Zoe Hill, Founder and CEO of Premier Admin Services, introduces her planning framework for ambitious Assistants
There is a peculiar kind of chaos that only Assistants truly understand. It’s not just the to-do list that never ends, or the expectations that stretch far beyond the job title. It’s the constant balancing act. Juggling high-level thinking and supporting everyone else’s goals while trying to hold on to a few of your own. Sound familiar? If you’ve ever felt pulled in a dozen directions and struggled to articulate where you want to go next, then this article is your call to pause, breathe, and reclaim your direction.
Because clarity is power. And it’s time to put that power back in your hands. Let’s explore how Assistants can move from overwhelm to ownership using a two-part method: the Mind Dump and the Flexible 5 Framework©.
The Truth About Being “The Organised One”
As Assistants, we’re known for our ability to bring order to chaos. But here is the irony: while we streamline, strategize, and support the priorities of others, our own plans often get pushed to the bottom of the pile. It’s easy to fall into reactive mode. You respond, you firefight, you adapt, and suddenly it’s six months since you checked in with your own goals and career journey.
How do you take back control without adding another system, app, or pressure to your plate?
The Mind Dump – Making Space to Think
Let’s start with the simplest step: get it all out.
All the things that relate to you and your path and career journey. The Mind Dump is a no-rules, all-in brain-clearing session just for you. The goal isn’t to plan or prioritise; it is just to give yourself a release valve for everything that’s floating around in your head.
Grab a notebook, open a blank document, or take out a giant piece of paper, set a timer for 20 minutes, and write down everything that is on your mind.
- Things you need or want to do
- Ideas you haven’t started
- Frustrations and roadblocks
- Aspirations and longings
- Even the silly stuff, it all goes in
Don’t edit. Don’t overthink. Just keep writing. Your job is to empty, not organise. By the end, you’ll have what looks like a glorious mess. Perfect. Because now we’re going to turn that mess into meaning.
The Flexible 5 Framework© – A Tool That Lives with You
I hate a five-year plan. When I started Premier Admin Services, I became so excited about writing a business plan, but 30 or 40 pages in I felt so overwhelmed that I ended up in an even more anxious state than when I started. That business plan still sits in a drawer gathering dust. I’ll probably never look at it again. But it got me thinking. As an Assistant, how would I adapt this to make it work for me? Furthermore, how could it help other Assistants, business owners, and founders move forward?
I realised that what I needed was something that met me where I was, something that lived, breathed, and evolved with me. A light-touch, high-impact framework that’s easy to personalise and flexible enough to grow with me. Something that doesn’t feel rigid or too far removed from the way I think and operate. Which leads me to introduce you to something new: the Flexible 5 Framework©.
Five key areas to help you sort, prioritise, and plan with purpose:
1. Vision
Your north star! What are you working towards? This includes your dream lifestyle, ideal working rhythm, income aspirations, and legacy. It’s not just about what your goal is, but what you want your life to look like. If it matters to you, it belongs here.
2. Values
The backbone of your boundaries. These are the principles that guide how you show up, who you work with, how you make decisions, and what you say yes or no to. If something feels off in your business, it’s usually a values clash.
3. Clients
Not just your current ones, but your ideal ones. Who do you do your best work with? Who energises you? Who makes you question your prices? What industries light you up? What client behaviours are a hard no?
4. Services
What you offer, and what you don’t. Think beyond tasks and packages. What transformation do you deliver? What lights you up? What drains you? Services should evolve with you. This pillar permits you to adapt.
5. Systems
The unsexy stuff that saves your sanity. Think onboarding, tech tools, templates, communication flows, calendars, CRMs. If you’re constantly reinventing the wheel or feeling like a human Post-It note, you likely need to look here.
This framework is perfect for Assistants, whether you’re employed, freelance, hybrid, or in the middle of a career pivot.
Get yourself clear on these areas. Things will change, sure, as you move forward in your career. But this is your foundation. Your platform. No rigid KPIs. It’s about alignment. Alignment with yourself, your goals, and your next step.
Mapping the Mess: Connecting the Mind Dump to the Flexible 5©
Here’s where things get fun!
Your Mind Dump is your raw material. The Flexible 5© is your structure.
To connect the two, you’ll build your Table of Clarity: a simple way to turn overwhelm into actionable focus.
Go through each item on your Mind Dump and ask yourself: Where does this fit?
For example:
“I’d love to run a training workshop on the Flexible 5 Framework©” would fit under the Services category.
“I need to learn to say no” would fit under the Values category.
“I’d love to be a guest on an EA podcast” would fit under Vision.
This is where the lightbulb goes off! Suddenly, that noise becomes insight; it’s like creating a personal sat-nav. You know where you are, where you want to get to, and how to get there. You will even find yourself realising that some of those items on your Mind Dump are not as important to you as you thought, and you strike them off completely. That, to me, is a win in itself!
Furthermore, by the time you’ve sorted your mind dump into the grid, you’ll see patterns. You’ll spot quick wins. You’ll notice gaps and know the steps to take to fix them. And more importantly, you’ll feel organised from the inside out.
Plan the Path (Softly, Gently)
Now that you can see where things fall, you can begin to ask yourself:
- What needs your attention first?
- Where are your biggest friction points?
- What can you ditch or develop?
- Which area feels the most exciting to build out next?
Remember, this is a flexible plan! There are no hard and fast rules about what comes first. This is for you. Some months you’ll focus on Systems, other times it’s about refining your Services. The point is you now have a map, not a rigid document – a living, breathing way to check in with yourself.
If you really want to maximise its use, why not try the below method to maintain momentum without falling into the trap of trying to do everything at once:
Highlight one item from each column.
For each task, ask:
- Why does this matter to me right now?
- What’s one thing I can do about it this week?
Do the thing. Act with intent. Tiny steps. Big shifts.
Why This Works So Well for Assistants
Assistants are excellent at holding space. But we rarely give that same structure and clarity to ourselves.
That’s why this method works:
- The Mind Dump clears mental clutter
- The Flexible 5© generates your foundation
- The Table of Clarity organises your ideas and shows your priorities
- The Tiny Steps get you moving
This approach isn’t complicated. It’s not a new platform. It’s not another 90-day planner that gathers dust. It’s just a better way to think through what you already know and see it clearly. Best of all, it’s repeatable. Use it once a month, once a quarter, or whenever you hit that familiar wall of “I don’t even know where to start.”
The method is powerful because:
- It blends logic with intuition
- It gives structure without suffocating creativity
- It centres you, and you alone
This will evolve and grow with you; it’ll be right by your side as you move forward on your chosen path.
What Clarity Really Looks Like
Let’s be honest, clarity isn’t always a big epiphany. More often, it’s:
- Knowing what not to focus on right now
- Feeling in control of your day
- Having language for what you want
- Making choices that align with your values
- The difference between spinning your wheels and stepping forward
If all this framework does is help you reconnect with your goals, make peace with your pace, or take one aligned action this week, then that’s more than enough.
Let’s break the myth that business plans and goals need to be rigid, formal, or fixed. The truth is, you don’t need a perfect plan. You just need one that makes sense to you.
Ready to Try It?
Here’s your quick self-guided checklist:
- 20-minute Mind Dump – no filter, just flow
- Understand your Flexible 5©; what is your vision?
- Create your Table of Clarity
- Sort each Mind Dump item into the framework
- Highlight one item to focus on per category
- Take one small step for each
- Celebrate the clarity that flows!
TAKE UP THAT SPACE! Not just in your calendar, but in your ambition! You’re allowed to dream, build, and grow with the tools that work for you. From overwhelm to ownership. One page at a time.
