This article was written by Ken Leaver who comes from a product & commercial background. He has founded multiple companies and held senior product positions at SEA tech companies like Lazada and Pomelo Fashion.
Ken runs his own agency that helps early stage companies execute faster and cheaper. Check out his linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenleaver/
Guest Author: Ken Leaver
I was chatting with a friend the other day and he sounded very stressed.
He said there was a ton of work and he was under a lot of stress.
I asked him why things were so bad and so he described it a bit to me. It sounded like chaos.
The CEO was changing instructions almost daily.
People were coming up to him and his team constantly asking them to finish something immediately.
He was working really late nights and coming in tired in the mornings.
People were yelling at each other and getting on each others’ nerves.
In essence.. it sounded familiar to things I’d gone through and seen first hand in the past.
But I thought about it with this sort of wistful feeling… that I will never have to deal with such idiocracy again.
What do i mean by “When shit hits the fan?”
You know those times when everything seems to go crazy at once?
You’ve got multiple urgent projects, tight deadlines, and it feels like there’s way too much to do and not enough time to do it?
That’s when shit hits the fan.
And by definition you need to ruthlessly prioritize because you can’t possibly do everything.
You’re working extra hours just to keep up.
Every minute counts because you’ve got hard deadlines breathing down your neck.
What happens to most people when shit hits the fan
Most people completely lose their shit when this happens. They panic and start running around trying to put out fires wherever they see them.
They’re not working in any kind of priority order – they’re just reacting to whatever seems most urgent in the moment.
If they’re managers, they’re throwing out instructions left and right without any consistent follow-up.
It’s like watching someone try to juggle while running through a tornado. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well.
I had the same happen to me earlier
Before 2021, I was structured but I still managed more or less like everyone else.
When things got crazy, I’d panic and run around like a headless chicken trying to do as much as possible.
I’d often end up working on lower priority stuff just because I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was in pure reaction mode.
Plus, I spent lots of time just getting updates from people and reminding them about things they were supposed to do.
It was extremely stressful and would burn me out fast. And in hindsight I wasn’t even that much more productive.
I handle it very differently now with the Beast Method
Now? Everything is just a Clickup task. I manage five different Clickup workspaces each day for various projects and clients. Almost no meetings.
When shit hits the fan, it just means more tasks come in. But the process stays exactly the same. I’m still getting updates as Clickup notifications, still responding in the same systematic way.
I keep a daily task list (in the format above) in which everything has a priority from 1 (most important) to 4 (least important). And each time i finish something I check it off and look at the list for the next priority.
This ensures I’m always working in priority order. And I don’t waste any time thinking about what i need to do next.
The goal for the day is to check off everything on the list before I go home. Simple.
Plus i’m clearing all of my Clickup notifications, emails and Slack messages every 1-2 hours in cycles. Boom, boom, boom.
No running around like a chicken. No panicking.
Just systematic execution. Like a machine.
The metaphor I like to make is a Navy SEAL team
Think about how Navy SEALs operate when they’re up against overwhelming odds. They don’t panic. They don’t start randomly shooting in all directions.
Their training kicks in and their instincts take over. They’re loading, aiming, and firing the same way they’ve done thousands of times in training.
Take a bullet in the shoulder? Doesn’t matter. You keep executing the same basic actions you’ve done countless times before.
The system is so ingrained that it works even under extreme pressure.
After four years of using my system… i’d say my mindset is very similar. You’re gonna have to throw a lottttta shit at me before you see me start to crack.
Partly because it’s just a LOT less stressful when you don’t have people running around interrupting you and creating friction.
Parting thoughts
When everything goes to shit, it’s actually easier to handle things via tasks than through in-person meetings or Slack messages. Nobody’s coming up to interrupt you every five minutes with the latest crisis.
You’re just in your zone, knocking out inbox notifications as they come in. Leading your troops through the warzone methodically and systematically until you get to calmer waters.
Because here’s the truth – the system that breaks down under pressure wasn’t a good system to begin with. The Beast Method doesn’t break down when shit hits the fan. If anything, that’s when it proves its worth the most.
Just like those SEALs, when everything’s going crazy around you, you want a system so ingrained that you could do it in your sleep.
That’s what separates the true ‘Beasts’ from the wannabe ones.
