My number one productivity hack for planning my business, and now running my business (aside from a banging playlist and some good snacks) was using an online project management tool.

I am one of these people who loves the ritual of buying a fancy, expensive notebook and a shiny new pen. Very carefully opening the first page and earnestly writing down my goals, my hopes and my dreams. Fully believing that this notebook is going to change my life like no other notebook ever has before.

Then a couple of days later I’m in a rush, I’ve forgotten my shiny notebook and I have an idea to jot down or a list to make. So I grab an empty envelope, or I send myself a random email, or I start using the notes app on my phone, or I begin Whatsapping links to myself and my business partner that inevitably get lost.

I don’t know, maybe you’re one of these super organised naturally neat people who always carries a planner with them (if you are I’m jealous and I want to be you). But I’m not, and the only way I manage to keep on top of my business plan and collaborate with others effectively is by using an online project management system.

I have heard good things about Trello, but my first love will always be Asana.

When I was putting the music studio business plan together my business partner and I used Asana to:

• List tasks
• Assign responsibilities
• Save links
• Save documents
• Review completed work
• Prioritise tasks

It was so helpful to have all the key information in one area and I highly recommend you set yourself up with something similar.

Both Trello and Asana are free to use (you can upgrade to the paid service later if you want, but you don’t need it to make a strong start).

My advice is to have a play around with them, see which you find easiest to use and go from there. It might not seem like a big deal now, but I promise these tools really do help keep you on track and confusion free in the long term.

And if you want to have a flashy shiny fancy notebook to use alongside the sensible online project management tool then go for it, that’s what I do!