Goldfish Memory & the Power of Systems: Finding Order with Liva Vitola

Ever feel like your memory works like a goldfish? You're not alone. In this enlightening conversation with Liva Vitola, a business operations and systems strategist, we dive deep into the real cause of overwhelm that plagues so many busy professionals, especially women juggling multiple roles.

Liva shares her personal journey of managing a "three-second memory" while balancing life as a project manager, wife, mother and business owner. The surprising revelation? Her overwhelm wasn't from having too much to do, it was from the constant anxiety of forgetting what needed to be done. This anxiety creates a spiral of negative self-talk that makes us feel like we're failing, when in reality, we're just missing a system.

We explore how digital tools like ClickUp can transform chaotic thoughts into organised systems, creating not just order but genuine peace of mind. Contrary to popular belief among creative types, having systems in place doesn't restrict freedom, it creates it by removing the mental load of remembering everyday tasks. As Liva beautifully explains, "Having systems in place actually opens up space for creative freedom because you already have the roots down."

From brain dumps to delegating tasks, we cover practical strategies for getting started with digital organisation, even if you've been resistant to structure in the past. You'll discover how the simple act of getting tasks out of your head can provide immediate relief and clarity, allowing you to see exactly what you're dealing with and make better decisions about your time and energy.

Ready to transform your relationship with organisation? Listen now and take the first step toward a life where your systems support your creativity rather than stifling it. Connect with Liva, join her newsletter here to access free ClickUp templates and resources to begin your journey from chaos to clarity.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Beyond the Organized
• 2:15 Memory of a Goldfish
• 5:48 The Digital Solution to Overwhelm
• 9:30 Getting Ideas Out of Your Head
• 14:00 Systems Create Freedom, Not Restriction
• 21:35 ClickUp as a Life Hub
• 26:45 Closing and How to Connect

Transcript

Mel Schenker:

Welcome to another episode of Beyond Organised. I have a lovely guest here and I apologise if I don't say very well, but I'll give you a bit of a background. So I have Liva Vitola. I'm sorry if that's wrong. She's a business operations and systems strategist who helps women simplify the chaos of everyday life with digital tools like ClickUp. She believes overwhelm isn't always about having too much to do, but more about forgetting what needs to be done. So true. And she shows others how digital planning can bring clarity and peace of mind from business projects to family routines. So all the way from Latvia, welcome Liv. Nice to have you.

Līva Vītola:

Hi Mel, thank you so much for having me here.

Mel Schenker:

You're so welcome. I loved connecting with you before the show and seeing how we're on a very similar path when it comes to, you know, the chaos or the going to the, from the chaos to the clarity. And we want to simplify things and have systems in place that makes our work and our lives and everything easier. I love what you're doing.

Mel Schenker:

I'm really excited for everyone to hear what it is you do. If you wouldn't mind, could share a little bit about what you do.

Līva Vītola:

Absolutely. So I've been a project manager for over seven years now. I started working at a translation agency after finishing my bachelor studies in translations and that's where I really found my love of just running, planning, executing projects. But at the same time, I've always been super forgetful. I've always said that my memory is that of a goldfish. It's like three seconds and I forget. I forget whatever I was doing, what I was saying that might happen here in this recording as well. It's just the way that my... It's the way that my mind works. And I'm sure that that's the way for a lot of women that are listening.

Mel Schenker:

Mm-hmm.

Līva Vītola:

Listening to this episode that just can't function without reminders, without to-do lists and actually sticking with them. That you just get distracted or you get passionate about another new project in your life or a new hobby and you forget about the things that you were actually supposed to be doing because you just got too excited about something new. So, so this has been a very big issue for me, especially as the role started, you know, accumulating in my life. So from being, you know, just a girl to becoming a wife, a mom, a dog mom, and also having my own business. So all of these roles, they carry a lot with them, right? Even when we become a mom, all of a sudden we don't have to just worry about our own doctor appointments and our own...

Mel Schenker:

Mm-hmm.

Līva Vītola:

Schedules we are also suddenly responsible for the schedule and the appointments for our kids too. So in my case that is my kids speech therapy and you know all the other things like vaccinations and training and workouts and you name it really.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah.

Līva Vītola:

And yeah, and that's been my biggest root cause of my overwhelm really is not that I have too much to do in a single day, but that I have no idea what I am forgetting to do. And then I feel that guilt and just that shame and anxiety of not knowing what needs to be done and what hasn't been done and am I on track?

