Before I dive into todays share, I want to make sure we are on the same page.
Does this sound like you?
“Mornings are tough enough as is it! But when I think of all the things I need to do and learn – just to have a chance at turning a profit in my business… I want to crawl back under the covers and go back to sleep. I’m not lazy or uncommitted, I’m confused and overwhelmed, and THAT’S why I’m so easily distracted”.
If it does… first let me put your mind at ease. You’re not alone. You’ll find no judgement here… but I’m not going to lie to you either…
…If you’re serious about:
- Sharing your craft, skill and genius with the world,
- creating a thriving online business you love running every day,
- disrupting the marketplace to earn the recognition and income you deserve,
…then there’s only one thing for it:
Learn to tame your monkey mind and get shit done!
Today, I’m sharing the free tools I use everyday in my own business to save me from myself, overcome overwhelm, and battle my bulging to-do list. (We’ll cover some effective tips and tricks for dealing with online business overwhelm, in a later post).
Install them, configure them, but most importantly use them, and watch how they effortlessly help you save hours in lost creative and productive time you could be spending on your business each day.
Productivity tools for Creative Entrepreneurs
A good friend of mine Cody from Thrilling Heroics, introduced me to this little gem of a plugin. 100% free, this Google chrome extension eradicates your Facebook newsfeed. I’m sure you know what it’s like to get sucked into the Facebook black hole and realise you’ve lost hours of a day you can’t get back? This smart little extension still lets you login in to Facebook, but removes the never ending distraction of the newsfeed. I’m lovin’ it!
I have a love/hate relationship with this tool, but the fact is, it works! Stay Focused gives you a scheduled amount of time on the sites you waste the most time on each day, before automatically blocking you out. Your allowance resets every 24 hours.
Knowing that you have limited time in your inbox, Facebook, Youtube – where ever it is you find yourself losing hours of every day – encourages you to be more self-aware and to use this time wisely. There is a work around if you really need to access a site, but the question is, do you?
Momentum is a beautiful browser-based Chrome dashboard, that opens up every time you open a new tab. It features the weather, time, and space for you to note your most important task for the day, plus a running to do list that you can check off. There are many to-do list tools, but this simple, elegant interface with inspiring backdrop (the graphic changes every day) has to be one of my favourites because of its simplicity
Self Control is a more hard core version of Stay Focused. You install the software, then at times when you want extreme focus – especially when working on tasks that don’t require you to be online – you can set Self Control to block you from the web for a specified period of time. To override these settings you need to restart your machine. I love using this tool when I’m writing copy or content for the blog.
This has to be one of the most used apps in my tool box. I started out with the free version, but soon found myself so addicted to the concentration using this app gave me, that I became a paid member.
Focus @ Will is a music player that plays music scientifically identified to help you maintain focus and flow state. With a number of different channels to chose from and a timer to let you manually choose how long you want to focus for, Focus @ Will does exactly what is says on the box.
Getting into the habit of using Focus @ will when you want to do concentrated work, will train your mind to focus every time you activate the app. Well at least that’s how it works for me
One of the biggest distractions to a productive work day is stumbling across content on the web that interests you. Whether educational or entertainment, clicking links in emails, Facebook and Twitter can take you down a rabbit hole of mindless clicking and time wasting.
Install Pocket to your browser, and every time you find an article that interests you, ask yourself this question… “Will reading this article help me achieve my number one business goal for today?”. If the answer is NO, save it to Pocket.
Are you ready to put on your big girl panties and do the work that matters?
We each have a few hours a day where we are at our creative best, and identifying time saving strategies and productivity tools is a characteristic of an entrepreneur serious about making their business work.
If you’re ready to give your creativity and business the focused time and attention it deserves, grab these free extensions, get them installed and configured today, then come and let me know your favourite in the comments.
Did you get a lot of value from this article?
If there is someone in your circle who you think would also benefit from it, I’d love it if you shared it with them.
Just before I sign out for today, I want to encourage you to grab your copy of the FREE Black Milk World Domination report. In it, I share 17 marketing strategies this independent fashion label used to build a multi-million dollar global business, and how you can too!