How I work with Basecamp and my calendar

okay hi today's video is gonna be

slightly different and if you have any

questions please do send me a message by

my website McJunkin comm or if you have

a question just put it down below and

hopefully we can get that well not

really I will get to it and I will get

back to you

so today's video video is gonna be

slightly different if you remember on

Monday I was talking about how it's

gonna change my no system my workflow

and tools and apps that I wanted to use

and I was going to try it out for a week

to see how I'm gonna get I was going to

get on and this Friday being today I

wanted to go through how I do it

most of this is going to be within base

camp because base camp is the tool that

I'm using and it's for me the simple is

simply the best tool I've ever come

across in working with my clients and if

you're a coach or facilitator or even if

you're working on your own actually it

works really well so what I'm gonna do

I've got my phone recording so I'm gonna

go show you a couple of things there

I've also got screen recording so how I

usually work with my clients is that I

sent them an email outlining what we're

going to be doing send an invoice and

then put that information into their

base camp into their project the

workspace I would rather call it a

workspace so basically I can communicate

with the client so if we go over to the

computer you can see my client Cosmo

Kramer if everyone if anyone's

interested in Seinfeld Seinfeld this is

not like my Bible actually so I've

created a client called Cosmo Kramer and

his company's called America industries

and this is just a very brief what I'm

going to be doing gee sweet and pizza

restaurant

and with Basecamp and just so you know

sorry come back to the camera just so

you know there is a lot of personal

information here for my other clients so

there will be screens that I won't be

showing I just wanted to go through the

basics of how this works so you have

different tools with Basecamp within a

base camp you have campfire message

board to do schedule Docs automatic

check-ins and email forwards I'm not

gonna worry about email forwards for the

moment how I work I've actually created

actually lists I get so the client gets

added to the tulip to the base camp I'm

going to call it base character to the

project and then I give them access to

the base camp so the campfire is

basically a quick like what's up type of

messages

so it actually writes down and you can

obviously change to see whether it's

just our team meaning yourself or the

client so obviously campfires kind of a

what's up message a quick kind of

question type thing I prefer my clients

to actually use the message board where

it kind of outlines it almost like an

email so if I create a new message you

write a title and then write what you

want to talk about discuss and obviously

if I'm writing it I want to either be

for myself or the team or for all the

client can actually see it as well so

I've created this one that's automatic

and it's just the basic welcome we're

going to be using this you know Basecamp

gives you basic ideas of what Basecamp

is and what each section does which are

obviously going to go through where they

can get access to base camp where they

can download it on to their iPhone and

if obviously they need me they can

contact me here

and and obviously you could you know

it's a discussion so you can actually

talk back and forth with these things

so that's message board to dues

obviously - dues I have one called to-do

list called project so the client sees

that admin certain things that client

doesn't need to see just for myself so

you know if there's a project she give

them permission and so on obviously I've

done this and I've done this for

instance because I've given the client

access to this I've created the invoice

and I've sent the invoice and get the

invoice signs well no we don't need that

so we delete that and it's the payment

received yes very simple very easy now

if I create a project sorry create a

task so test a task you can actually

assign it to the to either the client or

yourself so this is gonna be assigned to

them and notify them about this so that

when when done know to find me when is

it for and it's the only problem with

Basecamp - dues and I really wish they

actually add it added that feature is

that there's no timing on the tasks

there's only dates I understand the

reasons why they've done that but anyway

and also you can add it notes and so on

so I will add to this to do and then I

will add it oh describe sorry oh no

sorry I've already added it I was just

creating another task so now if I go

into that task these are the notes we

can meet in my client can then

communicate about that task which is

really good this will feel really simple

and the thing with Basecamp like some of

the other tools that there are out there

the client will actually get an email

about everything that's happened so they

don't necessarily have to use Basecamp

to communicate they can just send an

email

but I prefer them to use Basecamp

because it gets them involved a bit more

rather than them thinking they're just

sending an email this makes much more

sense so that's the very basics of the

tasks basically how I set up the tasks

now I'll come back to also messaging so

anything that's got a date any to do

that's got a date will basically go into

the schedule if you notice here December

you can also just add an event that is

seen by the client or me so let's just

say and of coaching program I can set

the date whenever I want I don't

actually need to have a time so I just

put all day so don't repeat it

well notes again you can add notes when

I pass this note notify no one I could

post it and notify Cosmo because what

that is his name actually Cosmo Kramer

and I post it and there it is so if I go

to today I see everything that has a

list everything that happens after that

day if I go to say the 30th I don't see

anything before that day I only see

things that are after that day for

instance and that's the very basics of

and again the of the sorry if year

schedule and again with this you can

again have discussions with it with

specific tasks and and offense and so

and I you know I mean it's just so

simple to work with dogs on files

self-explanatory I always create one

called admin that the client doesn't see

I always create

don't actually have a folder no no well

