How organized are you? Do you find yourself missing out on opportunities because of disorganization or forgetfulness?
We all know that the most successful people implement organization techniques that keep them going full steam ahead without digging for notes,trying to remember that article idea, or missing a marketing opportunity. I have decided to start working on my own organization skills and thought I'd share some of the tools that I have found in hopes that they will also help you.
Task List
I'm sure not unlike many of you I have several projects going on at one time. These projects can consist of writing articles, developing marketing strategies for clients and implementing marketing strategies for the company that I work for. It can get overwhelming. I have to have a place that I can jot down my projects and to-do items in order to remember everything that is going on. Toodledo is not only fun to say, it helps me stay organized and productive. I use it to do the following:
- Organizing my life - personal, professional and social.
- Keep track of tasks that I'm responsible for.
- Set due dates and priorities to each task.
- Create a hotlist of items that require my immediate attention.
- Share with co-workers and clients.
- Integrate with my Google calendar.
- Integrates with my mobile phone.
- Jot notes easily and tie them to projects.
Toodledo has both a free and paid version. The free version is very helpful,but the Pro version which is under $20 per year offers you a scheduler, statistics, create subtasks, set enhanced alarms, and keep your task history for up to two years. Money well spent in my opinion.
Content Management
We all know that in this day and age of internet marketing content is king,but it's hard to stay on top of creating, drafting and producing content. Many find just the idea of content creation to be overwhelming, let alone be proactive in content creation. Divvy HQ helps - I promise. Now, I must admit that a friend of mine developed this snazzy tool, which is why I gave it the initial try, but now I don't ever want to be without it. Divvy HQ is a spreadsheet-free editorial calendar that enables you to manage content ideas, editorial teams,production processes and deadlines. It can help you manage your content strategy. You can use it solo, or use it with your team to collaborate and share the content workload. Just a hint - if you think it will help you in staying organized and productive you can try it out for free for 30 days, it's in Beta now so I assure you that your feedback will be welcomed.
Time Management and Tracker
Ahhh...time management! Ok, I'll be honest this is something I struggle with. I tend to find myself moving from one project to another, getting distracted and not always being the most time efficient. Well, that was before I found Toggl. Toggl makes logging time on client projects, so much easier than any other application I've used. I can now track time on client projects and company projects with ease. It's a web-based time tracking tool that lets you manage projects and keep an eye on how much time you are spending on them. You can monitor your time per project and task and organize it by client. You can use the web version or download the desktop app, whichever way works best with your work style. If you are a Quickbooks user it integrates seamlessly. Toggl will help you to organize yourself and avoid those pesky problems when it comes to billing. The report feature will also let you see where you are spending most of your time and whether that time is billable or non-billable. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention there is a mobile application that you can use for when you are on th go. Not bad for a free tool, huh?
Project Management
As small businesses grow they outgrow their spreadsheet methodologies. At that time it's important to adopt a system that not only saves time but helps in creating efficiencies in processes, so that more time can be spent making money and less time spent on keeping organizes. When a company reaches this transition they want something that's easy to use and easy to implement - which is what attracted me to Basecamp, not to mention all the positive reviews it had received. It has all the essentials you'll need in a web-based project management application, including:
- Management of multiple projects
- Multiple user management
- Task management capabilities
- Milestone setup and management
- Message boards
- Whiteboards
- File management, including uploads and download accessibility
If your ready to move to a project management system, don't need a lot of bells and whistles, but need a system that will help you manage projects efficiently give Basecamp a try. Stop updating those spreadsheets, it's wasting time that you could be spending on client projects and billing for.
Idea / Web Clipping
How many times do you find yourself browsing the web and you find something that you want to remember, but you know if you bookmark it you'll find yourself digging for it later? Well, if that's you you'll understand why I love this tool so much. I started using Evernote a year ago to put my workout schedules, grocery lists, and to-do lists in. It worked great for that because it would sync with my mobile phone and I'd have them wherever I went without carrying around sheets of paper in my purse. Then, I learned something new. I could actually use Evernote to clip articles that I found on the web and file them into important folders to review later. No longer would I have to dig through my 3,000+ bookmarks. It was like having a digital library at my fingertips. I'd create files for article ideas, client ideas, even home decorating ideas. I love that I can draft a Quicknote, that lets me create a quick text note right from the browser without launching Evernote. It certainly makes finding things a lot easier - and that means it saves me time! The Evernote web clipper bookmarklet works in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. Oh, and once again it's free!
Remote File Storage and Sharing
I often work from different computers, one in the office, one downstairs, and one upstairs. It's not uncommon for me to work on one file from all of these computers, so DropBox is a lifesaver. I can store a photo in my DropBox and access it from any of my computers. I can also share large files with co-workers and clients easily. I know many are afraid to use the cloud (online storage), but as time goes on I just don't see how we are going to get away from it. It's not uncommon for me to share a file that is 160mb+ with a client and that certainly isn't going to go through an email server, so the best option I've found is DropBox. Dropbox is also available via mobile apps and syncs the files that you share and monitors any file changes. You can even revert to previous versions that have been stored on the Dropbox servers for up to 30 days. Give it a try, they give you 2GB free!
RSS / News Reader
Ok, we all know that marketing changes on a daily basis - gone are the days of marketing be a static science. To stay up-to-date with the latest trends, marketing mistakes, social media applications, social media platform changes, search engine marketing, viral marketing campaigns, email practices,traditional marketing successes - well you get the picture, I read a lot of blogs and websites. An RSS(real-simple-syndication) reader allows me to scan through, and skim the websites that I have deemed newsworthy at my leisure. I love the ease and usability of Google Reader. A feature that I couldn't be without is the ability to label my feeds so that I can group them in a way that makes sense to me. I suppose I am partial to Google Reader because it works seamlessly with my other Google Applications. If you aren't keeping tracking of marketing topics via an RSS feed reader, I guarantee you are wasting time trying to stay up-to-date with the latest marketing techniques and topics. Google Reader is a great feedreader to start with - it's a breeze to setup and it will also suggest feeds that you might be interested in. Another free tool I don't ever want to be without!
As you can see without these tools I'm pretty sure my life would be in chaos. It's never been more important to stay organized, efficient and up-to-date, many of us are doing the jobs of two and three people. What's the saying, don't work harder - work smarter? These tools will help in accomplishing that goal.
