As a Financial Controller and business coach working from my home office, there are several things I use to manage my day-to-day routine I cannot do without.
Here’s a look at the 7 most helpful things I use to stay productive and to run my business each day.
1 | Ginger Tea
There is nothing like starting and ending the day with a cup of ginger tea to cleanse the system, get in the mood and wake up my body.
My day doesn’t feel right without having some freshly grated ginger with a little bit of honey and hot water. This is my go-to remedy for long working nights. And it is the best natural pain reliever.
2 | Gmail
What would we all do without email? Absolutely nothing! I love using Gmail to stay connected with my clients, keep up with newsletters and forums, and manage my personal plans. I can chat, send text messages, and make phone calls from inside my Gmail powered by Google voice.
I love the fact my cloud storage app Sharefile is great for securing storing documents and integrates with Gmail. I can send out invoices from Gmail powered by QuickBooks Online.
The search function is the best compared to Office 365 and saves me time in finding emails with attachments.
I can organize my inbox into a folder system to easily archive incoming emails. For the mobile app, I can set specific clients’ folders to show me popup notifications.
3 | QuickBooks Online
Managing my finances on the go is vital to running my business. QuickBooks Online provides me with any time and anywhere access to my finances, and I can create invoices and receive payments on the go from my mobile app.
I can also email my clients reports from the system, request documents with the new project feature, add receipts to expenses, and record transactions from the bank feed using the mobile app.
4 | Pandora
Pandora is my go-to place to listen to all of my favorite music when powering through a QuickBooks data clean-up project or sitting in Atlanta traffic.
My favorite genre of music is Gospel, Afrobeats, and soulful R&B. My day starts with a little bit of Gospel for meditation and inspiration, then progresses to some soulful R&B upbeat tempo for an extra energy boost throughout the day.
5 | Acuity Scheduling
Acuity scheduling is my new favorite scheduling tool for eliminating the back and forth emails of “what day and time work best for you” and surprise calls from clients.
It integrates beautifully with my website and zoom for conference calls. I used to use Calendly but switched over Acuity Scheduling to have the flexibility to block all 4 of my calendars when an appointment is booked instead of only one calendar.
The app also sends me weekly and daily meeting reminders instead of only sending reminders to the recipient as Calendly does. I can also collect payments for strategy sessions with clients.
6 | Canva
The less software I have to download and create space for on my MacBook and PC devices the better. Canva is my design tool for creating all of my graphics, special flyers, and PowerPoint presentations.
It is ridiculously easy to use and you can add your logo, brand colors, and font style inside the desktop version. I also love the Android version for creating quick social media quotes and graphics on the go.
7 | A Break
I often get immersed in my projects that I sometimes forget to stop and take a break to relax and eat. This is one area that I have to set up multiple reminder alerts in my Google calendar to pop up when it is time for me to take a break. The reminders also help me to remember to relax my eyes from looking at the computer all day.
What are some of your favorite things you just can’t work without?