Mel Schenker:

Yeah.

Līva Vītola:

But you can't, you can't do it when it, when it all only lives in your head. Right. So at one point I, I just started breaking down because I wasn't using any planning for my own business. Although I did use a really great project management tool in my office job, because that's what they supplied me with. Right. And it was just their standard operating procedure to use the platform for running all of these small projects and communicating with each other but I wasn't using it for myself as an OBM which is so weird because you know the best practices but you don't use them for yourself.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah, you're not alone there. So common, so common.

Līva Vītola:

Because it feels overwhelming to even build out like where do I get started with planning these things?

Mel Schenker:

Yeah, getting started is so hard.

Līva Vītola:

It's the hardest thing. But once I really committed to it and I started using a digital tool like ClickUp, which was my tool of choice, but I'm sure that you've probably heard of a lot of other ones like you can use Notion for this, can use Asana, Monday, really whatever. You can even use Google Calendar as your main project management tool when you it correctly. Really the key to whatever tool you're using is actually using it. It can even be a paper planner. It can even be a paper planner, sure, if that's what you love doing. But it didn't work for me because I always forgot them in all of these random places and even like forgetting it in another room.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah, utilizing it properly. Yeah.

Līva Vītola:

Or in my car and then I don't have it on me when I need it. But tools like ClickUp is that you can use it on your computer, but you can also have it on the go as an app on your phone. So you can share it with anybody who is either on your team or in your family. You can use it for, you know, just running through things. So that's what I'm committed to at the moment.

Mel Schenker:

Okay, cool.

Līva Vītola:

And that's what I also use in my business and my clients' businesses as well.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah, that's really good because I, I was always that paper planner person, but when I started my business and I realized I've got so many ideas, but also the plan keeps changing. And so when I had it on paper, always having to cross things out, write things in again, or things, it was just too messy. So having it on the computer just made my life easier when it came to my business. So I totally hear what you're saying, but I haven't heard of ClickUp before. So I am curious to hear more about it, but in regards to what you do and in your business and with your organizing and things like that, you know, how, how do you help people and do you have a process or a method or something in what you do?

Līva Vītola:

Yes. So the main thing to tackle first is getting that information out of a person's head. It's the hardest thing for them at first because that's the biggest point of threshold that they have to tackle is that getting it all outside of their head, all of the tasks, all the components of doing and getting a project completed. How often do you need to do this? What are the deadlines for these things to happen? Who are the people involved in this? So that takes an interview and I also sent out documents with just a lot of questions for them to just go through and really just write it all out. And I also always encourage them to just send me all your screenshots, send me all your notes, whatever you have, just send it all to me and I will, I will chew it out. I will chew it up and I will, I will put this into a system for you because sometimes the hardest thing for them is first of all, getting it all out of their head.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. Pull out together. Yeah. Yeah.

Līva Vītola:

Up that sense of control and letting somebody handle that for them but as soon as they do they just feel an instant sense of relief because once they see that all on the paper they really see how much, how capable they are, how much they are handling every single day and how much of these things can either be delegated, how many of these things are unnecessary, and how many of these things can be improved, automated, and most importantly how many of these things are can be deleted.

Mel Schenker:

Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I love that. That actually lines up with one of my methods. And in that method, I have a filter and I call it the 4D filter. So unoriginal, but, in that you've got the delete, delegate, delay and do differently. So you're pretty much saying the same thing. That's what you're doing to help your clients. And it's one of the things that I talk about a lot.

Līva Vītola:

Yes, I love it!

Mel Schenker:

Is getting it all out of your head. And especially when I speak to women, when they're really hard on themselves because they're like, I can't seem to function. I just can't move forward. I can't do this. Can't do that. But then when they realize all the stuff that's going on up here and they get it out, no wonder you couldn't, you couldn't think properly.

Līva Vītola:

Yes!

