I get a lot of questions about how I stay organized and on top of everything that needs to happen in my business. Today I’m sharing with you the top 5 tech tools I use to stay organized and keep my business running smoothly.
1. Gmail and Google Apps
I use Google Apps to manage my @jennyshih.com email addresses. Instead of dealing with my hosting company’s interface, I use the simplicity of GMail and the professional approach of a domain-specific email address (meaning it comes from jennyshih.com).
2. Boomerang for Gmail
I love using Boomerang, a special tool for GMail that allows me to schedule email messages to be sent on a specific day and time.
Here’s an example of how I use Boomerang. Say I just got off the phone with a client who is launching a new product next Tuesday. Following our session, I draft an email to her, checking in on her product launch. I use Boomerang to schedule this email to go out Tuesday evening. It’s one less thing for me to remember to do next week because it’s done in advance.
3. Acuity
There’s nothing more painful than back-and-forth emails to schedule appointments. To save myself time and headaches, I use an online scheduling tool called Acuity.
Acuity allows my clients book their own appointments. Acuity then sends appointment confirmations and appointment reminders to my clients via email. It also dumps confirmed appointments right into my calendar.
There are dozens of scheduling tools available and none of them are perfect. I have a system in place for making Acuity work for me, and I’m very happy with it.
4. Things
I use Things to keep track of my to-do items, both one time tasks and recurring tasks. It reminds me when I need to pay my assistant, do my bookkeeping, backup my computer, and more.
It keeps things out of my head and safely captured, leaving space for more important superhero duties.
5. iCal
Even though I’m a big fan of GMail, I prefer using Apple’s iCal calendar application over Google’s calendar. It’s easier to use and it’s one less tab open in my browser.
I use iCal to keep track of client sessions, one-on-ones with my coach, and personal appointments. I also use it to block out “working time” to make sure I have enough time to write blog posts, work on upcoming classes and products, and brainstorm my next steps for changing the world.
What are your favorite tech tools? Share them in the comments below.
Hi Jenny!
I love these 2 freebies: Wunderlist and Evernote. Wunderlist is a simple list app for the computer, for list makers it’s easy and elegant. Evernote lets you clip websites as you browse, make your own notes and reminders, and has a cool audio note feature.
Mary Ellen
Thanks for sharing those, Mary Ellen. I’ve heard great things about Evernote but haven’t used it myself. Off to check out Wunderlist. I played around with Remember The Milk for awhile but didn’t come to love that.
Thanks for offering up your fav tech tools!
You’re welcome! Let me know what you think about Wunderlist. I love lists and it works for me!
M.E.
Evernote is also great as it can be accessed from multiple platforms so I can store and share information from my iphone, ipad, work and home computer
Seems to be a popular one! Thanks for adding your thoughts, Jennifer!
Nice list Jenny…I keep a pretty intense tools list and you just gave me one I was looking for. The ability to schedule gmail messages. Love it.
One of my favs (‘cuz I’m a “lazy” content creator and publisher) is Texter for storing phrases I type over and over again. I have a thing for stuff being capitalized the same way each time, etc. and with this tool, I don’t have to worry about it. It is free and PC only…and I have a list of ones that aren’t free or work on the Mac (now where did I put that list…teasing).
Something similar for gmail is called Canned Responses (you can find it in the labs).
Nice job and thanks for being who you are.
love and light, hugs and blessings
MamaRed
Glad you like Boomerang! Yes, I love Gmail’s canned response option. I use that a lot.
I’ve never heard of Texter but I’ll check it out (even though I’m on a Mac).
Nice to meet you here!
Jenny
Hey Jenny…wow, fast response! I realized including a link might be nice (smile), here ya go:
http://lifehacker.com/242812/download-of-the-day-texter-windows
Thank goodness I started keeping my tools list in a Freemind mindmap. Prior to that, they were everywhere.
Just sent you a private note. Look forward to hearing back from you.
Do you happen to know of a tool that lets you insert fields for gmail?
love and light, hugs and blessings
MamaRed
Hey Jenny, first of all I would like to thank for sharing the information.
I am using Boomerang from past 1 year and it is really a very powerful tool to keep my emails managed. The best feature I like is how we schedule our emails through it. I believe this tool has great potential to help me manage my business and my personal life.
Another tool which keep me organized and playing a big role in my online business is “Asana”. It’s such an amazing tool when you want to work with other people, also it help a lot in managing my daily projects and general tasks.
I never tried ical and I prefer Google spreadsheet because most of my clients like to use Google docs.
Thanks again Jenny for sharing the list.