Back when I taught Computer Science at The University of Scranton, I was tasked with teaching what most faculty viewed as an unenviable course: Computer Literacy.

It was a required course that all freshmen had to take, and we didn’t teach software development in it. It was essentially “intro to computers.” I really enjoyed teaching it.

It was a way for me to teach 18-year-olds about the evolving landscape of the online world. They’ve since changed the course to combine it with 2 other courses, but I would love the chance to talk to students about LLMs.

One class I remember clear as day is when I was teaching them how to use WordPress.com to set up a personal website — an asset I felt every young person should have in the early 2010s. I was telling them the difference between a “post” and a “page,” which is something I had done possibly hundreds of times before…mostly to people somewhat familiar with WordPress already.

As I finished this well-rehearsed description, I looked out over a sea of neutral-at-best faces in a classroom quiet as a church. One student mercifully ended the stunned silence by raising her hand and saying, “I have no idea what you just said.” About half of the class vigorously agreed.

It was at that moment that I realized I never had to explain this to someone who didn’t have at least a general idea of what pages and posts were. That single class changed my entire perspective on both teaching, and how I explain how to do something.

When We Explain, We Scrutinize

Part of the problem was that my explanation was never scrutinized by someone completely unfamiliar with WordPress. It was either WordPress people, or clients having me do the updates…they didn’t really need to know anyway.

I somehow went multiple years without the incredibly helpful exercise of explaining this fundamental feature. See, when we finally do explain something to someone completely unfamiliar with the process, three things happen:

1. We examine something we’ve done possibly so much we don’t think about it anymore.
2. We need to justify our approach.
3. We are forced to clarify our position.

In other words, we open ourselves up to feedback — both from ourselves and from others.

Kids Are Really Good at This

When I became a dad, I made a promise to never say, “because I said so.” I hate arbitrary and capricious rules, and “because I said so” is the epitome of arbitrary and capricious. If you can’t explain why you are doing something, you shouldn’t do it. I’ve broken this rule only a few times, each time either taking back the rule/punishment or taking the time to explain to my kids why I did what I did¹.

But rules that apply to them aren’t the only times they ask “why.” They have no preconceived notion of why something should happen, and “because I’ve always done it that way” doesn’t make any sense to them. I’ve learned a lot in my kids’ pursuit of answers, and my desire to answer them accurately.

It’s this childlike wonder that we need to take to our own systems and processes as solopreneurs and small business owners.

What Exactly Are We Explaining?

At this point you’re probably thinking, “Joe, we’re nearly 600 words into this and I don’t know what you want me to explain.”² The answer is simple, but maybe not easy: I want you to explain how you work.

When we’re in the thick of it, getting our business up and running, or launching a new project or product, we can live in a mode where we’re doing more reacting than planning. But if we want a less chaotic, more predictable business, we eventually need to understand what we’re doing.

This is what allows us to set up reliable, automated systems for repeatable work. So for this exercise, I want you to pick just one task. That’s it. Pick something that you do often.

Then you can explain how you do it and why.

Two Ways You Can Explain How You Work

When you explain how you perform a task, you should do it for two audiences:

1. Yourself, so you can review what you do, if you personally need to do it, and if it needs to be done at all.
2. Others, so they can either learn how to do it your way, or provide feedback on how you can do it better.

Stating the goal is important here because this is how we determine what “better” means. Not in a Simon Sinek “find your why” way, but in a “what’s the point of me doing this” way. If you don’t have a good reason to do something, you can save a lot of time by not doing it.

In both instances, you should fire up your favorite screen recorder. Lots of people use Loom. I personally like Tella because it’s super polished and very flexible.

Then state what the task is, how it starts (the starting point), and the result (or end point). You should also state why you’re performing this task, and what you hope to achieve from it.

