As an entrepreneur, I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve my processes. Anything that can help me be more productive and creative, then the happier my team, my clients, and I are. Below are tools and workflows that I have found to be particularly helpful in leverage my time, delegate tasks, and foster creativity.
First up, I have to give a shoutout to Morning Pages. I’ve written about this tool extensively – why I keep up with Morning Pages and how I leverage Morning Pages for my work. Suffice it to say that writing my Morning Pages every day helps me clear my mind, focus on my priorities, and generate new ideas. Over the years, I’ve switched from writing by hand to typing my Morning Pages in Google Docs, and now I keep them in Notion.
Speaking of Notion, this is another tool I’ve grown to love. Notion is incredibly versatile and can be used for a variety of purposes. For me, it serves as my dashboard and company wiki. I find that Notion is particularly helpful for big-picture thinking and brainstorming. So, in addition to housing our SOPs, I also use notion as a creative space for product development. Many people also use Notion as their project management tool, but for me, I find ClickUp more suited for those needs.
Ah, ClickUp. I can’t say enough good things about this tool! ClickUp is my project management hub and my CRM. I use it to track personal tasks, client projects, sales and contacts, marketing campaigns, and operations. ClickUp incredibly powerful and customizable. I’ve found it essential for keeping track of all the moving parts in my business.
Telegram is another tool that I use both personally and professionally. I love using it to stay in touch with friends and communicate with clients. Particularly with clients, it’s much faster and more enjoyable to send voice messages instead of typing out emails back and forth. They get to send questions and brainstorm ideas and get my answers and feedback. Plus, if I’m on the go or driving, I can use Telegram to record a message and later just drop it into ClickUp.
Next up is Canva. What a beautifully helpful user-friendly tool. Now, some design purists might snub at Canva and I get it. There are certainly more professional-grade options out there. And there are plenty of situations in which those should be used. But Canva provides so much agility for me and my team, especially in our marketing and sales processes.
For this next creativity and productivity tool, I’m still figuring out which software will become my go-to for mind mapping. I have historically used mind maps to brainstorm ideas. And up until just a few years ago, I felt constrained to mind mapping on my dry erase board, sticking post-its on a wall, or sketching ideas in a notebook. Mind mapping software just haven’t been all that great. And now all of a sudden mind mapping software – aka whiteboards – are popping up everywhere. Right now, the top contenders, in my opinion, are:
- Miro: I have the most experience with this one, but – spoiler alert – I’ve moved away from it. But, if the other two I’m about to mention aren’t a good fit for you, Miro is still a great option.
- ClickUp Whiteboard: ClickUp rolled out its Whiteboard feature about a year or so ago, but I’m still not in love with it. I’m keeping it on this list because ClickUp is great about iterating its product, and I have a hunch that they’ll make drastic improvements to Whiteboards in the not too distant future.
- Canva Whiteboard: Is solid. It’s neck and neck with my next mention. It’s just going to come down to which option I can access the easiest – both desktop and mobile – and which one I’m able to best collaborate with both my team and clients.
- Freeform: In the meantime, Freeform is taking the lead. It’s an Apple product now included in its full suite, so already it’s head and shoulders above the others on both price and cross-device capabilities
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Under the umbrella of personal productivity, these apps also get used daily.
Spotify for all the obvious reasons. LoFi radio stations are almost always in the background, especially when I’m doing creative work. BodBot helps me not have to spend any mental energy on what my workout should be for the day. And Down Dog is my daily dose of peace. It’s perfectly flexible in creating yoga routines, and their “Restorative” option is wonderful for first thing in the morning.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or just looking for ways to be more creative and productive, I recommend you give these tool a whirl!
