Small business owners have a lot going on all the time. We have to manage all aspects of our business while also doing the work within the business and trying to keep up with normal personal life stuff too.
When you’re juggling so many balls, it can be easy to drop a few. And those dropped balls may end up costing you thousands.
Any organizational system need to be very personal. The way I organize my life may not make any sense to you and vice versa. There is no cut and paste answer that will work for everyone. You have to know yourself and how your brain works in order to set up a system that you can stick with.
That said, there are a ton of apps out there that can help you get organized in the way that makes sense for you. Here are my favorite organizational apps that helped me to reach that sweet spot.
LastPass
This is one of my favorites.
We all know that it’s real bad to use the same password for everything. And it’s equally bad to keep a list somewhere of all your passwords neatly together just ripe for the picking by some nefarious individuals.
This is why Lastpass is great. They have a free option and a paid option (only $2 a month!!). With just the free option, Lastpass allows you to keep all your passwords safely in one place where you can access them quickly without having to resort to post-its all over your monitor.
You also have the option to securely share your passwords with others if needed. If your partner or employee needs access to an account of yours, you can share the login info without them ever actually seeing it. And that access can quickly and easily be revoked at any time if needed without having to contact customer service.
Google Calendar
This one is so easy it seems almost like cheating to include it. But Google Calendar is consistently one of the most used calendar apps for entrepreneurs for many good reasons.
You can manage your appointments, send invitations to events, get email/text reminders and get a good look at what your week looks like with just a quick glance with multiple calendars that overlay.
That’s right. Not only is it free, but it also allows you to set up separate calendars for the different segments of your life (think personal and business tasks). Plus, you can share these calendars with the other people in your life that you share tasks with or that would benefit from knowing what’s up in your life at any given moment.
Todoist
With so many things going on at once, it can be really difficult to track them all. Enter Todoist. This app lets you track all of your tasks, personal and business related, in one convenient place.
One of my favorite things about productivity apps in general, and Todoist in particular, is the ability to mark items with a priority level. I might have 17 things to do today, but only 5 that absolutely have to get done.
It can take some time to figure out the best way to optimize the app for your life, but it will be worth it once you do.
RescueTime
Ever have one of those days where you just can’t seem to get anything done? The average person has a tendency to underestimate how much time they spend playing and overestimate their work time. It’s just how our brains work.
Rescuetime can help you figure out where all that valuable time is going.
This app tracks the apps and websites where you are actually spending your time and sends you reports detailing your activity. Even better, you can set goals for yourself and see how well you stack up against them.
Set alarms for when you’ve fallen into a Facebook hole and need someone to remind you that it’s time to climb out. You can even see your productivity score with customized categories.
Getting yourself organized is one of the best things you can to avoid calamity in your business. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’ve got it all under control in your head.
The MASSIVE, often unseen problem with this is that you generally don’t even know when you’ve forgotten something.
At least until it comes back to bite you in the butt.
Getting organized is the best thing you can do for your own sanity. Save yourself the headache and start testing out some new systems today.
Need help getting your business finances organized? I can help!