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3 Ways To Capture Your Ideas

3 Ways To Capture Your Ideas

by | May Contain An Affiliate Link, Planning-Organization-Productivity

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | 3 Ways To Capture Your Ideas For Online Business Owners

Stop letting your best ideas slip through the cracks! Stop it. I mean it. Stop scribbling down all your ideas on little pieces of random paper, sticky notes, in your planner, or in your notebook. If it was important enough to write down, it is important enough to ensure it doesn’t get misplaced. One simple way to do this is with a dedicated space that storages all those ideas. Here are 3 ways to capture your ideas for safekeeping.

Why You Need A Trusted Process to Capture Your Ideas 

Your mind has enough to do without having to deal with trying to remember where you wrote down your last big idea for your online business. I'm not sure about you, but I’m not a fan of waking up at 2 A.M. to the idea resurfacing in my brain again. Worst yet, if it never surfaced again. I think you’ll agree when I say it feels so frustrating.

All you really remember is it was genius, and it struck you when you had a clear mind. You have that inner knowing that you put it someplace, but where exactly?

Your mind begins to race, wondering what you were doing when the idea struck. That could help you figure out where you captured your idea. Were you out for a walk? Were you sleeping? Was it after your meditation?

Rethinking Your Idea Capture Strategy: From Sticky Notes to Digital Organization 

Are you often surrounded by a pile of sticky notes, random pieces of paper, or notebooks filled with ideas, tasks, and reminders? If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Many of us start with these quick-fix methods for capturing thoughts. I, for one, have a deep love for sticky notes. They're my go-to when I'm in a hurry. But let's face it, these methods have their downsides.

While sticky notes and scribbles in notebooks might feel convenient at the moment, they often lead to a bigger issue: the endless search for that one brilliant idea you know you jotted down somewhere. This scattered approach can be more of a hindrance than a help, causing you to spend more time hunting for ideas than actually bringing them to life.

To tackle this, I've developed a simple yet effective process. My sticky notes and any other paper-based ideas go in one spot – piled neatly by my inbox. But they don't stay there. Regularly, I transfer these ideas into my digital idea bank. For my ideas, I use Notion. This system ensures that no idea gets lost in the shuffle and everything is easily located when I need it

Transform Your Idea Capturing: 3 Ways To Capture Your Ideas 

Imagine, friend, never losing track of your brilliant ideas again. I’m here to walk you through 3 ways to capture your ideas in a digital method that will keep you organized. No more spending your precious time looking for your ideas!

Say goodbye to the days of frantic searching and hello to a process where your ideas are always at your fingertips – because, let’s face it, as busy entrepreneurs, our phones are practically extensions of ourselves.

All 3 of these digital solutions are not just convenient; they’re game-changers in the way you manage and capture your ideas.

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | 3 Ways To Capture Your Ideas For Online Business Owners

One: Notion 

Starting with Notion, this tool might seem a bit advanced at first, but it's incredibly useful. I use Notion as a central hub for almost all my ideas for business and personal use. It's versatile, allowing for project management, task tracking, and more. The best part? You can customize it to your liking, adding a personal touch to your idea organization and making it pretty. If you’ve been around here for any amount of time, you’ll already know I like pretty.

For inspiration on how to organize your life and ideas with Notion, Muchelle B's YouTube video is a great resource. You can check it out here: https://youtu.be/4WDspvXDKSg 

Download Notion for free to try it out. Here is the link: https://www.notion.so/product

 

Two: Project Management Application 

You guessed it, the second recommendation is in your project management software.

I can almost hear you thinking, that's great. Which one? If you’ve tried to implement a project management software in the past but failed, maybe it wasn’t the right one for you. Book a Content Creation Simplified Session; we can figure it out together. Here is the link: https://misstask.com/mini-session

As an Online Business Manager, I’ve used a wide variety of Project Management apps. The three most common have been Asana, Trello, and Teamwork.

In my experience, if you’ve not used a project management application, Asana, Trello, and Teamwork are fantastic options.

If you already have project management, a great place to add a space for ideas is under your company dashboard.

And now, in case you’re wondering what is a company dashboard, this is one central location for all your company resources, such as brand guide, mission, core values, offers, workflows, link bank, story bank, the list goes on and on. It is the information hub of your business.

