business productivity: 21 brilliant online tools for productivity

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Today’s talking point:

Take a look at some of the digital tools I rely on to stay productive at A Branch of Holly HQ. These tools are things I use daily in my business. You might have heard of some of them before but I hope this will help you find new apps and software to help boost your productivity.

We live in a time when we can make almost anything happen, thanks to an internet connection and some of the most amazing software to ever hit the palm of your hand.

Since we are all doing so much with our devices to create a life that we control, I want to share the digital places I spend the most time in and why they make a difference for me.

I’ll be sharing the places I stay organised and the tools I use to manage and work with my team.

Evernote

I still haven't found anything that makes more sense to me as a digital note taker and a digital note keeper than Evernote.

I originally started using this tool when I was reading a book quite a while ago now. And as I was reading this book, I really wanted to start keeping the thoughts and the notes that I was making somewhere. And so I decided to give Evernote a shot.

Then I had a break from it and after I came back from maternity leave I fell in love with it again. Ever since then, it's grown back into a place I'm taking notes for business and for content creation.

I would say when you’re starting out, don’t get overzealous about the different notebook features. It will just become too complicated.

I love using the web clipper when I’m on my desktop so that I can save things on the fly. I spend the most time in the desktop app, but I find the mobile version useful too. I know that if I want a digital tool to work as a note-taker, I need to keep everything in one place. Evernote does that for me.

There is a paid version, but don’t worry about paying for it until you’re really feeling the need for it.

Asana

Asana is where I project manage my entire business. There are other tools that I use for communication and I'll go through those next, but this one is where my team and I collaborate.

We track all our tasks through Asana. I have multiple projects that have different purposes when it comes to content creation and business management. For example, I have a project for Instagram, for my business goals, for this podcast, for my courses and clients.

Anything for the business, any task big or small, has to be in that project manager. I find it especially helpful for projects that happen frequently. For example, with the podcast, there's a lot of processes are replicated and tracked in Asana.

Slack

Now if we need to communicate something around a project, we use Slack. It is a place for my team and I to have discussions around any content that needs to be created or tasks that need to be actioned.

It’s also the place where I’ve hosted the community for the Pre-Launch Planning Bootcamp.

gmail

My husband gives me such a hard time for how many Gmail addresses I have for the business, but I love this email platform so much. Plus, having it all on the Google platform means I can manage multiple inboxes in one place.

I make big use of the ‘archive’ feature rather than deleting items. I don't delete anything unless I know it's like super spam. I really love the fact that I could literally go back to my Gmail and search by any term and find an email from 2017.

Addevent

AddEvent is a tool I love because it’s useful for me and my clients. It allows people to add a scheduled event to their own calendar easily. You can add it to thank you pages for events or emails so people get automatic reminders.

I use this most frequently for my Busy to Boss Academy students. They get a weekly email with upcoming calls and adding this button means they can pop it in their calendar with one click.

Google Calendar

This will come as no shock whatsoever to anybody who knows me really well. Google Calendar is where my schedule lives.

I am a calendar blocker planner type, and everything I need to do needs to be on the calendar. Even if it’s already a task in Asana, it eventually needs to be given a time slot. Or else it doesn’t get done.

So not only do I have appointments and time with family on the calendar, I even have my morning routine and what time I need to go to bed there too. Then I have the tasks I need to get done too.

Google calendar is just my choice because it's so simple and easy to use. As much as I love stationery, I just can’t rely totally on a paper planner. There are just too many moving pieces, too many people to connect with and too many reschedules. So it just does not make any sense whatsoever to not be completely digital with my calendar, which is why Google calendar is my best friend.

Google drive

I use Google Drive with my clients, my team, everyone. I was never a Dropbox fan, it drives me absolutely crazy, no matter how many times I try to use it! I find Google drive is so simple in comparison. It's been great for a file sharing service for me to give people external links to things.

But for the most part, I am hanging out in Google drive from a note-taking situation. This is especially helpful for my clients because it allows me to keep everything in one place and share it easily.

Pinterest

This is all for visualisation and planning, although I should use it more for marketing! So I’m on Pinterest as a business owner, but also looking for personal things like recipes or home inspiration.

Canva

Canva has made design super accessible for people who have no idea what they're doing from a design standpoint.

I love design, but I’m not that great at it. I need somebody to give me a template and that is what I love Canva for! I can make something beautiful and advertise my podcast and content in just a couple of minutes. There’s a web browser and mobile app and you can now schedule your Instagram content directly from the platform.

Loom

I use Loom for many different things. So first I use it to film my lessons for my online programme. This allows me to share my screen, but then also have my face at the bottom of the video so I can make them even more engaging.

I also use it when I need to do a quick demo for one of my clients rather than writing out complicated instructions. It’s really easy to send a video once it’s recorded. It’s such an amazing tool.

Planoly

Planoly has been the best tool for scheduling IG posts. I don’t tend to schedule Stories, but it’s great that Planoly has that feature. I use the app to plan out all my graphic sand images to make sure they flow.

Acuity

This is probably no surprise because I get on a lot of calls with my clients and if you are booking appointments or calls online like me, Acuity is so helpful. You can also use a tool like Calendly, but I prefer Acuity.

Rather than sending emails back and forward to book times, you can just send a link to your calendar.

Headspace

This isn’t strictly a productivity app, but it is essential for my mindset so it goes on the list! I’ve enjoyed using Headspace to start meditation and I’ve found the app has been so helpful for letting go a little bit.

As well as meditating, Headspace also provides a lot of guidance and education so you can use it in a way that suits you.

Spotify

This, of course, is on my list because it’s where I listen to all my podcasts! I don’t have as much time now to listen to podcasts since becoming a mum, but I am currently listening to a Gilmore Girls podcast to accompany my annual Autumn re-watch.

Kindle

I used to say I would never get a Kindle and now I love it. I would love to read more, and I think when I had Jacob I had this belief that I didn’t have time. At the moment, I give him a bedtime bottle and when he falls asleep I’ll read a page or two before bed.

Amazon

This is one of my most visited sites and where I do a lot of baby shopping. Plus, if you’ve not made a single dollar on the internet yet you can join the Amazon Affiliate program and get some money when people buy something you recommend.

YouTube

YouTube is content, it's social, it's search. It's all the things. It’s a platform I want to get back into because I used to post a lot of videos and I had a lot of fun doing so.

But what I love about YouTube is that I can basically feel like I'm sitting there with you. And ideally, you feel like you're sitting there with me!

YouTube is so different to where it was 10 years ago, but there's a lot of it that is similar and it's just about being more innovative.

Instagram

I think of Instagram as the behind-the-scenes of my business. I try to post so much on Instagram because I feel like it's our outside connection. It’s more relaxed and an add on to this podcast space, which I see as more educational.

Twitter

I love Twitter so much. I wish it was a different place sometimes, because I think it gets so negative and it's really hard to use it the way we used to. We really used to connect with people on Twitter. Now we just kind of put things out there and see if they go viral, which is annoying at best.

But I still try to share my real thoughts, but I think “if this were a video or a podcast, what would it look like in about 140 written characters?” I like to start conversations there and to know what you think.

Kajabi

As you get more advanced with your online marketing, you will love a tool like this. Kajabi allows me to create sales funnels, host my online programmes, create landing and sales pages that I need for launches and so much more. I’ve played around with different tools because Kajabi is just one option in the online biz space. But I keep coming back to this one because it is so powerful. I love how simple and streamlined it has made my business.

Zoom

The last one is an obvious one it’s one that so many of us are using way more since 2020, and that is Zoom. This is how I have team meetings, how I speak to my clients, how I deliver workshops live.