This month we have asked a group of amazing ladies, female entrepreneurs and business leaders for their top tips, advice & best apps… to help you be more organised in 2019…
Journals, diaries, notepads, whiteboards….
When we asked for advice on ‘How to Get Organised in 2019’ – lots of ladies said they relied on their journal – but journals come in all shapes and sizes and there are so many different options when it comes to journaling…
Helen from Yorkshire said; “I started bullet journaling this year. I find it helps me prioritise and set realistic expectations for work I can achieve in a day/week/month etc…” Paperchase is a great place to start – on their website they say; “In the fast-paced modern world, it’s not often we get a chance to stop and smell the roses. The perfect way to document and take stock of the multitude of positives in your life, our range of life journals includes gratitude journals to increase your wellbeing, notebooks for your moments of inspiration and goals journals to help you stay motivated.”
We recommend having a gander on the Paperchase website –
www.paperchase.com/en_gb/stationery/writing/life-journals
Lots of ladies also recommended Lifestyle Planners – if your life is becoming too overwhelming, what you may need is a lifestyle planner. These are geared toward all areas of your life and can assist you with personal and professional needs.
Melanie and Marie recommended their LifeStyle Box Co 2019 Lifestyle Planner which features 12 inspirational women sharing their top tips, expertise and talents to inspire and motivate you throughout the year.
Looking to get more out of your day? Catherine says that she uses Zelo – a great productivity journal, habit tracker and wall planner: sleek, sophisticated and backed up with science – and it’s undated (big plus points)! The @thinkzelo journal is the brainchild of Natwest Entrepreneur Programme member in Leeds and is a great way to literally dump the contents of your head into the pages, which is such a powerful way to engage your subconscious mind, especially when it feels very full. www.instagram.com/thinkzelo
Lauren says she loves a good old handwritten to do list to help her stay organised and on top of things – she continued to say; “Mainly because I love the satisfaction of ticking something off!” According to research, people who have a to do list get to sleep on average 13 minutes quicker than those who don’t! So it’s worth a try!
Kate C says that she uses a meal planner board in her kitchen – she says that “the most argued thing is “whats for tea?” “have you got any meat out!” … a whiteboard really helps us being organised with shopping and after work plans.”
Top Tips
Louise from Scotland says that to stay on top of her to do list she lives by the motto – “if you can do it in 5 min or less, then just do it NOW!”
Emma from Leeds says that when you are looking at getting more organised, decluttering is a good place to start; “Even just looking at your pile of stuff to do takes up mental energy so get it done and then it’s done!”
Similarly, Dani recommended the services of Kate Ibbotson who is a Professional Declutterer, Organiser & Life Coach, www.atidymind.co.uk Kate said; “I’d say definitely focus on decluttering mind and home first as if you don’t, you end up organising forever. Things like letting go of guilt and obligation as well as making sure you don’t have 3 potato peelers… then applying some basic principles of professional organising such as assigning a home to everything, storing like items with like, keeping items close to where you use them, containing and labelling. But the simple things work too – a diary planner, whiteboard in kitchen for family planning and setting alarms on phone for reminders. Finally, have a simple 3 section system for incoming post – incoming, action & to file (shredding or recycling the majority at source!)”
There’s also lots of great online tools, apps and websites…
Sarah from Wakefield says she uses FamCal to sync the whole families diaries and lots of ladies said they use the Cozi app – Cozi is a Family Organiser and is a surprisingly simple way to manage everyday family life…
We had lots of ladies recommending Wunderlist – a cloud-based task management application. It allows users to manage their tasks from a smartphone, tablet, computer and smartwatch. Similarly, when we asked ladies how they stayed organised, lots recommended Trello – a web-based project management application. Rebecca says she uses Trello for all sorts “keeping recipes, to do lists, making notes and records of things…” and Global Entrepreneur Alison Callan from Australia said; “Trello is awesome – I use it for planning, prioritising, tracking and collaborating/delegating.”
Kate Ibbotson, Founder of A Tidy Mind https://www.atidymind.co.uk also recommended some great apps; “Evernote for notetaking, Trello for to dos, Redbooth for team project management, Content Cal for social media…”
