One of the side-effects of running a successful small business is that the increasing workload can become overwhelming. While you may have gotten by with a handwritten To-Do List in the past, a growing business requires a more dynamic approach. Working with a good project management system will improve your productivity, help you keep on top of all of your tasks, and allow you to delegate as your team starts to grow.
There are several popular project management tools out there and ClickUp is my go-to. It has some fantastic features and has made life a whole lot easier since I started using it in my business.
How ClickUp can help you improve your productivity
Deadlines and Recurring Tasks
When you add a task to ClickUp, you can set a date and time for completion. I recommend adding a time to your deadline, so that you get more timely notifications. If you have a task that needs to be done periodically, you can set it up as a recurring task with whichever frequency you choose. As soon as you close off the task, ClickUp will re-open it with the next completion date.
Viewing Options
ClickUp gives you three different viewing options, and you can choose whichever one suits you best. The Time option allows you to view all tasks in a calendar format. You can also choose to view in List or Board format. You can even change between the different viewing options as you wish. When I started using ClickUp, I had a personal preference for the Board view, but more recently I’ve been using the List view, as that fits in better with my workflow. I can see at a glance which tasks are due Today, Tomorrow, Soon and in the Future. I can even see which tasks are overdue because, let’s be honest, it happens from time to time!
Customised Statuses
Each task is assigned a status in ClickUp. The most common options used are Open (default), In Progress and Closed, and you create other status options that may be relevant for your tasks. Using the Board view, you can easily see which tasks fall under each category. You can also sort them by completion date or priority level, which can help you to plan for upcoming tasks.
Search Function
The integrated search bar allows you to search for specific terms in your tasks. This is a very useful function, particularly when you’ve been using the tool for a while and the number of tasks builds up. It’s so much more efficient than flicking through pages and pages of your diary to find something you wrote months ago.
Templates
If you have tasks that follow the same process repeatedly, you can set them up as templates in ClickUp. So, for example, if you are holding an event, you can set the event up as task with each of the individual steps as sub-tasks, then save as a template. Next time you are holding an event, simply select the template and – voila! – all of the sub-tasks will be listed. No need to enter everything again from scratch.
Collaboration
You may work alone for now, but you will need to start building your team as your business grows. The beauty of ClickUp is that it facilitates a collaborative process. You can assign tasks to one or more team members. Each team member will get notifications when new tasks are added and when they are due. You can also set up dependencies, so each team member can see how their specific piece fits in with the overall task, and whether their piece is blocking another sub-task. Comments can be added to each task, so that all communication can be found in the one place. No more searching through emails, WhatsApp and text messages to find the information you need for that specific task.
Are you convinced yet? What if I told you that all of the above features (and more) are available on the free version of ClickUp? Try it out and give your productivity levels a boost.
Does the idea of setting up ClickUp makes you break out into a cold sweat? That’s okay – we all have different strengths! Contact me for a free consultation to see if I can help.