Mel Schenker:

Your brain was so blocked up with all the stuff that was in it. And so just getting it out. Yeah. Half the stuff. It's a waste of memory space. Just get rid of it. And yeah. And going, actually, I don't need to take this on. Someone else can do this. It's, it's the same kind of thing. Like what you're saying. And honestly, getting it out is a really good way to start when you don't know where to start. Just getting it out of your head. So.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

That's fantastic.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, yeah, that's that's number one for any feelings of overwhelm really even if it's just emotions write it out. Don't think, don't look at what you're writing. Don't think about how pretty you're making it. Don't think about any of that. Just write it out completely. And then once you feel like you can't write anymore, that's when that overwhelm has also stepped away. It's just vanished because you wrote all your emotions, whatever you wanted to say, what you were just keeping in yourself. That's when you reach that point zero.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. Hahaha, yeah!

Līva Vītola:

Where you can just look at all of that and ask yourself, okay, so how much of these emotions, how many of these are actually true and how much did I just work myself up into?

Mel Schenker:

Yes. Makeup. Yes, that is so true. And I find that when you bring things out into the light, like you bring it out, then it kind of loses its power. The things that really made you anxious and stressed and you're worried about a lot of the time when you actually just get it out, you don't even have to tell anyone, but just get it out on paper or however you do it. All of a sudden.

Mel Schenker:

When you sort of see it right in front of you, kind of just loses that power. And you go, wow, I was getting so caught up in this. And when I actually look at it kind of like a fact or something in front of me, you're just like, like, yeah, it's a big deal, but I can deal with this. You know, it just changes the perspective.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, exactly. And this also relates to a lot of just our everyday tasks. Sometimes we are just, you know, plowing through our week thinking, oh, I have so many things to do. I have no idea. And when was even the last time that my dogs got vaccinated? I'm the worst dog mom in the world. I have no idea when my dogs are...

Līva Vītola:

Deal for their shots like I'm the worst you know but like this this happened to me a couple weeks back I was stressed out so I just rushed my dogs to the vet I'm thinking and I'm I even said this up I'm the worst dog mom in the world and then she looks at that at the little like vaccination book that she has and she says oh no you're

Mel Schenker:

Yeah.

Līva Vītola:

On track we don't need you in for a couple more months so i just made this up in my head with just always being in a rush myself i thought that i'm behind on everything but then then there is the other side of that stick

Mel Schenker:

Mm.

Līva Vītola:

Is where you think you're doing fine, but actually you are already overdue on payments. You haven't done your taxes. You haven't issued your bills or you haven't even maybe sent invoices to your clients. And then you feel like, something's off, but I'm not sure what. And then you get a late notice on your utilities bill.

Mel Schenker:

Yep.

Līva Vītola:

And it's not that you didn't have the money, it's just that you didn't set a reminder for yourself. Yeah, you're just disorganized. Exactly. And that's the biggest root cause of anxiety, really, because you... it can ruin your day, really. You might be having an okay day, but then you get that, you know, overdue message and you're like, no, I'm not as good as I thought. Yeah. Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. Disorganized. Yeah. Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. Bad mood. Yeah. And you start to spiral because the negative self-talk really kicks in and that, you know, what you're saying is really sort of the heart of what I'm trying to achieve in that you will stop the negative self-talk for starters. And we start being more proactive.

Mel Schenker:

In the way that we do things instead of reactive, but regaining that sense of control and balance in our lives. Organizing is that tool that I use and by organizing the different parts of our life, our finances, our time, our homes, all that kind of stuff, when you can start getting things in order a little bit with that, then you do just feel

Mel Schenker:

Less stressed and the anxieties in a lot of things, obviously depending on the situation, but the anxiety starts to come down. Everything starts to come down. can actually feel yourself breathing a little bit more and the weight on your shoulders kind of just lifts off a bit more. And I know there's many ways that people can go about it, but for me, I have found that getting on top of things in a more organized fashion.

Mel Schenker:

Help set up the routines and the systems and the ways to go about things that it's your life. A lot of it becomes sort of automatic. So you don't need to be using so much brain energy on the everyday tasks. And you can actually really plug in and tune into the things that you care about your family, your relationships, going out and I don't know, going for a walk or whatever it is you want to do that you can really be switched on.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

For those things that actually matter. I mean, we've all got to pay bills. We've all got to go to work. We've all got to do things. And, but we can do it in a way that doesn't necessarily drain us and we can regain some control over that. And then we can be more present for the things that matter most. So I love how what you do helps people in being more organized and in getting that because you would maybe unknowingly.

Līva Vītola:

Mm-hmm.

Mel Schenker:

You would be doing a lot of things that really helps take stress away for people and I think that's fantastic.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, that's what I live for. I love seeing the relief in my clients' faces when they see, so we can just rinse and repeat the same cycle and it just takes a couple buttons. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. If that's for, let's say, a project launch or sales or a webinar or whatever, we can just...

