How to Be a Working Coach #40: The Systems We Build by Accident
Published 5 months ago • 5 min read
Hi Reader!!
When I first started coaching full-time, I didn’t have a system.
Or at least, that’s what I told myself.
I just wanted to coach, and I thought that if I put up a website, clients would find me.
But I learned pretty quickly that working coaches find clients, clients don't find working coaches.
That's a significant difference.
I thought I could get by without a CRM, a fancy productivity app, or a color-coded calendar. Just a notebook, my inbox, and whatever post-it notes survived the week.
My website was going to do all the work for me, and I just had to focus on the clients.
But here’s the truth I discovered the hard way: Even when we don’t design systems, we’re still living inside them.
My old friend Alan Hirsch likes to say, "We are perfectly designed for the results we're getting."
Coaching businesses are no exception.
Every habit, every default decision, every “I’ll just handle that later” quietly becomes the operating system of your business.
If you have to work with ADHD like I do, every new and novel opportunity distracts you from the system that will actually build your business.
So keeping focused on what matters most and building systems to help you have more of it is the only way forward.
You Already Have a System — It Just Might Be Running You
This is embarrassing, but here's my original system, which had four invisible rules:
Say yes to every interesting opportunity.
Schedule client sessions when they want, not when I work best.
Keep notes wherever I happen to be sitting.
Figure it all out again next week.
Sound familiar?
It worked for a while.
I was busy, my clients were happy, and the practice looked healthy from the outside. But underneath, I was exhausted — running a coaching business that served everyone but me.
And working coaches know that because the business is so personal, if it's not working for you, it's probably not working for your clients either.
Toss in an adult ADHD diagnosis, and the problem wasn’t a lack of discipline. It was a lack of design.
We all have systems...but did we DESIGN them?
The System Beneath the Surface
Coaches often talk about mastery, mindset, or awareness, but our behaviors tell the real story. You already have systems for:
Client flow: How inquiries come in and how quickly they convert.
Time allocation: How much of your week goes to coaching, prep, or admin?
Energy management: When you do your best work — and when you say yes to things that drain you.
Learning: How you track and apply new insights to your practice.
Money: How you price, invoice, and manage your revenue rhythm.
These invisible systems shape your coaching life every day.
Cal Newport would call them “default architectures.” They’re the structures that emerge from unexamined choices. And like any architecture, they either support your goals or collapse under their own weight.
The secret is to step back, think about what you really want, and design a system that works for you so you can work for your clients.
Reflection First, Tactics Second
You don’t need another productivity hack. You need a clear picture of what’s actually happening.
This week, block 30 minutes for a private “System Audit.”Here’s how:
Pick one recent client and trace their experience from the first inquiry to the final session. Write down each step you took, noting where the process was smooth and where it stalled or became confusing.
Identify tasks that caused frustration, delays, or repeated obstacles. Write these down to highlight where unnecessary friction exists in your weekly routine.
Look for patterns among the obstacles and delays you noted. Which choices lead to repeated problems or drain your energy? List these patterns so you can address them later.
After documenting these findings, review your notes to see the design behind your current business operations—the system you created, even if unintentionally.
The Coaching Parallel
When clients come to us with stress or stagnation, we help them see their systems: how their habits, stories, and environments sustain their outcomes. It's Solomon's Paradox. We can easily see what happens to someone else, but when it happens to us, it's a little bit harder to put our finger on. Every repeated behavior is a micro-system. Every calendar slot is a vote for the kind of practice you’re building.The question isn’t “Do I have a system?” It’s “Is this system serving the coach I’m becoming?”
This Week’s Challenge
Grab a blank sheet and title it “My Accidental System.” List everything that happens in your coaching business by default. Then ask:
What’s working that I’d like to keep?
What’s quietly stealing my focus or joy?
Where do I need a small structural upgrade?
The goal isn’t to fix everything. It’s about starting to see what’s really there — awareness is the first act of design. Take the answers to these questions and plot them on a piece of paper divided into two columns.
Things You Want to Keep or Emphasize
On the left-hand side, mark Systemic Items I Want to Keep.
Detail the things that give you energy, help you focus on your clients, and set yourself up to bring your A-game.
For me, these items are things like:
Coaching at the right time of day. (I'm most effective late morning to mid-afternoon. So that's when I try to put the vast majority of my coaching sessions.)
Every once in a while, for a trusted client, if I have to take something outside that window, I do.
But my default time is between 11am and 3pm in whatever time zone I happen to be in that particular day.
I spend my first thing in the morning window coming up with new content or ideas to improve my practice. That's my primary time for personal development.
My admin, prospecting, and new client calls happen late in the day. That's because it requires a different kind of energy for me to be as effective as possible in those windows. And those tasks suit that time of day best.
Where You Need a System Upgrade
On the right-hand side of the page, identify areas that need to be improved. Just focus, for now, on naming the areas you want to upgrade in clear, specific language.
Try to keep the list balanced, with the same number of things you want to dive into deeper as there are things you want to change or improve.
This will keep you from focusing too much on what's right or wrong with your system and will allow you to prioritize what needs the lion's share of your energy. For now, don't worry about coming up with new strategies or solutions. We'll get into that in future editions.
Work to name the opportunity(s) in front of you. You will feel more energized, and as you bring more of your A game, you will have an opportunity to try out different approaches to serving your clients more effectively. Do your best to complete this system evaluation before next week's newsletter comes out, because we'll pick up the process then.
Coming Up Next Week
Next Week: Issue #41 – “Designing Rhythms that Respect Your Energy”
We’ll explore how working coaches can align their daily and weekly structures with their natural energy cycles — and why that might be the most strategic decision you’ll ever make.
I'd love to hear from you about what you're discovering is right with your coaching systems and what might need more or different attention from you going forward.
What topics would be most helpful for you to dive into? Let us know.
Cheers,
Jonathan Reitz & the Working Coach Labs Team
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