From Overwhelmed to Organised; Productivity Strategies for Small Businesses in East London

Start with Mindset and Habits

Organisation doesn't come easily to me, so I've learned to start each day with a brain dump. I jot down everything on my mind, then go back and prioritise; I look at my diary and see where the gaps are to fit things in. I used to use Motion, which uses AI to slot tasks into your calendar automatically; it was fantastic and got me into great habits, but it is expensive. Now, I brain dump into Asana, set deadlines and priority levels, and it helps me focus on what matters most. This gives me more headspace for creative thinking.

One Calendar for Everything

I keep everything in a single Google Calendar; work, family, birthdays, meetings, shoots, all in one place. If something involves the family or means I am away, it goes in my husband’s calendar too. This way, we are both on top of who is doing what and when. Team members get invites to anything relevant, from shoots to days off, so everyone knows where I am and what is happening.

Weekly Desk Day

Every Thursday is our desk day; the whole team is in the office, no calls, no shoots, no external meetings. We use this time for proper catch-ups, real conversations, and reviewing work together. The rest of the week we work remotely, but that one day in person makes a huge difference to how connected and organised we feel.

Communication with Slack

We have recently started using Slack to keep work chats separate from personal life; it is also helpful as some clients are moving over to Slack, so we are giving it a proper try. I have used it in previous jobs and it feels like the right time to bring it back, especially to help set boundaries for the team and clients. It is early days for us, but already it is cutting down on email clutter and helping us keep track of conversations.

Easy Call Booking with Google Calendar

Google’s free calendar booking link is a game changer for external meetings and calls. People can see my available slots, book themselves in, and everything goes into both our calendars automatically; no more endless back-and-forth emails. You can set your own rules; mine are 30-minute slots, weekdays only, never on a Thursday. Click here to see my actual calendar and book a discovery all if fancy a chat!

Project Management with Asana

Asana is my digital brain; I forward emails straight into Asana to create tasks, set up recurring team tasks, attach files, add notes, and set deadlines. It is easy to see what everyone is working on and to step in if someone is overloaded. I ask my team to send me Asana tasks when they need something; no more lost WhatsApps or forgotten emails. Everything is searchable, prioritised, and visible to everyone who needs to see it.

Meeting Notes with Fireflies

Fireflies records my meetings and generates summaries, action points, and notes by topic. It works for video calls and in-person chats; just hit record on the app. I always remind people it is AI-generated and to double-check for mistakes, but it saves me at least half an hour per meeting. I have also connected Fireflies to Asana, so action points from meetings go straight into our task lists. And I've just seen you can connect Fireflies to Claude so I'll be testing that out next.

Accounting Made Simple with Xero

Xero’s AI reads invoices and receipts from emails or photos and matches them up with transactions for my accountant. No more manual spreadsheet logging; it is a huge time saver, especially if you are not naturally numbers-focused, like me.

Gmail’s AI Email Summary

The new Gmail summary tool helps me get through my inbox faster and keeps things tidier. It is not perfect, but it is another way to claw back some time.

Audio Transcription with Descript

Descript transcribes WhatsApp voice notes and Instagram Reel audio for free. I use it to turn voice notes into Asana tasks or to create captions for Reels. It is quick and saves me from replaying the same audio several times.

AI Helpers for Copywriting and Social Media

I use Claude and Sintra for copywriting, new business pitches, and social post scheduling. Sintra acts like a team of virtual assistants, each with a different skill; it learns from your answers over time and suggests tasks it can handle, such as drafting a press release or a flash sale email. It can even schedule LinkedIn and social posts directly. I am still experimenting, but so far, it has been a real asset.

Reels editing with CapCut Shared Space

CapCut is brilliant for editing video content as a team; the 'shared space' function lets different people work on the same video, just not at the same time. I can quickly fix captions or typos without endless email chains just by nipping in and tinkering.

Carousel graphics with Canva

Canva is our go-to for carousels and graphics; perfect for collaborative editing and client approvals. From an AI perspective the tools I use the most are removing background in one click, or extending a background to fill the space. It also automatically resizes e.g. portrait 4:5 to Story 9:16 saving so much time!

Social Media Scheduling with Sked

Sked is the simplest, most cost-effective scheduling tool I have found. You can plan posts for all your channels, including Stories with links. The calendar view is great for team notes, and the approval link for clients is a game changer; they can review, approve, or request changes with a single click. I have a Sked referral code if you're interested.

File sharing

We use Google Drive for file sharing and backup. I am mindful to keep everything secure and easy to access for the team and clients. We have a mega planning doc which is just a simple google sheet, but it works. Everyone can update and access it round the clock - and view previous versions which is a life saver when things inevitably get deleted by accident!

Final Thoughts

You don't need to be naturally organised to run a successful small business; you just need the right systems and the willingness to try new tools until you find what works for you. If you want more detail on anything I have mentioned or want to see these tools in action, come along to the Hive Collective event at Yonder, E17 on Thursday 11 September. EventBrite tickets here.

If you are looking for more tips, links to the tools I use, or want to ask a question, feel free to contact me. Here's to more organised, less overwhelmed days ahead.