Mel Schenker:

Haha

Līva Vītola:

Duplicated in ClickUp and we have our tasks, we have our deadlines and we just like okay we have everything we need to do right here no need to have another check-in call another strategy call whatever we don't have to think yes isn't that a dream yeah

Mel Schenker:

Yeah, just automate. Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. No more meetings. Yeah. That's so good. So what, what would you, let me start that again. What's one thing that you wish women knew in what you do and in how you help people. What's one thing that you wish everybody knew?

Līva Vītola:

I would say give me a couple seconds to frame this properly.

Mel Schenker:

That's fine. Yeah, that's okay.

Mel Schenker:

So it could be like, could be a physical thing, like something that you actually physically do to help. could be an emotional thing that you wish people knew, maybe not being too hard on themselves, whatever it is, but yeah. I don't know, some ideas.

Līva Vītola:

I would say that my biggest finding in the last couple years has been that having systems in your life and having an organized... just one more time.

Mel Schenker:

That's okay. That's all right. Take your time. No problem. I Can edit all this out? It's simple delete all good Yeah

Līva Vītola:

Mm-hmm.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, yeah, I love that about podcasts.

Līva Vītola:

I would say that one of the things is a common misconception really is that type of people like me think that if they are going to utilize systems in their everyday life and also in their business is that that's going to take away

Līva Vītola:

From that creative spark and that intuitive and what the intuition and yes, and that spiritual downloads that they have while working on their hobbies and on their business. But in reality, having these systems in place actually opens up the space for this creative

Mel Schenker:

Yes creativity yes that freedom yeah spontaneity yes

Mel Schenker:

Yep.

Līva Vītola:

Freedom for you to be able to really fly with your ideas and your thoughts because you already have the roots down.

Mel Schenker:

Yes. Yes. So good. my gosh. Like I just had a group coaching call earlier today as of recording this and I was saying because

Mel Schenker:

I love it when I coach people that are a bit like me and they're quite happy to do the same thing every day and have this every team and that's fine. But most people are not like me. They want to have their freedom. They want to be flexible, have the spontaneity. I get it. I do get it. And they feel like having systems and routines stifles that it stops that from happening. But really I see it.

Līva Vītola:

Mm-hmm.

Mel Schenker:

Like music with a rhythm, right? There's all different kinds of music. There's all different kinds of rhythms. You find the thing that works for you. You find that song, that music, that beat that works for you. There is a rhythm for everyone. So systems and rhythms don't have to be stifling. They don't have to suffer the, you know, suffocate you. They can actually add to your

Līva Vītola:

Okay.

Mel Schenker:

Dance of life. They can add to the way that you do things. So I love what you're saying because it really lines up with the discussion I had with my group coaching call today and yeah you're so spot on and I think that's something that's coming up more and more is that a lot of people are like I know I need to

Līva Vītola:

I love this, yes!

Mel Schenker:

Have a system around how I manage things around the home or a system around my finances and the budget and all that kind of stuff. But they feel like they're going to lose control in some ways and, it's going to be too controlling. It could go both ways and it's just, and it's going to suck the life out of them. But really from what you're saying, what I'm saying, it is possible to have

Mel Schenker:

A flexible system and routine that works for you. And that's where, you know, having a coach does come in handy if you're stuck in how to manage that. But, and someone like yourself in, in your project management and all of that, that's where you pay for a professional like that to really help you if you're stuck in this situation and, and to help get their business ideas out and whatever else.

Līva Vītola:

Yes.

Mel Schenker:

That's what you're there for. And it's worth every cent. It's worth the money because then you go from being stuck in this place and having misconceptions and you start moving forward. You get on with life. You get on with things and potentially make more money, have more time, have better relationships. All of it. So.

Līva Vītola:

Absolutely, because that...

Līva Vītola:

Having a system like ClickUp, you can use it for everything. You can have it as your hub for your life, essentially, for all your dreams, for all your quarterly planning, for your finances. You can use it as your link hub, as your logins, passwords. can use it as your hub for really anything. Yes, your second brain. That's what it is. Yes.

Mel Schenker:

Ooh, I like that.

Mel Schenker:

Wow. Like a brain. It's like another brain. Wow.

