- Meegan Bradley
- September 27, 2020
3 OF MY FAV TECH TOOLS TO HELP WITH TIME MANAGEMENT
RUNNING A BUSINESS FULL TIME OR PART TIME CAN START TO TAKE UP EVERY SPARE MINUTE OF YOUR TIME. BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO. I’VE FOUND 3 ONLINE TOOLS THAT MAKE RUNNING A BUSINESS EASIER AND MORE STREAMLINED SO I HAVE MORE TIME!
LET ME BE REAL FOR A MINUTE
Don’t let these blogs fool you into thinking that I have got it all 100% figured out and that I have known all of the tricks for a long time. When I started running a business I didn’t have a bloody clue. I had no idea how to be a business woman let alone believe in myself enough to have the confidence to do it.
I was exhausted. I was anti-social with friends. I was grumpy. I was close to a breakdown and burnout. My first few years of opening Hotpod Margate I was glued to my phone and laptop every second I wasn’t sweating and teaching in the pod. I was putting out fires, reacting and taking each day as it came. I did not know what would happen on Tuesday when it was a Monday.
Over the years I found my feet. I didn’t find them gracefully. I was close to being depressed, I was getting chronic migraines, I felt like I had lost my identity and was barely finding time to wash my hair. Something NEEDED to change.
I started speaking to Nicola Jane Hobbs. At the time I was binge eating and not looking after myself. She worked with me on reconnecting to myself and listening to the signals in my body. We spent 6 months rebuilding my emotional wellbeing and training myself not to ignore and punish my body.
It’s weird looking back now on how horrible I used to be to the physical me. Yo-yo dieting, grabbing my fat until it bruised, demeaning myself every time I looked in the mirror, starving and binging, working out until I was in pain and all the while I WAS a yoga teacher. Ironic.
AFTER THE STORM
Once I put the building blocks of self care back together I was able to think and move with more clarity. I had non-negotiables like walking Hudson, time in the morning for me, 2 days off the studio a week and to practice yoga.
I was then able to start working on strategising for business and building my confidence as a business woman. But without the work I did before this I never would have been able to develop and grow in the same way and as quickly.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Time Management was my biggest struggle when I started running my own business. I know it sounds really simple for the most challenging barrier I had but it’s true. I spent 10 years working in education where every moment of my time was managed, down to when I could go to the toilet. When I started working for myself I felt crippled by the amount of time I had without someone telling me what to do with it. The worries of not knowing what I was meant to do with it.
I needed control over my time and the tasks that needed to be completed. Strangely enough (and I say this because I am not a techy girl) technology has helped with my time management and the result of this is less anxiety. I now have a sense of achievement and allowed me to be more present day-to-day and on holidays.
So if you’re having your baths, eating relatively good for your body, being kind to yourself and taking care of you then babes jump on in and start using these 3 tech wonder tools
ASANA
It took a while to start using Asana properly. I had heard about Asana (think Trello but better) but didn’t know where to start and when I looked at it I got overwhelmed and closed it again.
Asana is a software, you can pay for it but I use the free version, designed to improve team collaboration and work management. It helps you manage projects and tasks in one tool.
You can plan, delegate and reuse projects. Essentially it’s where I plan most of my marketing and therefore it’s essential.
It is also where I come up with all of the big things I want to do (retreats, blogs, online courses). I then map out the different components and put in the days I need to complete them. I can copy tasks (like blog posts or yoga retreats) and use them again rather than writing the list of things I need to complete over and over again.
I open my computer and know what I am doing in the day. I don’t waste time wondering where I should be putting my efforts. I also love my daily tasks that repeat every day. I smash through them (checking email, meditate, eat breakfast) and I then manage the rest of my day. I feel less overwhelm.
FAVOURITE FEATURE: the rainbow that goes across the screen when you complete tasks
TIP: Look at the Asana course with Louise Henry. It is worth the money as she takes you through it step by step and you get project templates.
PREVIEW
Want to spend less time on Instagram? Have you seen the Social Dilemma? After a year of posting with no plan, no strategy and at all times of the day I knew I needed to get my life back from Social Media.
I now use a programme called PREVIEW to schedule, write and edit my Instagram posts. I use this for my personal and my business accounts.
It allows me to create cohesion through filters, easy hashtagging, bulk write and plan Instagram stories and posts on feed which means I am not glued to it daily.
FAVOURITE FEATURE: I love that you can save different groups of hashtags for a range of potential posts
TIP: Make friends with Jasmine Star. Follow her on instagram and listen to her blogs. She is an incredible source of instagram and marketing knowledge
CANVA PRO
Canva is free and I would 100% recommend it to anyone with a small business.
I use the paid for programme because of it’s BRAND KIT. Upgrading to pro has made things much easier for me. I have my brand colours easily accessible, my logo, resize a document into many forms, photos and other aspects of my marketing.
For someone with no graphic design skills, I am able to make assets that look professional.
FAVOURITE FEATURE: I love love love the resize feature! You can only access this in PRO. If you make a marketing asset for an instagram post you can then resize it into a story, a youtube thumbnail, a facebook post and any other size that fits your fancy.
TOP TIP: Not sure what colours to use for your business? Hop onto Canva’s colour palette generator (google this) and start playing around!
FINAL TIP FOR ALL BUSINESS WOMEN
Stay in your own lane!
Comparison ate me up when I first started. I would be completely crippled by an Instagram post or a comment about someone else.
I have deleted or muted a lot of triggering people on socials and try to just focus on what I am doing or what others I admire are doing.
Meegan Bradley
Yoga Trainer & Wellness Coach
- Meegan Bradley
- September 27, 2020
- No Comments
- LIFESTYLE
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Want to be able to practice yoga consistently? Can’t always make it to a yoga studio but want to be able to practice yoga on a regular basis or even when you’re on holiday? Join the Yoga with Meegan membership for £15 a month and get access to: restorative yoga, vinyasa yoga, meditations, nidra, workshops and posture breakdowns.
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Feel like you’re always stuck in mode negative? Are you not getting what you want out of life? Do you struggle to live your life with an abundant mindset or even know where to start? In this course I take you through some of the practices I do that help me maintain this positive and abundant mindset. Don’t worry some days it will slip but you never lose the progress you start making.
Monday at 8am and Thursday at 6pm. To the left of Walpole Tidal pool. Bring a mat and some water. All levels welcome! Bring your swimming costume if you fancy a swim after!
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February 24, 2021
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7 DAY: POSITIVITY CHALLENGE
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