This is a contributor’s blogpost …

 

There are so many businesses that operate from home nowadays, in fact, there is very little that you can’t do from home. From content writing, social media management, graphic design work and even beauty therapy. It is all possible, but it doesn’t happen overnight, and sometimes on the way to making it all work, you can get things a bit messy. Every once in a while, it is worth looking back over what you have in place for things. Are you streamlining your business right now, or does it need to have some time dedicated to making it work a little bit better?

 

A starting place for this would be technology. We are surrounded by it each and every day, and most of us use it in work as well as for personal use. So, check what tech you are currently working with. Unfortunately, many of us install a piece of software, and even though we use it every day we fail to take care of it. All you need to do is check all software each Monday morning for updates. Programmes work quicker when they are using the latest updates. The updates sometimes come with other perks too. It is worth doing.

 

 

Make use of your voice-activated technology

 

If you have Siri, Alexa or Google enabled on your phone or other devices, use them. Dictate your emails, texts, and other things. You can even save more time by using a system like business landline texting. You can send voice attachments to clients, employees or friends. Clarity is key here. It saves time, but only if you get to the point.

 

Automate everything

 

If you spend one day per week or month scheduling content, you are going to free up many more hours. Hours which can but put to use in other creative capacities. A great place to start? First set up some ‘customer catchers,’ ensure you have an email list easily accessible for people visiting your website and a friendly email drip to help them get even more familiar with your brand. Secondly, use a social media service like Buffer, Hootsuite or MissingLettr to curate some content specifically for your audience. You can use a combination of automated systems to get precisely what you are looking for in terms of posting. Buffer and Missinglettr work particularly well together, and you could opt to stay with the free versions of both.

 

Bank it

 

If you have a lot of invoices going out and payments coming in you need to do two things – keep a firm grip on what is coming and going from a business perspective and set up an automated savings account. Saving something each week with an app similar to Cleo or just via your bank, without having to do it yourself, means you’re putting money aside for the taxman AND keeping an excellent record of everything too.

 

It doesn’t take much to be more productive with your time. It takes a bit of forward thinking, setting up the necessary software and running regular checks on it all.