Jade Boyd: I always say that the best platform for you is the one that you use. And so if you commit to using really any platform, you’re going to get used to it. And it’s going to start working for you if you’re committed to making it work for you. But I wouldn’t jump into digital planning, thinking that the system is going to solve your life because it’s not, it’s going to be you actually using the system that’s going to make it helpful for you.

There is something incredibly freeing about having your entire to do list, all of your systems for your business and your life organized in one place. I cannot tell you how much overwhelm it saves me on a daily basis to know that all of the to dos and ideas that would be floating around in my head are organized in my ClickUp space.

And in this episode, I was able to sit down with one of my favorite podcast hosts, Sarah Hart-Unger with the Best Laid Plans podcast and talk about how I organize everything in my business and life in one place using ClickUp.

I’ve been listening to Sarah’s podcast for quite some time, and she talks about all things planning and planning adjacent. She does different planner reviews. She helps her listeners find planner piece by recommending different types of planners based on the types of layouts or paper or structure that they’re looking for, and I have just gotten so many planning ideas and inspiration and been introduced to so many new planners and planner creators through Sarah’s podcast.

So if you are interested in getting more planning tips and resources, or just generally interested in the planning community in general, I would definitely recommend checking out Sarah’s podcast. But this episode aired on her podcast earlier this year, and I’m replaying it for you on this podcast this fall.

It was one of my favorite conversations that I’d had on another podcast this year and wanted to share it with you all today, because we do talk about how I organize everything and ClickUp, but we also dive into some digital planning tips and routines, and especially for those who are just getting started or might be a little bit intimidated by digital planning, this episode might make it a little bit easier for you to dip your toes in the water and get everything organized in one place.

So without further ado, let’s dive into the episode.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Well welcome Jade to the show. Jade Boyd is a business and productivity coach and I’m gonna admit that I do not invite a lot of people with that particular title on the podcast. Not because I don’t think they’re awesome, but just because there are so many of them, that it can be hard to know who would be helpful.

But Jade emailed me and I was really drawn in by what she does because it’s a little bit different than other things I’ve seen and specifically her mastery of some tools that I really wasn’t that familiar with. So I’m really excited to have Jade on, and teach us all about ClickUp and how she uses it and how she plans her own work in her life.

Welcome Jade.

Jade Boyd: Thank you so much for having me, and I am a huge ClickUp enthusiast, so I am especially excited. This is not a topic I talk about often when I am on podcasts, so especially excited to talk about it with your audience.

Sarah Hart-Unger: So, and just to, like, clarify this, you are not affiliated officially with ClickUp specifically, or are you?

Jade Boyd: Nope, I am not affiliated specifically. I do have a referral link for ClickUp, but anybody can apply for a referral link for ClickUp, so no sponsorships or anything like that.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Awesome. So this passion is real, this is not a ClickUp employee that we have on the line trying to drive customers or something like that. Okay, so Jade, let’s start with how did you choose ClickUp? How did that evolve over time? And what exactly is it? Because it’s not a platform that I personally have experience with.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, so I started using ClickUp, I think, in 2019, really early in 2019. And I’ve always been a productivity enthusiast, so I’ve tried a lot of project and task management platforms. ClickUp is a little bit different. It definitely falls into the category of project and task management platform overall, but their tagline is one app to rule them all.

And I can say like over the last five years, they have built so many features and integrations that you can really do almost anything in ClickUp from calendar management to building dashboards, obviously project and task management and delegation. I automate emails through ClickUp, so it can do a little bit of everything, but I think of it as, the one place that I organize everything in my life in business.

It is truly a robust tool that allows me to do that in a way that a lot of other platforms that are project and task management platforms, because they don’t have all the extra integrations, they’re truly not a one stop shop, but ClickUp has become that for me over the years.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Very interesting. Were there other platforms that you really liked before using ClickUp? Like, how did you make the choice to go in this direction?

Jade Boyd: Yeah, so I’ve definitely rebuilt my systems in multiple platforms, including Asana, which is probably the closest comparison to ClickUp. Trello in the early days, which was never really my favorite. And in ClickUp, you can visualize all of your tasks, like Trello boards anyway, with the little cards that you can move from column to column.

