I know basic admin tasks but when clients ask about tools like Notion or Zapier I freeze. Should I focus on learning one tool deeply first or try to get a general idea of many tools? What helped you when you were starting out?
But I’m realizing time management is harder than I expected. I’m juggling 3 clients now and sometimes I mix up tasks. Anyone here using a system to manage multiple clients without burning out?
I thought I’d freeze but it actually went okay. The client asked if I knew how to use Notion and I said “a little” even though I’ve mostly just watched YouTube tutorials lol. Now I’m spending the whole evening learning dashboards properly. Anyone else learn tools after getting the client?
Each one has things I like and things that frustrate me. Trello is the simplest to hand over to a client who's never used a project management tool before they get it immediately. Asana feels more structured for ongoing work with clear deadlines and dependencies. ClickUp has everything but I've had clients get overwhelmed by it within the first week. what I keep coming back to is that the best tool is the one the client will actually use consistently but I'd love to know what others are recommending and why. is there one that's become your default?
Honestly I’ve started defaulting to Asana for most long-term clients. ClickUp is powerful but sometimes feels like giving someone a spaceship when they just needed a bicycle 😅
You have to decide that yourself — and then back it up. What worked for me was keeping a running doc of wins. Time saved, problems solved, revenue influenced, systems built. Every month I added to it. When the conversation came, I wasn't guessing at my value. I had receipts. Start that doc now even if a rate raise feels far away.
The “receipts” part is huge honestly. I used to undersell myself because I forgot half the stuff I was actually helping clients with until I started tracking it properly.