 

Three: Note-Taking Apps – GoodNotes, Apple Notes App, and Google Keep 

The last on our list of idea-capturing tools are note-taking apps, each offering a unique way to store your thoughts digitally.

GoodNotes is an amazing app that you can use across multiple platforms. Create an Ideas Notebook that syncs across devices. It’s a great way to keep all your ideas in one place; plus, if you have an iPad and Pencil, you can use this app as a digital notebook. Create an ideas notebook and start to capture your ideas electronically.

Apple Notes App for simplicity and convenience. The Notes app is the go-to app for all Apple users. Try creating an ‘Ideas' folder within the app for easy retrieval of your thoughts from any of your Apple devices. A quick tip: on your Mac, moving your cursor to the lower right corner instantly opens a new note – a feature I find incredibly handy. I love simple things.

Google Keep is another simple application to capture your ideas.

One way Google Keep is a huge time saver for the Duwe household is that it is the central location for your shopping lists. The feature I love is that it stores all the items from previous checklists. Once you begin typing, it pops up for easy addition. For this reason, I prefer Google Keep over Notes for our shopping list.

Whoever goes to the store knows exactly what we need to buy. For us, this works awesome. It's much easier than the paper list hanging on the side of the fridge.

Remember, the key is to find what works best for you. These tools are all about working smarter, not harder, and keeping all your valuable ideas in one easily accessible place.

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Time To Wrap This Up 

So, there you have it – three digital tools to streamline your idea-capturing process: Notion, a Project Management Application, or a note-taking application such as GoodNotes, Notes on your Apple devices, and Google Keep.

Each offers a unique way to ensure your brilliant ideas are organized and easily available, transforming the way you manage and execute your ideas. Remember, the goal is to work smarter, not harder. With these tools, you're set to capture every spark of inspiration efficiently, allowing you more time to focus on what truly matters in your business and life.

Thank you so much for reading I appreciate you and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Is Trello the right project management software for you?

Is Trello the right project management software for you?

by | Content Creation, Content Systems, Planning-Organization-Productivity

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Is Trello the right project management software for you?

When it comes to organic content creation, are you all over the place? Is your content strategy laughable and not a true asset to your small business? Are tasks slipping through the cracks and getting missed? Have you attempted to solve this with project management software in the past and failed? Was it the right one? Is Trello the right project management software for you? Here are 3 questions to ask yourself.

Are you all over the place with content consistency?

There are a number of podcasts I follow that haven't released an episode for months, and I find that surprising. It piques my curiosity if they had a good checklist in a project a management tool, would that keep them from feeling overwhelmed with creating consistent content?

If I’ve learned anything in all my experience with working with online coaches and course creation, every one of them is triggered by overwhelm differently. 

I’m sure this will come as a shocker, each one of us has our own threshold for overwhelm. We all think in different ways; some project management software can overwhelm one business owner while it clicks for another.

Is Trello the right PM software for you? Here are 3 questions to ask yourself to find out.

Simplicity and Ease

Trello is the right project management software for you; let’s find out with our first question.

Do I value simplicity and ease in a project management tool, or do I prefer more complex solutions?

One thing you know for sure is that you are busy. You are juggling a lot of schedules and people; you need a simple solution.

Even the thought of implementing project management software makes your palms sweaty.

Maybe you’re happy with a piece of paper or a Google doc.

I’m guessing if you’re listening to this, it is for a good reason.

When you sit down at your desk, do you find yourself wasting your time and energy? I certainly did when I started my business. See, I found that transitioning from employee to business owner was quite challenging.

The problem is managing a business can be overwhelming, especially when you wear many hats. A user-friendly project management software is essential.

Designed for simplicity, Trello makes it easy to use.

We can easily manage our content creation with its clean and clutter-free interface.

This leads up to question two as we explore: is Trello the right project management software for you?

Visual Layout

Is visual organization and layout crucial for helping me stay organized and focused on my tasks?

If the answer is yes, you’re a girl after my own heart! If flexibility in making your space beautiful and visually appealing is important to you.

Trello is for the business owner who needs to see the big picture in front of you.

If you define yourself as not naturally organized, Trello is the one you should consider.

Trello drag-and-drop feature to rearrange the content cards to go from idea to posting to repurposing.

