This guide offers tips and tricks on optimizing your business processes so you can become more efficient - getting more done in less time.

1. Productivity
Primer
Your guide to getting more done
Sarah Hawkins, Process Consultant
True North Business Management
www.truenorthbusinessmanagement.com

2. “The main thing is to keep the
main thing the main thing.”
Stephen R. Covey,
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
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3. What’s a system?
Your
business
operations
marketing
Social
Media
News
letters
website
time
money
resource A definition:
BusinessDictionary.com
defines a system as “a set
of detailed methods,
procedures and routines
created to carry out a
specific activity, perform a
duty, or solve a problem.”
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4. any task or activity that you do on
a regular basis should have some
sort of system attached to it, even
if -- and maybe especially if -- the
“regular basis” is once a year.
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5. Why use systems?
Save time and energy
Delegate with greater ease
Focus on the work you love
Replicate your business for
spinoff
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6. getting focused: tips
 Start your day with quiet time:
meditate, journal, yoga
 Set your work hours and stick to
them
 Eat regular meals
 Turn off the ringer on your
phone, and all other notifications
from email, text, social media
 Move your body regularly
 Brain-dump all of the work you
need to do and create a “must-do
today” list and work from it
 At the end of the day, create your
“must do tomorrow” list so you
hit the ground running
 Move your body regularly
 Get at least 7 hours of sleep
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7. Getting focused: Apps
 Self Control: free application to
help you avoid distracting websites
(Mac)
 Cold Turkey: temporarily block
yourself off of distracting websites
(Windows)
 Newsfeed Eradicator: a Chrome
extension that replaces your entire
Facebook news feed with an
inspiring quote
 Pomodoro Technique: work
intentionally in 25-minute spurts
with planned 5-minute
procrastination breaks.
 Insight Timer: stay in the flow
without keeping an eye on the
clock. BONUS: a range of soothing
chime sounds to choose from
 Todoist and Wunderlist for brain
dumps and to-do lists
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8. Calendars & Scheduling
People who are in business for themselves
(whether freelancer, entrepreneur, solopreneur,
small business owner) are famous for
never/rarely taking time off, and resisting
spending time doing things that are not
"business-related."
My message is that it is IMPERATIVE that we
figure out how to incorporate self care (which
includes time off) into our schedules. We can
do this when we get more purposeful about
what we're doing, and how we are doing it.
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9. calendars & scheduling
Google
Calendars
Online
booking
forms
Herding
the cats
Create multiple calendars
(personal, business, family)
and color-code them so you
can easily see at a glance
which category the
appointment is in.
Make it easy for clients and
potential clients to book time
with you with an online
booking form. Calendly,
Acuity, YouCanBookMe
To find a convenient
time for multiple people
to attend a meeting or
an event, try Doodle.
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Join the incubation lab
Visit www.truenorthbusinessmanagement.com to sign up

11. Social media
 Automate and schedule social media posts months in advance using
Hootsuite or Buffer
 Systematize your marketing communications by having a plan for when
and what you post. Use a simple word doc or excel spreadsheet or you
can also use a task management system like Asana, or get a little fancier
using one of these editorial calendars.
 Keep it simple and pick just one or two social media platforms to play on.
More than that and you spread yourself too thin.
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12. File management
 Dropbox
 Google Drive
 Evernote
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Keep your files organized and easily accessible using online storage.
With these tools, you’ll be able to access files from anywhere, and
share with clients

13. Organize and collaborate
 Document your processes. Create checklists
each time you do a task; refer to them the next
time so you don’t miss a vital step.
 Record your on-screen processes using screen-
recording software such as Jing or Recordit
 Batch your tasks. Dedicate blocks of time to
similar tasks in order to decrease distraction and
increase productivity.
 Collaborate with your team and/or clients using
project management systems such as Basecamp,
Asana, Trello
 Use Evernote to store files, checklists,
screenshots, and to manage your tasks.
Evernote has a Chrome extension for the web
called Webclipper that allows you to store
information from the internet such as web
pages, screenshots, emails. This tool has so
much functionality, it’s mindboggling.
 With Wunderlist and ToDoist, you can share
your to-do lists
 Google Alerts: get an email based on your
individual search query.
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14. communicate
Skype
Google Hangouts
Zoom.us
Join.me
Appear.in
Free Conference
Call HD
Uberconference
Periscope
Blab
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Try these Teleconference, videoconference, and screensharing apps

15. Email management
 Active Inbox for Gmail has completely
changed my life. Turn your emails into
tasks and get to Inbox Zero.
 Create canned responses to compose
replies to common messages, and
save them for future use.
 Stem the tide of email overwhelm &
unsubscribe from multiple lists
simultaneously with Unroll.me.
 Auto responders: not just for “Out of
Office” notifications, they are also
useful for letting people know that
you received their email and you will
reply in #days/hours/whatever. You
can also list your FAQs.
 Boomerang for Gmail allows you to
schedule an email to be sent later,
and also will send you follow-up
reminders.
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16. Password management
LastPass saves your passwords,
stores online shopping profiles,
generates long and strong
passwords for you, and will even
allow you to safely share login rights
with fellow LastPass users.
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17. Client management
Create a welcome packet for new
clients. Include all the things they need
to know about working with you: a
welcome letter, policies and procedures,
agreement/contract, an intake
questionnaire, and information on your
referral program. Put all of these items
in a folder on in your Dropbox or
Google Drive called “Welcome Packet”
and share this folder with your clients.
Use a client management system to
keep track of client information.
Satori and vCita are scheduling
systems that also capture client
information at the time of scheduling,
so you’ll have handy client cards to
reference later. Insightly is also a good
option.
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18. testimonials
Capture testimonials or create surveys
using Google Forms (free) or Woofoo
(free with a paid option).
Store them in the cloud and use them
each time you complete work with a
client.
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19. Financial flows
EchoSign from Adobe or
HelloSign with Google
integration
Contracts
Invoice to me and Free
Invoice Generator (both are
free)
Invoice generators
Outright, Freshbooks, and
the ubiquitous QuickBooks
Accounting
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• Harvest
• Toggl
• Timelog
Time tracking

20. Remember the story about the goose
that laid the golden egg?
You absolutely must ensure that you’re
taking care of yourself adequately
as you build and run your business.
Take time to integrate into your life,
and engage in self-care.
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21. Tending the flame
 Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night
 Meditate
 Journal
 Give yourself regular breaks during the
day, the week, the month, the year
 Go on an annual retreat
 Eat healthy meals and snacks.
 Exercise – get outside at least 20
minutes a day
 Manage your energy. Introverts and
Extroverts have different needs. Find
out where you fit on the spectrum, and
give yourself what you need.
 Engage in community, online and in
person
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When you’re inspired, you inspire your clients.
Here are some ideas to support you in tending your flame.

22. Thank you
I hope the tools I’ve shared with you serve as a
supercharged launch pad to help you get more done
with greater ease.
May your business soar to new heights.
Questions? Comments? Contact me!
sarah@truenorthbusinessmanagement.com

23. Your next steps
Go to www.truenorthbusinessmanagement.com and
sign up to join the Business Incubation Lab to get
your systems sorted before the holidays hit.
The Lab will be open from November 16 through
November 20, when I’m running a special challenge
to teach you how to implement the right systems for
your business.

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Join the incubation lab
Visit www.truenorthbusinessmanagement.com to sign up

25. Thank you
@sarahmartinhawk
truenorthbusinessmanagement
www.truenorthbusinessmanagement.com
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