Every successful entrepreneur maintains an internal practice to keep (and maintain) an organized business model. And as a Virgo, you can bet your bottom dollar that my organizational methods have contributed greatly to the success and growth of La.Rue. Today on the blog, I’m sharing some of my greatest tips, tricks, and secrets to maintaining an organized business model. My organizational practice prioritizes the long-term growth and success of my business. It’s helped me launch new products, offerings, sign new clients, and overall scale my business to what it is today. My organizational techniques and tricks aren’t just about keeping me on top of my to-do list. These methods prioritize my long-term goals so that each week, I’m making progress. They keep my long-term goals top of mind daily, consistently requiring me to review how my daily progress is matching those goals.
As quoted by Forbes, “Super organized entrepreneurs review their goals every day.” By keeping our goals top of mind, we better prioritize things like our daily to-do lists. Most people look at goals and set rough timelines. But by having stronger organizational methods that keep you thinking about those goals everyday, you’re more inclined to make daily (and measurable) progress because you’re thinking about that goal consistently. The methods listed out below have been thoughtfully curated and honed over the last three years. Each step I take to organize my business maintains a top priority for growth. But let’s not forget the mission of La.Rue. These methods also help me maintain an intentional relationship with my business; meaning, I prioritize deep reflection and manifesting around my business that intersects with my personal life, making my business and I one.
My Greatest Tips for Maintaining an Organized Business
We’re breaking these methods down into frequency. People often think that organizing means setting aside an hour a day to get your bearings for what needs to happen. And while the Virgo side of me finds that exciting, it’s not realistic (or necessary). Goal setting/ organizing can broken down by the year, further broken up into months, followed by weeks, down to the day. Eventually, you’ll see how your big goals for the year can literally be broken down into your daily to-do list. It’s about how dedicated you are to achieving your goals, and how willing you are stay on top of them. The preference here is to do everything at the beginning where it’s easily measured; the beginning of the year, month, week, and day.
Once a year
Goal setting is all about challenging yourself, but knowing what you can achieve. We never want to set ourselves up for failure. I’ve found that with yearly goal setting, the best thing to do is set five major personal goals, and five major business (or career) goals. When setting goals for the next year, it’s important to reflect on what you were able to achieve over the last year. You want to make sure goals follow logical next steps. Meaning, if your goal was to make ‘x’ amount of money, what feels like a strong addition to that income? What feels like a realistic number for you to hit? After you’ve set these ten or so goals, take an hour to break each down into a few smaller steps.
Once a Month
If we’re following the desired timeline, then once you’re done setting your goals for the year, say in the last week of December, then come January 1st, you’re ready to break it down for the month. Either on the 1st of the month or the first Monday, I take about an hour or so of my day to set my goals for the month. I set anywhere between 15 and 20 “small goals” for the month. I mark each goal with a category and priority. Don’t take this step too lightly. It’s more important than you think to set strong goals for the month.
While they might seem small, they really are small pieces to the big puzzle. Really think things over when you’re setting these goals. What seems plausible to achieve in 30 days? 20 goals may seem like a lot. But when you’re making them really small, and corresponding to one another, it’s not too hard to achieve those goals. And at the end of the month, you’ll see how the goals you’ve achieved fit into the bigger puzzle. This really shows progress to your goals for the year. Finally, your goals for the month easily translate into a to-do list, creating action items for progress.
Once a week
Once you’ve got your to-do list for the month, break things down Monday morning into action items for the week. The first thing I do every Monday (more often Sunday nights) is prep for the week. What do I need to get done? I have a spreadsheet in Notion that works as my to-do list for the week. I write out my to-do list in order of priority, spreading those tasks out over the week. Meticulously planning my week takes away the time wasted on debating what I should do next. When I take the time (two hours or so) to prep for my week, everything I need to get done is already laid out for me. And instead of flying by the seat of my pants, worrying that I’m forgetting something, I am set up for great success each week.
Once a Day
At the start of each morning, without fail, I sit down and go through my plan for the day. If I’ve successfully planned my week on Monday morning, then I shouldn’t have but maybe a few edits to make to my to-do list for the day. This is the critical step to keeping an organized business. Everyday my to-do list mirrors my goals for the week, therefore the month, and therefore the year. Each action item is translated to a minuscule but critical piece that fits into the bigger puzzle. These steps don’t require some inordinate amount of planning at the beginning of the year. They don’t ask you to spend half a day planning out the week. It’s just a few simple hours out of every month that will keep you organized and on top of your goals while measuring the progress you’re making.
These simple steps are what have gotten me to the level of success I’m at today. And I’m confident that these same steps are what will help me achieve my long-term, big dreams.
