The Year is FLYING BY and I have been busy trying to set my priorities, intentions, and plan out some fun trips for 2020! One of my favorite projects to tackle in January is to look back through my calendar and pick out the highlights of the year and make sure to schedule MORE of those events that fill me with joy! If you are a Rachel Hollis fan girl like me she talks all about his process on her Rise Podcast episode 78!

There are so many areas of business and life we are constantly  investing a piece of ourselves, money, time, energy…and I wanted to share a few of my most impactful investments of the last year!

SIMPLE SYSTEMS FOR A BIG IMPACT

It has taken me a long time to find a system for organizing my business that works for me, being a small business owner, you take on the job of every employee in your company, plus a jumbled brain full of ideas! It can easily feel out of control, but I have found a few tools I use EVERY DAY in my business that make this life possible!

Honeybook:
My virtual business partner, Honeybook does ALL THE THINGS… manages my client workflows, sends contracts, pre-wedding questionairres, keeps my scheduled organized so I am never double booked, Honeybook has no doubt quadrupled my business capacity. I use it every day with every client interaction and its a beautifully simple way to keep everything in one place! Try it out for FREE for the first month and use this link to get 50% your first year!!

Golden Coil Planner:
This is my lifeline! I have tried every type of organizer and planner imaginable and could never find one that fit exactly what I needed.. that is why I LOVE GOLDEN COIL! This customizable journal, lets you choose exactly how you want to lay out each section… with monthly, weekly, daily, and even project planning pages. PLUS you can start your planner on any month of the year so it’s perfect for any season!

The Start Today Journal: 
This is the only personal development tool I have EVER STUCK WITH! This daily prompt journal takes 5 minutes every morning to start your day with Gratitude, intention, and the perfect pep talk to help create the life you want for the future! Plus they make the perfect gifts, check them out HERE!

Social Planning:
I am all about utilizing Free resources and there are so many amazing options for small business owners. I start with Trello for all of my brain dump, big ideas and content planning, the drag and drop feature makes my designer heart so happy! THEN I use Later & Planoly for planning all of my social media feeds, I love that they give me the flexibility to schedule, auto post, and design months worth of content in only a few minutes!

Tailwind:
I have been hearing the buzz about Pinterest for years and I have always loved using it for personal recipes and outfit inspiration but never put it to work for my business. Well I finally took the plunge and tried out The Tailwind App and In LESS THAN A MONTH.. these are my Pinterest analytics..Impressions: 41.82K, Total Audience: 36.59K, Engagement: 519.. and this is without any interaction from me!! WHAT! I simply schedule pins to multiple boards and let it work its magic… MIND BLOWN, I am still learning a ton of tricks as I go and have been loving all of the free resources provided by Vanessa Kynes, a Pinterest marketing strategist

Social Squares:
I have had my eye on Social Squares for quite a while and finally decided to dive in, and OH MY GOSH is it worth it! If you didn’t know this about me, I am also a brand and web designer and the database of images on Social Squares is incredible, they have beautifully curated and styled images for every type of business owner. They are perfect to use on your IG feed, Pinterest posts, website features and everything you could need for a professional looking business!

Blue Light Glasses: 
If you are anything like me, you probably spend the MAJORITY of your day staring at a screen. After a while my eyes can feel out of focus, dry, strained, and give me debilitating migraines that totally crush my productivity. The best way I have found to combat this struggle is Blue Light glasses… PLUS giving myself mandatory screen breaks to decompress a priority! My favorite brand I have found is Pixel Eye Wear they have the cutest styles in a high quality design and don’t have the noticeable yellow tint I have found in cheaper blue light glasses!

INVEST IN EDUCATION

There is something so powerful about investing in education, not only do you play closer attention because you put in the money up front, but being surrounded by other creatives sparks so much joy and inspiration that can take your business to new levels! Below are a few of my favorites from the last year!

Creative@Heart Conference
GAME CHANGER! Oh my gosh guys I met my second family at the C@H conference. It is the perfect mix of inspiring keynotes and customized breakout sessions with huge takeaways and practical tips to grow your business. One of my favorite things about the conference is it is for ANY creative business owner, and added so much value to gain perspective from other industries. It was such a fulfilling weekend of tears, friendship, and vision! They are even gearing up for their 10th conference so if you are a fellow creative entrepreneur definitely check out this incredible in person experience HERE.

The Promptlet shop
Jess Jordana is my homegirl… although to be fair she probably has no idea who I am.. But I actually heard about her magic at the C@H conference and had to check it out. Jess is a copywriting strategist and the best storyteller I have every seen. When she launched her Promptlet shop which is like a personalized template to write ALL THE THINGS… I knew I had to join the party. Oh my gosh copywriting is hard work, especially about your own business and this resource makes the process fun and a whole lot less scary than staring at a blank screen.

G&G workshop
The With Grace and Gold Workshop is for any type of designer and was the perfect jumpstart to help me transform my ideas into a real action plan with a clear system to best serve my branding and web design clients. My favorite part about this course is that it was self paced and allowed me to complete each weekly education when I was ready, plus I can access the materials for life and am already planning to dive back into a refresh after this year!

 ALL THE FREEBIES! 

I am all about a good freebie, but it can be easy to get sucked into signing up for webinars, and youtube videos that don’t always serve you well. As a business owner, your time is so valuable, so choose your freebies wisely. My favorite has been listening to educational podcasts ANY CHANCE I CAN, usually on long drives or while cleaning. Here are a few of my favorites!

Rise Podcast: 
If my Rachel Hollis obsession wasn’t clear enough, her business podcast is audio gold! She shares tons of tactical tips for growing your business, sticking to your goals, and inspiring interviews with other successful business owners! Check out my recent favorite episode HERE!

Brands that Book Podcast:
If you are a creative entrepreneur this podcast has so much to offer, Davey Jones interviews other business owners and with a focus on marketing, money management, finding more clients, and creating a sustaining personal brand! Check out the show HERE! 

How I built this Podcast:
This podcast is my go-to when I am needing a mental break from work but still want to feel inspired. This NPR hosted show dives into the stories behind some of the world’s best known companies. This interview style podcast shares the most interesting stories of company founders for places like Ben & Jerrys, Bumble, Air bnb, Buzzfeed, The Knot, 5 guys, and everything in between! Check out their most popular episodes HERE! 

I hope you found some awesome new resources to try for your business or personal life! I would love to know if any of these have made an impact in your productivity and if you have any business investments you LOVE that aren’t listed I would love to hear about them!

If you are looking for some more resources to kick start your productivity any time of year CHECK OUT THIS POST!