I f*cked up - and I want to share how so you can catch yourself faster and trial the process improvements that saved me.

Without further ado, let’s dive in (chaotically) 🌊

🫠 welp, i f*cked up

What do you get when you mix 1 part “internal risk” with 1 part “external environment not at all conducive to your success”?

A recipe for disaster - or in my case - the last 4 weeks. Here’s what I mean:

Internal:

• I’m in year 2 of fractional, meaning I can do things faster than year 1

• I can do things faster, meaning I can test working with more clients at once

• More clients means more time thinking, meeting and doing

External:

• I’m at my best when I go on long, daily walks

• The weather’s been shite, meaning I haven’t built time for long walks

• I don’t go on long walks, so I replace that time with work

See where we’re going with this?

🎾 how I dropped the ball

Let’s put this recipe into real numbers and quantify the impact.

1. internal risk

For context (and by design), I have 3 active clients*:

• 2 fractional: more hands on, done for the client

• 1 advisory: less hands on, advice only

*if you’re wondering what each offer looks like, see here

BUT HERE’S THE KICKER:

• I have 2 other clients I’ve finished working with who keep me on a “pay as you go” basis. This works out fine because they NEVER need me.

• The last Scale MOT I did (half day in-person meeting + report write up for potential new clients) was in October ‘24.

In the last 4 weeks, I worked with my 3 clients as normal — oh, PLUS the TWO other inactive clients PLUS I ran TWO Scale MOTs. Heh.

2. external environment

Everyone’s different, but personally, here’s what I need from my calendar to stay sane:

2a. slow mondays

When I start with mental + physical health in mind, the whole week follows suit.

Monday mornings are meant to be spent on my mind and body. I’ll only do one meeting per Monday, and it has to be in the afternoon.

As you can see, the next scheduled slow Monday is 3rd March. Because over the last 4 weeks, I’ve had a grand total of ZERO SLOW MONDAYS.

= 0/100% achieved

2b. me mornings

“Me mornings” mean doing my own thing in the AM, with client work / meetings starting from 11 AM onward.

Out of 20 workdays in the last 4 weeks, I’ve only had 6 me mornings.

= 30/100% achieved

2c. the golden ratio

IMO, the golden ratio to any healthy calendar is the right balance of meetings vs. thinking vs. doing.

I despised the ratio I had in my senior leadership days. I was a full-time firefighter looking after 100+ people, 300+ clients and 5000+ users. My entire workweek was spent in meetings (and this is pre AI notetakers!!!).

The ideal ratio for me now would be:

For every 1 hour meeting, I need 2 hours to think and 1.5 hours to do.

eg: if you spend 8 hours in meetings, you need 16 hours to think and 12 hours to do. In a 40 hour workweek, this leaves you with 4 hours to spare.

ANYWHOOOO, I got this very wrong the last few weeks:

IF YOU FORGOT TO SCHEDULE BREATHING AND WORKED NIGHTS TO GET EVERYTHING DONE, SAY HEY (me: heyyyyyy)

= 0/100% golden ratio weeks achieved

💌 upgrades for scale

I got to the end of last week like WTAF.

EVERY second of my calendar had been scheduled - yes, including pee breaks.

I resented the militant nature of it all. I loathed feeling like my time wasn’t truly mine.

So, I did for myself what I’d do for any client or friend in this position: I took an honest look at my own systems for scale and tested.

Two process updates I tested + 11/10 recommend:

• Google Suite Business Plus

• Fathom AI Notetaker Premium

1. gsuite to replace them all

You: Neds, how does upgrading GSuite - which costs money - help with anything?

Because it saves HOURS by (1) showing me how I’m spending my time and (2) consolidating nearly all my other apps.

Over the last year, I’ve worked across multiple apps that don’t speak to each other AND have manually calculated my time across clients / the golden ratio.

A few examples of subscriptions this upgrade replaces for me:

• Docusign ($10/mo) —> DocHub

• Calendly ($10/mo) —> Google Appointments

• Loom (I’m nearly at my free limit) —> Google Vids

• Integrates with free Asana so no more duplication

Here’s a visual of my time spent this week (we’re getting there):

Price: this takes me from paying £6/mo to £18/mo.

But getting rid of Calendly + Docusign alone pays for itself, in addition to the immense time value it offers. All in all: worth it.

2. Fathom AI Premium

Let me tell you what I hate most about any job: writing reports.

One pay as you go client is an accelerator who calls when they want to conduct “expert interviews.” I meet with two founders and assess their suitability for the programme against a set of criteria

• output: two 6-page reports

Scale MOTs also require a snazzy follow-up. People pay me to digest their challenges and, more importantly, offer a strategic roadmap to achieve their scale goals.

• output: 12 slides per MOT, and in the last 4 weeks, I ran two 

Here’s what I did upon upgrading Fathom AI to Premium:

2a. remote accelerator interviews

1. Fathom recorded the convo as normal

2. I instructed Fathom to specifically summarise the recording per the headings needed for my client’s report

3. I checked to ensure the content was accurate + in my language

4. 1 report that normally takes 2 hrs to write up = completed in 20 mins

2b. in person Scale MOTs

1. I asked prospects if they were okay with being recorded

2. I opened an impromptu Zoom meeting on my laptop and had Fathom record our live discussion

3. The questions I ask in a Scale MOT are super specific, and Fathom is great at picking this up

4. 1 MOT deck normally takes 4 hours total: 2.5 hours to consolidate and 2 hours to think / map the strategy.

   • With this hack, I only need 30 mins to consolidate and review for accuracy*

   • By gaining 2 hours back, this means my process is cut by half the time

*I still of course do the thinking behind roadmap + strategy, but Fathom saves hours by digesting the report at insanely high quality.

Price: this takes me from paying $0/mo to $15/mo.

But in two mega instances that drain my time and energy, I’ve gained the gift of time and headspace to do the things only I should be doing.

Again: worth it.

💩 no bs reminder

TLDR, misfits: with increased demand, supply as you see it today will break.

It’s inevitable.

When things are comfortable, we don’t always see the point in improving systems that’ll cater to increased growth. Pressure brings diamonds.

I’m feeling that pressure in year 2, but I’m also seeing it as an opportunity to test new processes and ways of working.

The important reminder here is to build processes that force you to be better - not simply faster. These systems should streamline, consolidate and clear the noise - enabling you to do more of what you’re good at without compromising quality.

🎁 from my ops toolbox

🧰 In my toolbox: free automation playbook 💘

In an episode ALL about automation, it’s only fitting I share a gift from my friends in Operations Nation.

Fellow minority misfit Penny Penati and her ops pals Claudia Cafeo + Filip Szczecinski have created a free playbook with plenty of hacks regardless of experience level. I’ve read the playbook myself + think it’s epic!

Another week down, misfits 🫶🏼

As always, I’m only an email away for questions and future episode ideas. I lurv hearing your thoughts (and genuinely read through every email + poll 🥲).

Here’s to a less chaotic next few weeks, eh? 

catch you then,

xo neds