that's weird okay then you can basically

just create so I just called Docs save

and then I give the client access to

that one folder like this all done so

anything I put within this folder the

client sees so as you saw if I go into

that folio as you saw you can add Google

Doc file so you just pasted the link

there or a Dropbox box and onedrive or

you can just upload files from your

computer you can also create documents

so they're basic documents so again I'm

sorry dog

test it's so weird that we just write

tests all the time and obviously you can

attach files and so on and so forth so

let's kind of do that one less you know

what let's do an image well that's my

let's do the never let's do that image

that's Ellie and that's banner my

daughter and my son and that's me when I

had yellow here yeah wow this is old

photo anyway so and then you can save it

as a draft and it will tell you this is

draft is on public is unpublished and

you can either continue or just post the

document I will post a document I don't

need to notify anyone post so now

because that document is actually within

this Doc's folder I called it dogs so

they see and because the client can see

this folder they can see this file

automatically so I don't have to keep

giving access to files I just create the

file or add it into there and they see

it really simple and it works really

well

automatic check-ins are the simple are

simply the best feature of this so I can

create

a question so how has your day been

today now this is completely pointless

question we're just gonna show you what

it is and I can ask on a specific day or

let's just say I will ask on a on a you

know on the Wednesday which is midweek

once a week sorry

on there you can actually do it every

week every other week once a week once a

month on the first Tuesday so let's just

say once a week when do you want to do

it at 9:00 o'clock

end of day or let me pick up that pick a

time so I just say end of day I want the

client to be asked I don't want to be

asked because I'm asking a question to

the client save my answers now every

Wednesday at 4:30 the client will get

asked this question now this is

invaluable when you're working with

clients I do care about talking with to

my clients but if it can be automated I

mean you still have to come up with the

questions obviously so each question is

relevant to that project to that client

to that period of time it's invaluable

and you know with the clients that I'm

working with I've set different

questions for those clients like I had a

client who had issues with kept

forgetting how to or kept forgetting to

empty their trash bin believe or not so

I sent a question at the end of each

Friday I think it was like two o'clock

asking have you deleted your have you

emptied your trash and they actually do

reply yes I have or actually once she

said yes I have stop asking with a

smiley face and other times like oh damn

I forgot on let me do that now so it is

a question

even though as being it's automatic but

you the question itself is personal so

it's actually quite nice and there's

interaction there's always interaction

with your clients with my clients anyway

email forwards I won't go into but

basically it's if you have a client that

emails you about a particular task or

whether or any email pertaining to do to

do to that project

I will generally forward it and it goes

into there now the client doesn't

necessarily need to see it but you can

set it up for them I'm gonna delete this

obviously later so this doesn't matter

so the client doesn't need to see it

necessarily but you can actually set it

to for the client to see it but I just

wanted to put all the tools that a

Basecamp actually has that's it I mean

it doesn't need to be complicated you

don't need to over complete there's

obviously certain things that you need

to do and say within each individual to

do and so on but you don't need to

complicate the work that you need to do

when you're working with clients the

other thing that which is not Basecamp

the other thing that I was doing was

putting everything I can't show you

because I think ish I'm gonna click it

to see you my stuff my schedule so in my

schedule okay you can see this you can

you can add anything in your own

schedule in your own Basecamp so you

have a I have a Mac junkie HQ Basecamp

which is to do with the company so I can

put anything and everything pertaining

to my company and me and my personal

stuff in there and it goes into your

calendar basically and you can subscribe

to that calendar and that's a segue into

how I'm dealing with my calendar now I

started using fantastical and the reason

for that was that I wanted

simplify how many inboxes I had you know

I had to do it I had things I had I have

email I have now Basecamp the only tools

I use throughout the day our Basecamp

fantastical which is my calendar a my

to-do list and I'm gonna go into that

and honestly my email but I don't live

in my email I live in my calendar and

Basecamp generally it's my calendar

actually but they're the two things that

I actually live in so if you're living

in your calendar nothing's happening so

why are you always there so my point

being I'm never always there unless I'm

being told what to do I obviously look

throughout at the beginning of the day

or the day or the day previous as to

what I need to do for that day or the

next day but I don't live within a

particular app I don't live in my email

for sure I kind of live in Basecamp

because that's where I do my work but I

only go there when there is something to

do and the exactly the same with my

calendar and my to-do list now

I used to use todoist and the reason I

used it other than the fact that it is a

fantastic app is that I was also doing

my projects in there that's why I used

it as my to-do list the fact that I'm

not using todoist sorry to do sorry to

do is for my projects and I moved over

to my out to Basecamp it's the reason

why I stopped using todoist for my to-do

items because any to-do items pertaining

to a project I do put it into that

project anything pertaining to do with

my company as it were I do it in my

company HQ if I need to make a quick to

do so I don't forget anything when I'm

out and about I put it into Apple

reminders and why Apple reminders it's

insanely simple let me see if I can pull

it up

it's insanely simple it's stupid simple

III yeah I don't need to put anything in

there so if you look in there I have two

