Tools to Stay Organized— And They Are Free

You feel disorganized every day but you are not really sure how to change that. Certainly many of the other perspectives in this guide (e.g., setting priorities, creating process) will help, but even when you get those tools in place, keeping track of the activities of the company seems impossible.

Many entrepreneurs are unaware of the available tools to manage this issue. I was sitting next to an entrepreneur and she was keeping track of her “to dos” in her notebook. She was reviewing her to dos from past days and transferring the ones she didn’t finish to a new page to help her organize her day and effort. I asked her how long that took each day and she said about an hour. She was unaware of the numerous new tools, applications, and software design that automate your “to do” list and track agenda items in an economy of time. These tools are mostly free, and are designed for both larger companies and the one-woman show.

“One of the reasons that entrepreneurs often feel overwhelmed is simply the raw amount of activity that is going on at any one time.” 

One of the reasons that entrepreneurs often feel overwhelmed is simply the raw amount of activity that is going on at any one time. Although you may feel the same way about tracking as you did about process—that it’s a waste of time—tracking, planning, and structure reduce significantly more time in the long run than the brief and immediate satisfaction of moving from task to task. Eventually, that “long run” is another day in the future. It can be busier and more stressful than the one you’re facing today, or it can be a hell of a lot easier.

Entrepreneurs often get stuck in the present tense—after all this is where creativity and innovation live—but if you want to turn your vision into a successful business, then you must operate in all tenses. Track past work, communication and goals. Maintain priorities and balance your time in the present. Establish ongoing processes to ensure accurate and efficient communication and goal achievement in the future. Without simple management tools, organizing incoming information and tasks will continue to feel like herding cats all day, every day.

Whether it is a lack of knowledge or access to these tools, or a failure to appreciate their benefits, dismissing these tools and the end goal they are designed to help you achieve is a perspective that needs a critical shift. Making that shift will yield big results and the daily relief you need.

Once you are aware of these tools and their advantages, take some time to find the ones that seem best suited to your needs. Many of these tools are available online and free (or very low cost) and allow multiple people in your company to access them at an appropriate level of authorization. You may not need all of them, but they will help you create order.

• Project and Task Management Tools. New ventures lack administrative support positions. Tracking to-dos, plans, and larger initiatives is time consuming. Online project management tools help organize your company and its tasks. They create a single, central source for all company activity. In addition, team members can dialogue and store all conversations in one place. To this end, set up a folder for each department (e.g., Marketing) and for other major projects and initiatives (e.g., New York City Launch Event). You will likely have multiple projects under each functional area. Get disciplined in your use of these tools. When a new initiative or project is commenced, set it up in the application. Populate these tools while you are in meetings. Use the tools to post meeting agendas, weekly reports and updates.
• Simple Task Tools. For simple “to do” list items, there are free applications that keep track of tasks you must accomplish. Look at Google Keep, Wunderlist, Todoist and Habit RPG. You can also use the task management tools in your email program such as Microsoft Outlook. These tools allow you to track tasks and to assign tasks to other team members. Pick one and get disciplined about keeping all your “to dos” in one place. The use of these tools may seem overly tactical, but they create efficiency and put time back in your day.
• Accounting Package. You may be spending time creating invoices, tracking expenses and trying to keep track of money with individual spreadsheets. Online small business accounting packages are efficient at managing the basic financial elements of the business including creating invoices, purchase orders, and keeping track of customers, employees and vendors. Also, if you track all financial activity in the package, you can produce the standard financial statements (i.e., income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement) with the press of a button.
• Sales Pipeline/CRM Package. Online customer relationship management (CRM) tools allow you to keep track all sales opportunities and their size, stage, and likelihood to close. While primarily designed for sales, this can also be used to track potential investor opportunities.
• Document Management. You generate documents as your business evolves. Use an online document management tool that allows you to house all documents. Set up a section for each department and other major area of the company. This tool can also be used for your “data room” to manage your investment process. If you set up this central repository early on, you will not have to take extra effort to prepare your data room for investment materials.

You can obtain separate tools for each of the above, but there are software packages that offer one or more of these from a single vendor. Each of these tools are internet-based, integrate seamlessly with common email programs (e.g., Outlook), provide updates and reminders, and act as a single place to manage various elements of the business. They also allow you to run reports on the business with a push of the button. In addition, they create an efficient method for presenting data to new employees, and for sharing information with third parties, such as investors.

In addition to reporting, these tools will allow you to identify the activities that need your focus. A project management tool can alert you that an activity is due in two days. A finance package can generate automatic reports on the status of your revenue budget. A “task” tool can remind you of the tasks of the day. While part of the benefit of these tools is tracking and organizing, an equally important benefit is making sure you stay on track.

However, these tools don’t run themselves, and they are meaningless if you’re the only one using them. In other words, your change in perspective has to involve your entire team. These tools will become less effective for your business if your organization is not committed to using them on a regular basis. You must drive your organization to use them religiously. They should be a fundamental part of your communication and content development. Once your team learns how to maximize their functionality, you’ll build a remarkably clear map of how your business is running, what’s coming next, and what current priorities are at any given moment. A single tool, accessible from anywhere, that contains all the relevant content for your company’s daily activity, is a valuable source and incomparable advantage.

If you told entrepreneurs, “We have a tool that will show you all your company activity, map your progress, and alert you when a change of direction is needed”, most would take you up on it. Yet many entrepreneurs still persist in the perspective that tools are not for startups, or small businesses, or are simply not worth the time to get them going. If you’re one of the skeptics, start with one tool, do it right, and let the result change your perspective. If you’re ready for your organizational make over, by all means, get started. It won’t be long before you see increased productivity and creativity. Then you’ll ask yourself, “how did I manage before this?”