Home Office Productivity Tools
Having trouble organizing your mammoth TO-DO list? Trying to do it all yourself? Juggling too many tasks all at once? Small business owners with home offices often are strapped for time and budget. Below are some quick, easy technology tips to help you get organized and get things done.
I love all things that sync. When I can jot something down on a phone app and later bring it up on my computer, tablet or other device, I get super excited. This brings me joy! And saves me a ton of time.
If you have a home-based business, work remotely or are a distance subcontractor, here are some tools that I use daily that you can begin using today. Turn your ideas into reality, gain momentum, get organized and start moving forward.
EVERNOTE
Have a quick idea in the middle of the night? (We are all sleeping with our phones next to us, get over it.) How about sudden inspiration waiting in line to order food? Sitting at your kids taekwondo practice and suddenly your entire business idea just clicks.
Skip the note app on your iPhone. Evernote allows you to quickly make notes that you can organize into folders and subfolders. Here’s a tip – it has a SEARCH function to find a note by a single keyword you’ve used within the note.
If you wake up in the middle of the night with that perfect ad copy, you don’t have to turn on the light, grab a pen & paper, or wake up your partner. Jot it down in evernote.
This works great for your grocery list, too. You can also share notes with other users. Check it out at www.Evernote.com
TRELLO
Need to organize those notes into actionable tasks? Use a project management software called Trello. This is similar to using colored sticky notes but in digital form. Trello also has FREE options and additional training tips. Check it out at www.Trello.com
Create a board, add notes and create columns – TO DO, DOING, DONE. The idea is to organize your TO-DO list into categories so that you can propel your business forward. Moving tasks from your TO DO column to DOING then DONE helps you see the progress you have made, understand blockages or why some tasks do not get completed and plan your method of attack.
And there is an app, of course.
GOOGLE CALENDAR
I am surprised at how many people do not use this free option! I schedule tasks from my Trello cards in my Google Calendar. If I have a client meeting (a sprint call) that will last 15-30 minutes, I block off that time on my calendar. I can also add a link to the Trello card right inside the description section of my calendar item.
Do you have a project that will take 2-3 hours? Schedule it on your calendar as an event. Block off that time so that nothing else can get scheduled. Use this method with all your daily tasks. When working from a home office, there is no one to keep you on schedule but yourself. This is a great way to keep yourself in check.
JOIN.ME
There a many free and paid options for online meeting and conference calls – Join.Me, GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, Zoom. My favorite is Join.Me. With my paid account, I have a dedicated link and conference call number for up to 500 participants. Learn more about Join.Me at www.join.me.
The great thing about Join.Me is that I can link my calendar to my Join.Me account so that when I invite a client to a meeting via Google Calendar request, my Join.Me meeting details are already included in the invitation – Phone/Conference Call Number, Join.Me link and international call options.
Again, I love things that sync and work together.
For business owners with a home office, you can manage your entire workflow with this strategy.
- EVERNOTE – Jot down your TO-DO list
- TRELLO – Turn that list into actionable tasks
- GOOGLE CALENDAR – Schedule your tasks, projects or meetings into your day.
- JOIN.ME – Meet with clients easily to share your completed project.
If you find these helpful or have additional tips to share, I’d love to hear from you. Request a complimentary consultation today!
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