The Creative Desk Strategic Support Ltd

08/09/2026

Back in London for our in-person day with the fantastic Jo Jo Simpson | Profit Strategist and Krista Close. Always get so much value from@these days. And love seeing people I’m connecting with online face to face.

03/09/2026

There’s a very tempting point when you’re trying to sort out a business where somebody suggests a new tool.

ClickUp. Notion. Slack. Another CRM.
Some shiny new platform that promises to organise everything before lunch.

I understand the attraction. I like a good system too.

Before I start changing anything for a client, though, I want to know what’s actually happening during a normal week.

Where does work slow down?
What keeps finding its way back to the business owner?
Which perfectly sensible process has quietly grown several additional arms and legs while everyone was busy doing actual work?

I’ve seen enough CRMs do this to know it rarely happens dramatically.

Nobody arrives on Monday and announces, “Excellent news, we now have seventeen unnecessary stages.”
It just creeps in.

A workaround here. Another folder there. One extra approval because something went wrong once in 2024.
Before long, everybody knows the system is irritating but nobody can quite remember how it got there.

How you actually like to work matters too.

Some people need plenty of structure. Others need a very clear next step without having to open six tabs and attend a small internal committee meeting first.

That can be especially important when I’m working with neurodivergent clients.

If you’re already avoiding the app you’ve got, adding another one probably won’t improve your relationship with technology.

I’d rather find out what’s getting stuck first.

02/09/2026

Thank you Natalie Mackenzie | The Brain Lady of Business Natalie for am incredible day. You totally spoilt us. Can’t wait to open my goodie bag. I won’t lie the toilet was quite a highlight! It was lovely meeting Carol, Rebecca from Becca, Penny Penny Richards, Jane Jane Johnson - Parenting Coach, Sarah Sarah Collison

02/09/2026

Some of the most useful changes in a business are also the least exciting ones.

▶️ A clearer handover.
▶️ One obvious next step.
▶️ A system that actually reflects the capacity people have now, rather than six months ago.

I see a lot of businesses where the team is capable and the tools are perfectly decent, but the process around the work has become muddy.

That’s when things start taking longer than they should, decisions sit around waiting, and someone eventually suggests another app.

Sometimes the app is innocent.

I’d much rather sort out what’s happening underneath first.

02/09/2026

Early morning start. Off to London to meet up with Natalie Mackenzie | The Brain Lady of Business Natalie Mackenzie and Emma Michael | AI for ADHD Brains and the rest of the COGS (Cognitive Operating Growth System) participants. A culmination of 8 weeks of learning how so many things affect our brains and most importantly we learnt how to combat the negatives and set up our brains optimally and keep it healthy for long term usage 😂.

01/09/2026

Yum yum yum! Look what I’ve just found in my oat box!!!!! All a girl needs in a Tuesday that feels like Monday is a bit of Mejoolies treats. Thank you Jo Jo Simpson | Profit Strategist and Krista Close

27/08/2026

September is approaching with a clipboard and several questions about the things August was apparently going to sort out.

Slightly awkward.

Especially when one of them has actually been following you around since June.

Before we wander into September and start pretending Q4 isn’t standing just behind it looking expectant, it might be worth asking:

1. What still doesn’t have a clear owner?
2. Which decision keeps coming back for another meeting?
3. What process is still living mainly in someone’s head?
4. Where are you still doing the chasing, checking and remembering?
5. What genuinely needs support rather than another move to “next month”?

I’m very familiar with putting things on the back burner while client work, urgent requests and something considerably more interesting take over.

Unfortunately, the back burner does eventually become rather crowded.

If the same operational problem has followed your business through another month, you may have reached the point where it needs an owner, a clearer process or somebody helping to oversee it properly.

That’s exactly the sort of thing we help with at The Creative Desk.

If something is still following you into September, send us a message. We can help you work out what kind of support would actually take it off your plate.

25/08/2026

I know this is not a “business” post but I was shocked to hear that this icon of my childhood years has died. In my teens years I was a Goth (that’s a story for another day) but she was always in our orbit, on the radio, TV and in the record shops (yes I’m a Gen Xer - vinyls, mix tapes, CDs - I’ve experienced it all). But what I loved about her is behind the big hair (and b***s) was a very astute business woman. She had her personal brand nailed. She also had a heart of gold - in private not for everyone to see. RIP Dolly. You were certainly one of a kind.

22/08/2026

20/08/2026

“Just send the email” is doing a heroic amount of work in that sentence.

A task can look like it should take five minutes, right up until you open the thread and realise your brain has just been handed a small committee meeting.

1. What was agreed last time?
2. What tone do I need here?
3. Am I replying to the right bit?
4. Do I need to attach something?
5. Am I asking for something clearly enough?
6.. Does anyone else need to approve it?
7. If I send this now, what follow-up have I just created for myself?

By the time you’ve worked through all that, the “quick email” isn’t really one task. It’s a string of small decisions dressed up as admin.

That’s often why supposedly simple tasks can feel oddly tiring, especially when you’ve already got too many tabs open in your brain.

Sometimes it isn’t the task that’s heavy. It’s the number of decisions tucked inside it.

Which “quick task” in your business is rarely actually quick?