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Is Trello the right project management software for you?

Basic Planning and Tracking

Do I require basic planning and tracking capabilities to manage my content creation and business tasks effectively? This is the third and final question: is Trello the right project management software for you?

Have you ever described yourself as not being very good with technology? This is a key reason why you’ve been unsuccessful in the past with project management software.

Do you find yourself forgetting to do something? Content tasks somehow seem to slip through the cracks.

Trello is a great choice if you want a streamlined content creation process to make the most of your limited time.

You’re able to set up the cards with your to-do list. One way to set up your content Trello board is by the milestone steps in your workflow. If you are going to set up your board like this, your column heads could be

  • Idea Bank
  • Outline
  • Record
  • Write
  • Edit
  • Scheduled
  • Published
  • Promote
  • Metrics
  • Done

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Another option to set up your content Trello board would be by batch days. Instead of milestones, the columns on your board can be set up with your batch creation days.

What that could look like is:

  • Monday | Outline
  • Tuesday | Record
  • Wednesday | Keyword Research
  • Thursday | Write
  • Friday | Schedule

All you need to do is move your card from one column to the next in your batching days.

Still not sure if Trello is the right solution for you? Book a 1-hour content creation simplified virtual session, and we can figure out a project management software that will work for you. https://misstask.com/mini-session 

Here are the three questions to ask yourself to find out if Trello is the right project management software for you.

1. Do I value simplicity and ease in my project management tool, or do I prefer a more complex solution?
        a. Remember, Trello is designed with simplicity in mind. It's clean and clutter-free.

 

2. Is visual organization and layout critical for helping me stay organized and focused on my tasks?
        a. If you need to see the big picture in front of you, or you're not naturally organized, Trello may be the project management software for you.

 

3. Do I require basic planning and tracking capabilities to manage my content creation and business tasks effectively?
        a. So, if you've ever described yourself as a person who is not very good with technology.
        b. Or you find that you're forgetting to do things frequently with your busy schedule. Trello may be the task management or project management software for you.

 

Time To Wrap This Up

Whatever project management software you select, it must make your life easier, your business smoother, and your dreams of growing your business achievable in between your kids' drop off, pick up, and that busy carpooling schedule.

I'm very grateful that you've chosen to spend time with me today. Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate you, and I hope you have a wonderful week.

New Year Planning! Annual Plan for Online Entrepreneurs

New Year Planning! Annual Plan for Online Entrepreneurs

by | Digital Products, Goals, Planning-Organization-Productivity

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Small Business Owner working at desk: Start the New Year Strong! Plan Your New Year An Annual Planning Blueprint

Can you believe another year has flown by? I don’t know about you, but this year has been a journey of ups and downs. I frequently have to remind myself that the LORD's plan is always greater when things do not go exactly how I planned. With that said, an annual plan provides a compass so you don't lose sight of what's important when you hit the bumps in the road.

Successful online business owners understand that business ebbs and flows. What you need to hold tight to is your why. That is what will keep you going during the struggles, and thankful in times of prosperity. Understanding what drives you towards your goals or why you are so passionate about taking yourself on this unknown journey of entrepreneurship. Your why, along with your what or the vision you have of where you want to go in the next year, three years, and even five years. Does this mean that every detail is planned? Nope, not at all. It's important to plan your year as a small business owner. But, even more essential to plan each quarter. That’s when you dive into the details.

Let's start the new year strong by creating a purposeful success plan. I'm sharing everything that's in my annual planning process. Download the Free Quarterly Planning Guide for Small Online Business Owners. It will be a resource that you will use time and time again. https://misstask.com/free-planning-workbook

If you’d like this in a Google Doc, I’ll put the link to get your hands on the Annual Toolkit for only $27! Here is the link to buy it now!

Why Create an Annual Plan?

Are you thinking, what the heck, Michele? Why do you need an annual plan? In the past, you may have flown by the seat of your pants and felt that worked well. However, if you intend to grow your business and become CEO, you must act like a CEO. What has worked in the past to get you to this point will not be what scales your business to the next level. 

You see, an annual plan provides many benefits:

  • It lets you set goals and work towards achieving them
  • Keeps you focused on what matters most to you 
  • Reduces the chance you'll lose sight of your priorities,
  • Provides direction and alignment for the year ahead
  • Helps you feel in control and on top of your business
  • Allows for less hustle to get everything done

Map Out Your Year

When we map out the year, this is our roadmap of where we want to go in the upcoming new year it allows you to focus on the big picture. 