Then, perform the task while narrating what you’re doing. Include as much as possible:

1. Apps, websites, and other tools you use
2. What kind of authentication you need
3. Any place the data you’re working with starts and ends
4. How long it usually takes you
5. Fields you need to fill in
6. “Gotchas” or variations on what could happen
7. Potential errors you’ve come across, even if they’re not shown on screen
8. The expected result
9. Any errors that do occur (keep talking through them)

…and anything else you can think of. These are going to be fairly universal in any task you record. There are a couple of differences that can occur based on audience.

When Recording for Yourself

When you’re recording for yourself, either to review or just to remember how to do it, you can also include:

1. How you feel doing the task: Do you like it? Hate it? Wish there was an easier way?
2. A quick tools assessment: How do you feel about the tools you’re using? Do you need all of them? Are you paying too much for one? It’s good to make these verbal notes in the moment.
3. Efficacy: If you’ve been doing it for a while, how effective is it with respect to your goal? Be honest with yourself here. If it’s new, what are you going to look for to determine if it’s effective?

Adding these three bits will give you more context if/when you go back and review this. It’s easy to forget why we started doing something in the first place, or to deal with the pain of using a tool because it’s easier than switching.

When Recording for Other People

The process will slightly change when recording for other people. Depending on who that audience is, you could still state the efficacy, but how you feel and the tools assessment should be framed slightly differently.

If you’re recording it strictly as a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for a VA or contractor, you can leave all of that stuff out. Make it as factual as possible — you don’t want to get the most important stuff lost in the weeds of internal metrics and feelings.

If you’re recording it for a coach, peers, or a mastermind group, you want to frame everything to elicit feedback:

1. When you talk about how you feel, focus on the things you like and why you like them. You can signal you’re still open to suggestions though. With frustrations, ask point-blank: “if you know a better way, let me know.”
2. With tools, talk about why you use them and if you need them or not. Again, ask, “if you know a better tool or know a better way to use this tool, I’d love to hear about it.”
3. For efficacy, state your goal and ask them if it’s reasonable, what seems to be working, and what isn’t. Ask them if they think something is missing, and if that goal is on-point, knowing what they know about you.
4. Ask them if they’ve tried something like this and how it worked out for them.
5. Finally, tell them they can ask as many clarifying questions as needed.

In this instance, when you’re not recording this specifically for an SOP, you want to give the recipient(s) as much context as possible without biasing them one way or another.

Getting Clarity

The magic comes in the clarifying questions. Just like when that student told me how confused she was, the clarifying questions can reveal blind spots and assumptions you’ve made.

One time, I was explaining my marketing copy and positioning to my mastermind group, when my friend Becky said, “You keep saying podcaster, but I don’t consider myself a podcaster. I consider myself a business owner who has a podcast.”

This statement changed everything for me: how I describe my services, the niche I talk to, and even the processes I help people with. Getting a second (or third) set of eyes can be hugely helpful — especially if you’re open to honest feedback and they’re willing to give it.

Are You Struggling With Your Tasks?

Because of this, I want to extend an offer to you: I want to provide feedback on how you work.

If you’re a solopreneur or small business owner, and you perform a task on a regular basis, I’d love to see how you do it. Bonus points if you feel it could be done better but you’re not sure how.

Using the form below, record a video and submit it. If your video gets selected, I’ll publish my feedback on my YouTube channel³ (I’ll also send it to you separately, and invite you to collab if you’re on YouTube).

Some considerations:

1. Pick a single task to record. I’m not reviewing entire workflows.
2. Try to keep the video between 5-12 minutes.
3. Make sure to obscure any personally identifying data you don’t want me to see. I’ll try to scrub it before I publish, but we may have different ideas of what should be scrubbed.
4. Make sure your screen is legible, and I can hear you clearly. Quality will matter here.
5. You do not need to be in the video, but you can be if you’d like.

I hope I’ve shown you how monumentally the act of explaining how I work has helped shape my business. I want you to see those same benefits, and I’m excited to see how you work.