Using a project management tool like ClickUp is key as a neurodiverse business owner. ClickUp has a ton of features which are amazingly helpful, but it can be overwhelming at first. If you follow these ClickUp tips and tricks that I’ve learned as a neurodiverse ClickUp Consultant, you’ll set yourself (and your ClickUp) up for success and create a home base that your neurodiverse brain thrives in and isn’t overwhelming.
ClickUp acts as a centralized home base for everything that’s going on in your business (and your life). Instead of having tasks all over the place, like in your email, Slack, texts, Trello, etc., keep them in one centralized place so you always know where to find them.
In addition, ClickUp does a lot of the heavy lifting for you (like remembering when you need to pay your quarterly taxes 🙌🏼) so it also gives you permission to forget.
Read more about how you can create an All In One system in ClickUp.
ClickUp Tips and Tricks
Keep Your Setup Simple
Keep your ClickUp setup simple. It’s easy to start creating space after space but in your ClickUp hierarchy, less is more.
Pay attention to these three common pitfalls to avoid when setting up your ClickUp spaces 👀
As a vetted ClickUp Consultant, a mistake that I see my clients make often is setting up one space per client.
1/ Pay attention to these three common pitfalls to avoid when setting up your ClickUp spaces 👀 As a vetted ClickUp Consultant, a mistake that I see my clients make often is setting up one space per client 🚫
— New Leaf Digital – ClickUp and Operations Strategy (@newleafdigital) April 13, 2022
Create two spaces to start: business headquarters (for all your internal tasks) and client management (for all your client tasks). Spaces are the top of the ClickUp hierarchy so instead of adding more spaces, make use of the features inside them.
Inside the business headquarters space, create a folder for each internal department: marketing, sales, operations, etc. but don’t go overboard here. In the client management space, create a folder for each client.
Use lists and ClickUp custom fields to further organize your work like in this example below of my lead tracking folder which is divided into lists which then use various custom fields to display and organize info about my leads:
Use Me Mode
If you are the “if I can’t see it, it’s dead to me” type of person, you need to use ClickUp’s Me Mode.
Me Mode cuts out all the noise of what other people in your workspace are doing and only shows you your assigned tasks, assigned comments, subtasks, and checklist items. If you are ADHD, this is key. You probably don’t need to see Clara the VA’s social media scheduling tasks to get your work done. And if you did see them, they’d distract you.
Save yourself from the potential distraction and rabbit holes by keeping Me Mode on as much as you can.
Here is an example of a saved view at the everything level showing my priority tasks. Me Mode is on to show only MY priority tasks, comments, subtasks, and checklist items.
Use ClickUp’s Home Feature
ClickUp’s Home feature is a lifesaver for neurodiverse folks because it takes all the things in ClickUp and only shows you what you need to know today. If you work from your Home, there’s less of a chance that you will get distracted by tasks that you shouldn’t be spending time on right now.
Helpful ClickUp features in the Home include LineUp™ which lets you add your most important task to focus on right at the top of the screen.
The My Work section is important as well as it shows exactly what needs to be done today, without requiring you to click anywhere else and get distracted. And it’s right alongside the Calendar in case you want to drag and drop your tasks into it to time block.
Find a View That Works for Your Brain
ClickUp offers so many different views that you’re sure to find one that works for your brain. You may find you love list view and hate board view. If you’re more of a linear thinker, list view or table view is for you. If you’re a visual person, try board view or whiteboard. If you love spreadsheets, use table view. If you need a higher level view, use box or timeline view depending on your use case.
A great feature that ClickUp has is the ability to duplicate one view in another view format. So you can set up a saved list view and then duplicate it as a table view. Creating different views showing the same information is a great way to accommodate different types of thinkers and brains on your team.
Use ClickUp Whiteboards to Map Out All Your Ideas
Here in my blog database list I used ClickUp whiteboards to visualize the connections between different keywords I am tracking. The whiteboard make it easy for me to visualize and add notes with ideas for topics while allowing me to show my actual tasks.
Create Saved ClickUp Views
As you use ClickUp more and more, the number of tasks in your workspace will only grow. To prevent yourself from feeling overwhelmed by scrolling through endless lists of tasks, create saved views to make it easy for you to see what you need to see (and hide everything else).
You can create saved views at any level of the ClickUp hierarchy so first think where you’d like to create it – ask your self what info do you want to see and what do you not want to see. Then, create a new view and set up filters, group by, and sorting.
Here’s an example of a saved view in my content calendar:
Favorites
After you save a view, favorite it so that you have a quick and easy way to access it again without having to click through your hierarchy to find that list you’re always using. Pin your favorites bar too so that it’s always at the top of your screen and not hidden. Favorite any frequently accessed lists, tasks, or saved views. Here’s a peek at my favorites:
Tame Your Notifications
The first thing I have my ClickUp setup clients do is turn off their notifications. Head to the notification settings and click the double checkmark to turn off all the notifications that you can. Some are required to be on. I do recommend that you leave on notifications that are related to @ mentions.
Use the Task Tray
To avoid the whole “what task what I was just working on???” thing, make use of the task tray ClickUp feature. If you’re working on a task and need to open another one, check a dashboard, or review a doc, instead of closing it and hoping you find it again and don’t get distracted on your way back, minimize the task into the task tray.
Keep your task tray pinned so that it’s always visible to you – you need to have the tasks you were working on easily accessible. You can also drag and drop them to order them by priority.
Create a Resource List and a Business Hub
The average person spends over 5 hours a week looking for stuff on their computer. To prevent this waste of time (and money!), create a Business Hub List with all your important stuff: your branding info, your bio, anything you find yourself looking for over and over.
Hire Someone to Set Up Your ClickUp and Train You to Use It
ClickUp has a ton of features. You can easily lose several hours – or days or even weeks – playing with it and perfecting your setup. And after all that, you may find yourself frustrated, with a setup that doesn’t work for you.
Instead of wasting time and energy, hire a neurodiverse and vetted ClickUp Consultant like me to do the setup for you and train you on how to use it. Learn more about my setup service.