Creating your roadmap for the full year allows you to schedule important events and commitments around your life when you block out vacation days. 

When you map out the year, you begin to understand your time bank—knowing what you can take on and still allowing yourself three-day weekends and spending time with your kids during the summer. 

It provides direction without getting stuck in the details. When you create your annual budget. Plan your launch schedule around your life and not your life around your business. Decide what major initiatives to undertake for the year, not only with your business but with your life, too. 

Because whether it is a business project or a personal project, it is important to keep it to one major initiative at a time. When you take on too much, you’ll not have enough time in the day to do all the things in the end, leaving you feeling like you’re failing.

​Begin With Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on what has happened in the past year before planning ahead. Allow yourself to identify successes and areas that need improvement. This will help you focus your energy on the initiatives that will have the most impact. Your wins and failures can teach you a lot. Take some time to reflect on what is most important to you. Write about the life you envision for yourself in the future.

Here are a few journal prompts to get you started:

  • What went really well that you want to repeat?
  • What are you most proud of?
  • What challenges did you face?
  • What changed you?
  • What do you want to do differently next year?
  • Remember, there is no failure, only feedback. What feedback did you receive?

Not much of a journaler? Don't worry; instead, write out an exhaustive list of key points and things you’d like to improve. As with everything, it has to work for you.

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Start the New Year Strong! Plan Your New Year An Annual Planning Blueprint

How Happy Are You Really? 

Inside Notion, I have a daily journal. One of the fields is my daily happiness. By keeping track of this daily, I’m able to go into my monthly and yearly roll-ups and see how happy I really am in my day-to-day life.

Next, let's do a self-assessment to determine how happy you are with your life and online coaching business. Let me break this down for you, how happy are you with each of these categories in your life? One is not happy at all something must change, and ten means you’re over the moon happy.

  1. Money
  2. Personal Growth
  3. Self Care (Mind-Body-Spirit)
  4. Family and Friends
  5. Love and Relationships
  6. You Time (Fun and Leisure)
  7. Home Environment
  8. Online Business

Reflect On Your Assessment

  • What scored high in your self-assessment?
  • Why do you feel these things are working?
  • What is not working in your life and online business?
  • What scored low on your self-assessment?
  • Why do you feel these things are not working?
  • Where do you need to give yourself grace?

Vision Planning for the New Year

If you have a journal, now is the perfect time to get it out to dream about your future life. Really, let your mind wander as you think about what you’re aspiring to achieve in the new year. Step into your future self and what is different in your future life. In one year, where do you hope to be? I believe this is very important; what do you want your feelings to be one year from now?

I’m not stopping there; here is a list of questions for you to journal on in order to gain even more clarity.

  • Where are you now in your present life?
  • Who do you want to become in the new year?
  • Where do you want to be in your life and online coaching business?
  • Where do you hope to be one year from now? 
  • What does your ideal life look like? 
  • What does your ideal schedule look like? 
  • Where are the gaps between who you are now and who you want to become?
  • What's holding you back? Let go of limiting beliefs.
  • Looking back at your self-assessment, where are you not in alignment?
  • What matters most in life to you?
  • What makes me the happiest?
  • What is one word to describe your focus for the year? Is it family, consistency, joy, or health?
  • My word for the upcoming year for my business is focus. One focus instead of trying to focus on too many things. Yes, I'm taking my own advice and not trying to accomplish too many things. 
  • My word for my personal life is less. I want to consume less, have less, and do less. I think those two work well together.

What is holding you back? Be honest with yourself; what beliefs or shoulds are you holding on to that are no longer serving you?

Once you have answered the following questions, go to Canva or Pinterest and create your vision board. On Pinterest, create a secret board and pin those images you want to embody in the new year. As for Canva, design an image for your desktop to keep your vision board and goals front and center!

Create a vision board with images representing your ideal future. Keep it visible as motivation.

Another thing that I do inside of Notion is my vision board. I find an image to represent one thing I envision in my life. Then, I write down why I want this and how it will make me feel.