So it kind of is Trello plus a lot of other stuff. And then I also tried Notion for a really long time, actually, because the document feature at that time hadn’t really been built up in ClickUp yet, and that was definitely a limitation in ClickUp, so I was kind of simultaneously using Notion and ClickUp and I feel like Notion has gotten a lot better in terms of what you’re able to organize and automate as well.

But those are the three ones that I spent the most time in. But of course when we were chatting you told me about another project management tool and I feel like people are sending me ideas all the time and I always hop in and like look around and click around. But as far as actually building my entire system and using it, those are the three other platforms that I’ve tried.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Interesting. And do you use this for work stuff and life stuff? Like your travel planning, your tell me about what is in there for you.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, so I do use it for business and for life. I would say it’s a lot more detailed on the business side of things just because from an automation and template and task management perspective, business is a lot more complicated and deadline based than personal life stuff. So the way that I organize my personal life is actually very, very simple.

I only have one to do list that’s very organized in there and things are kind of tagged in different categories, but overall I get really distracted if I have ten different to do lists and so it just has never made sense for my mind to be going to multiple planners or multiple places to organize my to do list on a day I want to look at one place and see here are all the things that I need to do today and then prioritize from there.

And so having one list in ClickUp for my personal life to be able to organize like month by month, week by week, here are the priorities. And then I have a bunch of like recurring tasks, all of the admin stuff that comes up every week or every quarter that is set on a schedule that automatically pops up when it needs to be done, but then from a project perspective, like you mentioned, travel planning, that would be a big project that’s in April, for example and it would just be in that one list that I could look at. And I feel like it’s helpful to have everything in one place, too, because it helps you make better decisions about your time.

I work with a lot of ambitious business owners who routinely overestimate how much they can get done in a month. And it’s so overwhelming and it’s defeating. If that’s the cycle that you’re living in, like month after month, you’re realizing, ugh, I didn’t do anything that I thought I could get done this month and feeling like you’re a failure. And so seeing everything in one place has been really stress relieving for me because it’s made me see very clearly what I have time for and what I don’t have time for managing so many things at the same time.

Sarah Hart-Unger: So when you say you have one list, I’m picturing like a David Allen style, like, list with like 300 things on it. I’m assuming it’s kind of organized by maybe time horizon or category. Can you go into a little bit more how you sort that so that you can actually see what your priorities are? Because you did mention see what I need to do in a day, but obviously that list you’re not pulling from what you need to do in life ever.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, so the great thing about ClickUp is that you can visualize the same list in multiple formats. So the same list that I can see in a list format that does just have 20 things that need to get done in the month of April that are grouped together. I can also just click once and look at the month view and then I can see everything on that list with the specific due date in that month so that they’re spread out a little bit, and I can see week by week or day by day what is actually on that to do list, or even in the Trello board style card list, I can see the things that are open, they’re like ideas at this point, versus the things that are in progress, currently being worked on, versus the things that are done, which I usually just filter out the things that are done and get them off of the view, but sometimes it can be satisfying to look backwards and see all of the things that did get done in a month. But generally my planning process is by time horizon. So when I’m dumping things in there that need to get done in the future, I’m dumping things into the month of May or the month of June.

And then when it comes to monthly planning, that’s when I’m making intentional decisions on like, okay, seeing everything that I want to get done in the month of May, week by week, what are the priorities and setting deadlines for everything so that when I do log in to ClickUp. I’m just looking at my daily to do list and all those decisions on when things needed to get done have already been made.

I’m just showing up and cranking out the to do list.

Sarah Hart-Unger: I love that. I feel like the time horizons are such a universal piece for people that plan effectively. As you know, I teach that specific thing, and this is a great illustration that it does not really matter what platform you’re using the horizons kind of work, even in these cool electronic systems. So that’s, that’s really, really cool to understand.

