This week on the blog, I share three of my favorite productivity tools: a game-changer in running a small business. These tools helped me organize my workflow, projects, and ideas to keep things together and in one place.
It has taken seven years of trial and error and playing around with different systems, but I think I’ve finally found some methods that work for me. Hopefully, some of these tips will help you find ways to organize and run your small business more efficiently and effectively.
Trello
Trello is one of those productivity tools you hear often and to tell you this has been my project management software. I use this to manage my blogging workflow, and social media tasks, each week. I love that it is very user-friendly. You can collaborate with multiple people on different projects; the software allows you to create columns for different stages of a project and checklists for all of the tasks that need to be done in a specific project stage.
When you have a task or a project coming at you, create a dedicated card for that project, and add the appropriate checklist for each stage of the task that you are working on. The software has a free version for single users, and I’ve been using the software for several years and have never needed to upgrade to the paid version with just a single user.
Evernote
Evernote is a great note-taking app that syncs to the cloud and across all of your devices. It is a great tool that allows you to capture, collect and organize all of my ideas in one place. I love having all of my notes, research and list in a single area. This is a tool I use to collect ideas for projects that I’m working on in Trello and take notes on books and podcasts that I am currently reading.
I use bullet journal style to keep lots of lists lists for ideas of future projects that I want to take on, content ideas for creation for my business, and anything else that I want to remember. There are endless ways to use Evernote, including personal school work and even organizing recipes. My favorite feature Evernote is the Web Clipper tool that you can use on your Safari browser or chrome browser; the device will clip and save articles from the web, right into the note you’re working on.
No more digging around your bookmarks or trying to find which Pinterest board you save that web article to as it is right there in your notes.
Notability
Notability is another note-taking app, but this allows you to take digital handwritten notes with an iPad and an Apple pen. I love note-taking, and I’m always writing things down because it helps me remember and retain what I am learning in meetings and conferences and just ideas that I’m collecting over time. Think of it as a digital notebook.
I have tried typing notes over the years. I found that it just is not useful for me as an actual process of handwriting everything out. The past problem is that all my notes were spread out across multiple composition notebooks, and I would spend a lot of valuable time looking through them to find what I needed. Notability was the answer to keeping me organized and on task, paper-free.
It allows me in a small and compact way since it was on my iPad and is always with me. And there’s a feature that also allows you to record while you are taking notes. When you are referencing your notes, as you’re looking back over them. You tap anywhere on your note to hear what was said at that actual moment. You can also combine handwritten notes, photos, and PDFs into a single note taken into a single note to bring your lectures, ideas, and projects to life.
I will never haul a ton of notebooks to a conference or meeting again!
There are a lot of productivity tools online that are free but this is a paid app on the apple service, yet I think it is worth it, and I highly recommend it for anyone who likes the actual handwriting notes process but doesn’t want the clutter of the notebooks or to remember where they add their notes in past lectures.
Please let me know if you have any experience with these apps or any of these productivity tools or suggestions for tech tools you love in your business. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments below, and good luck with your productivity.
Combining these tech tools and branding formula for your company will surely create an impact on your business.
You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I would love to connect with you and know more about you as well! I hope you will send me a DM so we can continue the conversion offline!
Shelly Niehaus Photography is a Boise, ID-based branding and headshot photographer. Shelly specializes in professional headshot photography, personal branding photography, and lifestyle photography. Shelly serves the greater Treasure Valley area including Boise, Meridian, Eagle, and Nampa.
