5 Ways I Stay Organized in My Business
I don’t know about you, but being organized puts my mind at ease. Sure I could close my eyes and meditate or zone out while exercising (& I do that almost every day) but when I have a clean workspace or a buttoned up process in place it is much easier for me to get some work done. I like to know where I am going to find my materials, I like to know what is coming up, and I like to ensure it is easy for me to track everything I am doing.
There are many things I do on a daily basis that help with staying organized and if you are someone that is looking for tips maybe the below tips and tricks will help you get a little more organized in your overall daily process!
Go Digital
I use many digital tools to keep me organized. It of course all starts with my calendar. I use Google Calendar and color code it according to type of project down to what family member is what color. Between my at home life and my business life, I have a lot going on so being able to pull up my calendar from my computer, phone or iPad and having it all match up is very key! From there I move onto Honeybook (20% off here!) to log all of my inquiries and current projects. Honeybook has all recently incorporated a Finance tab which has been a great tool to track all of the incoming money which can piggy back on top of a system like Quickbooks. When I get a little more granular on my tasks I hop over to ClickUp. Here I can track all of my current projects and the sub tasks within each one. Whether I have to order materials or write out place cards; I am tracking and checking those items off here. For my finances and bookkeeping I use Quickbooks. One of my most favorite tools may be everything else in the Google Suite to create & track documents. Each client gets their own Google Drive to share any pertinent information with me as we work together.
Routine, Routine, Routine
I have always been one that works well with routine & running my business has been no different. Not all days are the same, but I do my best to stick to the routine the best I can.
read through emails & do my best to respond to all emails with a side of coffee
go through my previous days to-do list to ensure I got through what I needed & add to it if anything new has come up
calendar review to ensure I am on a timely track for projects
marketing comes next - depending on whether it is a social media post, blog draft, or newsletter
project work will come after all of this - sometimes it will be trickled through all of these tasks depending on if something has to dry or set before
wrap up the day - see what I got done & what I need to do tomorrow
On a personal side, I also need to fit in workouts, do the daily kid stuff, and any other miscellaneous errands. Like I said though, each day is different and I do my best to stay on track!
Prioritize
I always prioritize tasks based on importance and deadlines. When I review my calendar I am looking to ensure I am on track for completion/delivery dates. I pick apart each project step by step too see if there are parts I need to do ahead of time - ex. drafts or staining, order materials - and go from there! The last thing I want to happen is start a project two weeks before a deadline and realize that I need to cut paper or ribbon or order more ink which could have been done weeks prior to save a little time!
Clean Up
Are you the type of person that has multiple unread messages or emails? For those people, when I look at those phones I cringe. A clean space for me is so important. Whether it is my digital space or my physical spaces - I need them to be cleaned or orderly in order to feel like I can work at my best capacity. Organize emails & files, organize materials - the cleaner it is, the more productive I feel.
Delegate
As I start to bring on more items into my business I am starting to realize that there are things that I just can’t do on my own. The first thing that I decided to outsource was my accounting. It is a lightbulb moment when you realize you are capable of taking things off your plate to ensure you are more productive in the areas of your expertise. As time goes on, I like to do little ‘business reviews’ and look at tasks that are taking most of my time that doesn’t necessarily need me to do! You can outsource blog posts, accounting, shipping, social media, etc.