So what do you feel like is the benefit of setting something like this up? And how long did it take to get your system up and running? Because with every one of these platforms, I’ll use Notion as an example. I’m gonna confess, like, I have played with Notion. but I, I struggle with it. Like, I just, it can do so much that I feel overwhelmed to learn all of that. And so I’m like, you know what, Apple Notes is like, I can’t do that much. So I, I feel like I have full command over it. So that’s what I use. So tell me about like the learning curve here and how you benefit from it.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, so what you just said is basically what I hear from everybody who has tried digital planning because when you first get into any new system, especially a system like ClickUp that can do a lot, it can be really, really quickly overwhelming if you’re trying to utilize all of the functionality immediately when you log in because the more complicated you make things, the easier it is to break things. And so I always recommend starting very, very simply. And I have a course that teaches business owners how to organize their business in ClickUp. And it really is all of the modules are like bare line simplicity. Here are the basics. Let’s start with the essentials. And then the extra modules are like, okay, if you’re ready to get fancy, here are all the extra things that you can set up that are kind of nice to have.

But if you try and start with that, you’re never going to finish setting it up because it is an endless, endless list of things that you could set up or automate or organize or color code within digital systems. So, I mean, short and long answer, you can get started really quickly, but the learning curve over time, my space looks night and day different in ClickUp from the first few months that I was using it to what it looks like today, and I think it’s important to understand that that process happened over five years, and it’s not that I set up my process once and then nothing ever changed. I’m constantly tweaking and like adjusting. And when they come out with new features, experimenting with what is going to work best for me.

And so it is something that you can do quickly, if you’re using the essentials and get familiar with the platform. But I always say that the best platform for you is the one that you use. And so if you commit to using really any platform, you’re going to get used to it. And it’s going to start working for you if you’re committed to making it work for you. But I wouldn’t jump into digital planning, thinking that the system is going to solve your life because it’s not, it’s going to be you actually using the system that’s going to make it helpful for you.

Sarah Hart-Unger: That’s awesome. So you mentioned how it could integrate with both your email and your calendar, and I am very curious as to how that works. And I guess what the benefit is of having that integration versus, you know, just having your email in your email calendar in your calendar.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. So some specific ways that I use email, I will say that I don’t use ClickUp for everything email related, but there are certain things that are really helpful to have templates and automated emails within ClickUp. So a couple of examples, again, on the business side of things, because my business systems in ClickUp are much more robust.

So for the podcast, every single podcast episode that I publish on a weekly basis has like 26 tasks that have to be done in a specific order by various people by my VA, podcast editor, and so it can be really complicated to keep track of something like that on paper when multiple people are responsible for it But also with guest episodes you have to communicate with guests too.

So there are certain emails that are automated when someone somebody fills out their form to be a guest expert on my podcast, for example. Having that form in ClickUp means that I can automate that email response in ClickUp if they’re submitting their email, which means that I’m not having to monitor my email inbox and send templates even it’s happening automatically.

Or when I’m moving a task from, like, it’s in progress to this episode is now officially recorded. My podcast editor automatically gets an email from ClickUp saying, hey, a new episode has been recorded and is ready for you to start editing so that he’s up to date immediately when new things are happening.

So that’s a couple of examples.

From a client perspective to my client application for my coaching program is also in ClickUp, organize everything in one place. And so when they fill out that form, they get an automated email telling them what the next steps are to book a discovery call and like continue moving through the application process.

So on the email side of things, there’s specific workflow related emails that can be automated that just saves me a lot of time.

On the calendar side of things, like we mentioned, time horizons, are my go to as well when it comes to planning and thinking about things in more bite sized chunks and being realistic about how much I can accomplish in certain weeks or months.

And with ClickUp on the home screen function, you can integrate your Google Calendar or other calendar if you’re using iCal or something else. So that you can see your task list and then pull in your calendar events and see them both on one screen, but you can also drag your tasks into your calendar in ClickUp so that if you’re time blocking or if you have like your ideal week set up in Google Calendar or something, and you’re looking at that side by side, you can drag all of your marketing tasks into your marketing time block or all of your admin tasks into your admin time block and so it just helps to see the two things in one place so that you’re looking at that one plan and not like jumping from your calendar to your to do list throughout the day.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Yeah, that’s really cool. I like that because especially if you’re doing both, now if you’re doing the both on paper, sometimes it can actually be an easier integration because like you got your tasks on the side of your planner or whatever, but for those who love digital, I can see how having everything on separate screens, if you’re not putting your tasks straightly into your Google calendar, it might be a really fun way to kind of visualize, okay, what’s due in the next week and then my schedule next to it.

And then like, I like the drag and drop idea. So that’s pretty cool.