Līva Vītola:

Exactly. And returning to those vaccinations again, you can set it up as a recurring task every six months that you have to just give your doctor a call and make an appointment. you never think that you're a bad mom anymore.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yup.

Mel Schenker:

So easy. So easy. You're not rushing them down to the vet. You're not rushing them down to the vet.

Mel Schenker:

Like, no, you didn't, you forgot that you actually did do it. Yeah, that's it. And you can relax and breathe and enjoy the fresh air. That's so good.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, instead you can just take them to the park.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, yeah, that's what I love. That's what I love the most for me as a most forgetful, creative type of person, as a type B kind of person, committing to logging into my ClickUp even one time per day, five minutes while I'm having my morning coffee and just seeing what I have on my agenda for that day and what I maybe forgot to do the day before.

Līva Vītola:

Gives me that sense of kind of control, that you have these tasks on you, but okay, I have these tasks, but which ones are most important today? And then maybe I can push some forward to the next day and just even things out. Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah, what's the priority? Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. Yeah. Delay it. Yeah. that's so good. I feel like we are on the same page. We're saying the same thing. I love connecting with people. I love connecting with people that, that really utilize organizing and really just can make it work. And it's funny because I think for a lot of us, we just assume it's a natural thing that we can just get organized if we want to get organized.

Līva Vītola:

Yes.

Mel Schenker:

But really until you experience things like sitting down with you, with your clients, how they sit down with you and they get everything out and put it down. They probably just didn't realize the impact of even that experience until they did it. So I think everyone sort of feels like they can just get organized off the top of their head, but there's a lot of ways we can go about things that could be more efficient.

Mel Schenker:

That could be quicker and easier to learn when you've got someone else partnering with you to help you with that. So, so.

Līva Vītola:

Mm-hmm.

Līva Vītola:

Yes, because the other person that you are giving your brain dump out of, they don't have these emotions attached to these tasks like you do. They don't have these relationships with those people. They don't have that anxiety of being afraid to perform or they just see things as they are. Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yes, definitely. Yep.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah. Yeah. Or boundaries or anything. Yeah. Cause sometimes you've got all this pressure on you because you're too scared to say no. Whereas the person you're sharing it with, they can say no for you. They can help you with it. there's so many things.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, yeah, they will see that girl this is this is too much for you in a single day This is not a rush project You have to you have to you have to ask for more time because your agenda simply does not allow a 24-hour Rollover you need a week

Mel Schenker:

Too much. Yeah. Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Yeah.

Mel Schenker:

Right? Yeah. And sometimes you just having someone in your corner to validate maybe even that you know it's too much and it's too hard, but having someone else confirm that for you and go, yeah, this is too much. Then you can stop feeling like you're failing and that you aren't.

Līva Vītola:

Mm-hmm.

Līva Vītola:

Mm-hmm.

Mel Schenker:

On top of things when you really should be. But it's like, hang on a second, that's not realistic. It's just not realistic. So I feel like we could talk for hours on this. Clearly it's something I love talking about, it's so good. We'll take an offline. So no, no one else has to keep hearing us. But I would love to keep talking, but

Līva Vītola:

Yes! Me too!

Līva Vītola:

Yeah

Mel Schenker:

How can people find you if they want to connect with you and maybe have you help them with their projects or anything like that? How can they find you?

Līva Vītola:

Mm-hmm.

Līva Vītola:

Yeah, you can find me...

Līva Vītola:

Through the links in the show notes. My business name is Willow and Co.

Studio. I also have a website and if you follow the link in the show notes, you can also grab your free ClickUp life and business templates that you can simply download and import into your own ClickUp profile and start from there if you want to try things out yourself. And if at some point you also

Mel Schenker:

Yep.

Līva Vītola:

Want a professional eye on everything that you're handling and everything that you want to free up in your life and maybe free up some space and see what the bottlenecks really are, you are always welcome to send me an email or inquire about my services and I'm sure that we can find some way to work together.

Mel Schenker:

Perfect. Yep. So you can just head to the notes and they'll be able to get all the details there. it is so lovely talking to you and thank you so much for coming on the show today. And I would love to have you back on in the future if that's all right with you.

Līva Vītola:

Yes, absolutely, part two coming up!

Mel Schenker:

Yeah, I love it. All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on today.

Līva Vītola:

Thank you, Mel. Thank you. It was so lovely to chat with you.