10 Things Creative Entrepreneurs Should Keep in their Planner
As a creative entrepreneur myself, I am absolutely in love with using a physical paper planner and it’s a tool I do recommend to all other creative business owners as well. For me, my planner is like my second brain, my personal assistant and my life coach all wrapped up in a beautiful black Chanel agenda cover! I know, I know, I can hear some of you already saying that it’s 2020 and business owners should be using digital planning tools to stay organized and optimized, I do agree with you to some extent, but for me, using a paper planner has been the ultimate creative tool to help me get my ideas out of my head and onto paper so I can get down to business. Of course, I do also use some essential digital tools for my business organization and planning, but there are some essential elements that I think all creative business owners and entrepreneurs should have in their planners to take their creativity to the next level.
#1. Braindump Inserts: Most people have a lot on their minds at one time, and for business owners this phenomenon is likely tripled. For that reason I think every entrepreneur should keep sheet in their paper planner where they can perform a brain dump. Getting your thoughts, ideas and tasks out of your head and onto paper is the first, most necessary step to organizing your ideas into actionable plans and this is where the benefit of using a paper planner truly shines. Nothing is more cathartic then taking pen to paper and just letting your ideas flow out of you. This is a process I like to make time for on a monthly basis with the help of my Braindump sheets (part of the Master Planner or available as part of the Brilliant Ideas Bundle).
#2. CEO Strategy Day Templates: The concept of a CEO Strategy Day is a little idea I came up with to help me balance and optimize my business and life. On a CEO Strategy Day I will devote time to self-care, mental mastery and organization. All the things a creative entrepreneur needs to stay creative and focused, but are often easily overlooked. I consider my CEO Strategy Day a reset day for my life and business where I get into alignment with myself and my purpose so that I’m staying on track. If you want to plan your own CEO Strategy Day you can get my FREE Template to use here.
#3. Business Goals: Setting business goals is an important part of the annual business planning process. It theoretically should be the element that all of your business plans and targets stem from, but often business owners set these goals and might do a bit of pre-planning but then forget about them when the going gets tough or they get extremely busy. I think it’s important for all business owners and creative entrepreneurs to keep their goals in their planner, somewhere they can see them and get inspired by them regularly. I keep all my business goals laid out on the creative business plan inserts from the CEO Strategy Planner of course!
#4. Personal Goals: Okay, so you run a business and you have those goals to manage, but you are still a person with desires and dreams that should not be pushed aside for your business goals alone. Knowing who you want to become and what you want to achieve for yourself and your life in general is such an important part of being an entrepreneur. So keep those personal goals in your planner right alongside your business goals. I use the goal sheets that come with my New Years Goal Setting workshop for this, but you could always list them out on your own note paper as well- anything to have those goals visible to you for regular reflection.
#5. Business Objectives: If you run a business, it’s very likely that your work is organized into specific objectives you are trying to hit. Sale goals, systems to develop, new products or services you are creating. Since your planner is the hub of creative inspiration for your business, it’s important to keep these objectives organized on dedicated inserts in your planner. I use my project planning inserts as part of my Master Planner bundle, as well as the strategic business planning inserts that come with the CEO Strategy Planner to keep all my objectives and project plans organized for the year.
#6. Editorial Calendar: If you are not familiar with the term editorial calendar, it is essentially a calendar where your content is laid out. Creative business owners and entrepreneurs have to create or oversee a lot of regular content to keep their audience engaged and informed, and I believe having this essential business tool in your planner is a great way for you to get creative and map out different ideas for your audience across your many platforms. To achieve this, I personally use the multiple awesome marketing inserts from the CEO Strategy Planner to not only map out my editorial calendar for the month but also to brainstorm content ideas and outline them to streamline my content creation process.
#7. Marketing Campaigns: If you are a creative entrepreneur or business person like myself, you likely have many marketing campaigns to manage during a quarter and I think its a great idea to keep that information in your planner so you can not only keep yourself on track, but also inject any new ideas or insights into those plans as you go along. I know a lot of people might think its better to plan campaigns out in digital form, and if you have a team your are managing who does work on those campaigns, I agree with you, but for me and other solopreneurs, I love seeing those plans in physical form in my planner. It is just so helpful to be able to quickly jot down notes and so cathartic to check off tasks for your campaign as you complete them in the physical. I’m telling you, my planner is such a constant motivation for me to execute on my work in a way digital planning software never is. Of course, I use the campaign builder inserts from the CEO Strategy Planner to map these essential marketing plans out in my planner.
#8. Inspiration or Mood Board: Like many successful entrepreneurs, I keep an inspiration or mood board in my home office to help me stay focused on the vision I am creating for my business, however, I also like to keep a portable version of it in my planner. I think this is another one of the many reasons why physical planners can be such a boost to your creativity as a business owner because you can fill it with things that inspire you. Now, I personally have my vision board printed out on a sheet of vellum in my planner that I can turn to whenever I need a pick me up or want to feel inspired and aligned with my vision. But you can create a planner sized vision board in whatever form works for you!
#9. Follow Up List: As an entrepreneur or business owner, I bet you are also someone who is hooked on personal development. It’s natural, anyone striving for big things in their life is usually also drawn to personal development in many different forms and when you start to walk that path, you find that there are an endless number of recommendations you receive from friends, business besties and through your own research. I’m talking about book recommendations, different classes and courses you hear about. Different communities you might want to join, skills you might want to work on, videos to watch and technology you might want to check out. I keep a list of all these things in my planner to future reference. We might not have the time to take in everything that is brought to us, but having a running list means we have the ideas right there waiting for us when we need more inspiration, ideas or solutions!
#10. Daily Journaling Inserts: It’s no secret that one of my rituals for success is my daily journaling practice. When you hear entrepreneurs and business owners talking about how essentially the practice of journaling is for helping them set the tone for their day, it is not an exaggeration. My daily journaling practice is like therapy for me and a chance each morning for me to get into alignment with my goals and best life. I use the High Vibe Bible Journaling inserts as my daily journaling practice and it had made such a positive impact in my life and business, especially in getting clear on what I want to manifest and helping me bring those desires to fruition.
WANT ALL MY PERSONAL & BUSINESS PLANNING TOOLS?
If you want to set your planner up to keep your life and business organized inside one planning system, here are all of the inserts you’ll need to get from The Charmed Shop!
I hope this helps you set up your perfect planner to keep all areas of your life streamlined for success!
xoxo,