So, however, you have mentioned that you also enjoy using paper and take us through how somebody might integrate both the use of such a robust and versatile program like ClickUp or some of its comparable competitors, and potentially using paper, because I do feel like more and more, the longer I do this podcast, the more we embrace that most people are some sort of hybrid of multiple, kind of domains there.

Jade Boyd: Yes, so I love paper and I feel like from a productivity standpoint, there’s something special about paper that does focus you to slow down and you think twice about writing something down when you’re writing it down on paper versus when you can just type it up quick or like drag it to your calendar, right?

It takes a little bit more thought and you might think twice if you’re writing and rewriting a task multiple times on paper versus if you’re just changing the due date on a screen. There’s a different level of thought that goes into that and you might be less likely to continue procrastinating on something or notice those trends more often, but how I use digital and paper together, I’m using the Hemlock And Oak daily planner this week. And again, with the idea of having everything in one place, I’m using it as my to do list for the day. So every day I’m looking at my Google calendar and ClickUp, looking at like the meetings and like scheduled things on my calendar.

But also all of the tasks that are assigned in ClickUp that are due that day. And then I like taking the time to write them out in my planner for time blocking. Could I do that in ClickUp? Yes. But again, I think there’s something special about documenting and even archiving and flipping back through the pages of what I was working on during certain days or certain months.

And then also seeing side by side in the daily in the Hemlock And Oak, there’s a lot of extra room. Two thirds of the page are open grid squares and then a third of the page is like the time blocking column. And so I’m journaling and looking at my to do list on one page, which also gives me the accountability of filling out that one page because I’m in it all day working on my to do list.

And so it’s never really worked for my mind, I’ve tried in the past to have a five year journal and also like a long form journal and a planner and have them be separate things. And it’s never really worked for me, but having everything in the one daily planner has worked really, really well so far this year.

So I’ve really liked that system, but generally everything gets assigned and prioritized in ClickUp, but then on a day to day basis is when I’m bringing myself back to like the grounding ritual of writing things down on paper.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Oh, that’s awesome. I love that. I feel like that seems to be the more common direction a lot of people are going with their kind of like nuts and bolts weekly schedule is in some sort of electronic, format and then yet they love to plan out their day, take notes, draw pictures, record, track, do all kinds of creative things on paper.

And I think that can be a really, really fun, kind of hybrid combination. So I love that you are doing that. And let’s just mention Hemlock And Oak. I have reviewed them before. They make gorgeous, kind of linen cover or I think they have some leather like covers too. They’re very like sustainable materials. They’re made in Canada. They have a weekly that is like a vertical kind of Hobonichi like cousin layout, but then their daily is awesome. I have contemplated trying this. The paper is wonderful, it’s very gender neutral and kind of like elegant looking, I think. So if you’re looking for a really fun daily planner with a lot of space to do what you want with it, and you like grid squares, and you like excellent thick paper, Hemlock And Oak is a great one to try out.

Jade Boyd: And they also do just the grid notebooks and dot notebooks for those who are doing bullet journaling too, and I’ve tried those as well, and those are great as well. Also linen bound.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Awesome. Well, Jade, this has been awesome. I now want to play with ClickUp. I always get like jazzed to try out new things. I don’t always stick to them, but it can be really, really fun to hear about how other people use these newer tools. And I think the biggest takeaway for me was that it’s such a learning curve and if you’re going to try one of these things, give yourself time, try little pieces of it, and you can let it build rather than expecting to like set your system up from the ground up on day one.

But tell our listeners how they can get some help with this from you, and otherwise, where to find you.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. So if you’re interested in getting started in ClickUp, like I said, I have a course for business owners specifically that helps you organize your business workflows and systems and goals and all of the things in ClickUp in a way that is not overwhelming, that is very step by step. And so you can find that at www. jadeboyd. co/organizeyourbusiness and really everything else you can find on my website as well. I have productivity and business freebies. If you’re into getting organized and setting up systems as a business owner. And then really the best place to follow along would be my podcast, The Business Minimalist in all areas of business, I believe in doing less, but better and simplifying things in order to grow and so if you’re looking for more content like that as a business owner, the podcast is the best place to get it.

Sarah Hart-Unger: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on, Jade.

Jade Boyd: Thank you so much for having me.