lists tasks which is everything whether

it's personal or or business or work or

anything related I put it in there and

my groceries or do I need to buy green

beans shower gel and dishwasher tablets

so whenever I come up with something I

just put it into groceries or whenever I

come up to come up with anything that I

need to do for my personal projects or

my work projects I literally put it into

here why is that this actually shouldn't

be here and you delete that because I've

that was a test

um that's it it doesn't have to be

complicated it really doesn't have to be

come here because most of my work is

done in now the reason why using

reminders and the reason why it's never

open is because fantastical actually

sees those reminders because I want to

see what what tasks I need to do that

are not in my project management or

Basecamp sorry that are in my project

management a little Basecamp and

anything else so before I had three and

the reason why I haven't anyway sorry so

I have three calendars personal work and

business and the reason why they're in

on the same color

they're the same color it's because this

was the test week to see whether I

actually liked having them in the same

color and the only reason they were in

different different colors was because

if I looked at the calendar I wanted to

see what it was was it business or

personal but then I realized that was

complicating things

so I actually wanted to see one calendar

one color for anything that's in my

calendar so anything that's blue is a

calendar item and in fact I'm going to

give it another few days or a week

and I will probably merge them into one

calendar and I will call it agenda but

right now they're separate and Basecamp

being poked I tried yellow because

Basecamp is yellow but just looks weird

so anything that's purple in my calendar

is to do with what's in Basecamp so I

can see it oh that's a person that's a

Basecamp thing and and tasks why is this

not being and tasks is anything is

anything to do with there should be like

this actually sorry

tasks are green so anything I put in

some reminders app or if I pick up my

phone and say Siri reminds me hey Siri

let's do this now hey Siri it's not

going to do it because I'm recording the

screen okay that's not so I can't anyway

that's stupid they don't work just like

the cyber trucks crying the glass is

throwing a steel ball at the glove US

and breaking so if I create if I'm out

and about and I create a task it will go

into reminders and then it gets pulled

in to my fantastic house so I can just

look at my calendar and see what's in my

calendar what's in my task list a task

list and what's in my Prada what's in my

projects that I have to do it cannot get

any simpler it probably will because me

being me I always want to try to find a

simpler way of doing it but basically

it's it's just that it's your calendar

your tasks and your projects all rolled

into one window that's why I said I live

in my calendar because I need to know

what's going on that's basically yeah I

don't looking at it what else am i doing

so Google Chrome is obviously my email

and think things like that fantastical

the reason I use is because I can put my

tasks within there and I can see it

Oh silly Basecamp they have an album you

don't need to use the app you just use

it online I just use the app where I do

all my projects and so on and where is

it and sorry again and my notes yeah we

won't go into that right now I use Apple

notes for making notes but basically a

Google Chrome fantastical Basecamp and

notes are the only things that are that

I use on a daily basis and that is it so

did my experiment work actually yes it

did work and it was mainly to have

everything in one place so I can look at

one place my calendar and see my project

my calendar and my to-do lists did

having my business personal and my work

calendar as one color

ie being merged hi wolf he's coming up

the stairs sorry did that did it work

having them as one color so can I merge

them into one actually yes it has but

I'm gonna wait a few days maybe a week

to actually merge them so I'm gonna try

to keep keep doing this for another week

probably but if you if you're looking

for an answer if I want to answer it for

myself

yes it did work so again going back to

what you actually need to do have the

least amount of inboxes then that will

help you kind of overcome this busyness

like the video I did yesterday

just very quickly before I finish off on

my phone is exactly the same thing so I

have fantastical on the right I have

Basecamp on the left and actually that's

it and Gmail being the email app that I

use that's it so you know

if I go into my fantastical that is my

calendar so we'll do that now we won't

do it properly so that's it and going to

my Basecamp go into my whereas twice of

course my I mean refresh where's Cosmo

go there you go

and there are the apps and there and you

have an activity timeline when you go

into the project as to what's going on

so whenever I work with a client I can

see exactly what I'm doing for that

client what they have kind of assigned

to me what I have assigned to them

what kind of check-ins they have if

whether they've answered what kind of

questions they have what they'd like me

to do via the message board what

documents have I uploaded or what they

have I've loaded their on any scheduled

bookings have they made so again very

quickly did my experiment work

absolutely I'm going to test it out for

a couple more days but basically yes it

doesn't have to be complicated when

you're working with your clients well

I've shown you know it doesn't now the

issue here is and I find a lot of people

changing tools like I change tools

because I need to because it's my work

and I need to find the better way of

working not just for me but for my

client so I know different types of

workflows different ways of working

however the system shouldn't change the

system working with your clients to do's

and notes and stuff that shouldn't

change the tools can change however I

wouldn't recommend keep changing and

obviously anyway I hope that's

beneficial it was a longer video today I

just wanted to go through my workflow I

hope that helped you out and as I said

at the beginning if you have any

questions put them down below or send me

a message via my website make junkie

comm that's it have a great weekend

keep it simple and I'll see you next

week enjoy a weekend ciao I'll bite