Once I have my vision and goals inside of Notion, I create a vision board for my desktop. I have two monitors. One that has my vision board for the year. My main monitor has my vision board for the month. Yes, I create a vision board each month to focus on one thing.

Long-Form Content Planning

What is your content strategy for the year ahead? Does your long-form content lead up to your live launches? Does your pillar content support your revenue stream?

The long-form content in your business is a door away to working with your business; it should be given the proper amount of time. Does your long-form content showcase your skills and the benefits of your services?

Do you have a process to refresh, reuse, and repurpose your content? If you take the time to create the content, make sure you have a plan to spread the word without leading you to feel exhausted and overwhelmed.

Psst… I still have a few founding client spots if you’d like to lock in our Content Repurposing Services before the pricing goes up. Just saying. (:

Yay! Goal Planning

With your vision in mind, set goals for the year. Do you know what motivates you to accomplish your goals? Do you need outside accountability? If that’s the case, find yourself an accountability bestie. What if you’re not really sure?

In the past, I’ve mentioned Gretchen Rubin's book The Four Tendencies; here is a link to the quiz to find out your tendency: https://gretchenrubin.com/quiz/the-four-tendencies-quiz/. What, I know, right? It boils down to this: what drives you to take action to achieve your goals?

UPHOLDER: “I do what others expect of me—and what I expect from myself.”
QUESTIONER: “I do what I think is best, according to my judgment. If it doesn’t make sense, I won’t do it.”
OBLIGER: “I do what I have to do. I don’t want to let others down, but I may let myself down.”
REBEL: “I do what I want, in my own way. If you try to make me do something—even if I try to make myself do something—I’m less likely to do it.”
Gretchen Rubin, The Four Tendencies

Set Your Goals

  • What do you want to achieve this next year?
  • Launch a new service or product.
  • Hit your ideal income amount.
  • Achieve important business outcomes.
  • Make commitments to what you'll achieve
  • Address expected challenges
  • Get the resources you'll need (team, tools)

Are your goals in alignment with your vision? Be committed to achieving them. If you’re not committed to achieving your goals, who will be? I’ve mentioned this before: is it the right goal if you’re unwilling to dedicate time to your goal?

 Plan Your Budget

An essential part of annual planning is creating a budget for the year ahead.

Determine:

  • What are your financial goals for the new year? Not sure what financial goals to set? Here is a list:
    • Revenue goal
    • Spending goal
    • Savings goal
  • How much do you want to pay yourself this year?
    • Make sure your products and services are priced right to hit these goals. Have you done the math on your revenue goals versus the price of your offer?

Do you know if it is even possible to hit your revenue goals with how you have your services priced? 

I have a free resource, Know Thy Number. It has a bonus tab to Price for Profit. If you’ve not created a budget or do not have a clue how to price your services for profit, grab that free resource here: https://misstask.com/know-thy-numbers

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Small Business Owner working at desk: Start the New Year Strong! Plan Your New Year An Annual Planning Blueprint

Get started on tracking your results today with our free Know Thy Numbers resource!

Simply click the link below to access the Google Sheet and make it your own.

Don't miss out on this valuable tool for analyzing and measuring the success of your content marketing efforts.

Grab my template
Free Resource for coaches and course creators. Track your results to grow your business.

 Map Out Your Launches and Promotions 

The final piece to include in your annual planning is your launches, promotions, and time off:

  • Block out vacation days and regular days off first
  • Decide your quarterly focus areas
  • Schedule promotions and launches  
  • Allow time for new offer creation

One of the key reasons you map all of this out at a high level? It gives you a 10,000-foot view of your year. It allows you to avoid planning promotions or launches during your scheduled time off. I promise you, your family does not want to go on vacation while you’re in the middle of a launch. That would not be a vacation for anyone. 

Michele Duwe from Miss Task | Start the New Year Strong! Plan Your New Year An Annual Planning Blueprint

Time To Wrap Up New Year Planning

Wow, we made it to the end! You have everything you need for annual planning success! Download the FREE Quarterly Planning Resource to get started. 

Or, for $27, get the Annual Planning Google Doc template to use again and again.  Feel free to reach out with any questions. Here is the link to buy it now! Cheers to an amazing 2024!

Get It Now for only $27!

Happy planning!

Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate you and hope you have a wonderful week!