steal my current tool stack

Dec 02, 2024

If it’s one thing about me—I love a good system. (I’m a little type-A if I’m being honest.)

An upside of that thought is that over the years, in addition to my love of bootstrapping, I’ve experimented with all kinds of tools to stay organized, manage my teams and keep projects moving forward.

Over that time, I’ve had my fair share of hits and misses so I figured I’d show you some of the ones I use on a day-to-day basis to keep me on track and aligned. Here’s what’s currently in my tool stack—and why I can’t do without them.

Asana

This is honestly the heart of my operations. Asana keeps everything organized, from ongoing campaigns to one-off assignments. I use it to assign tasks, track deadlines, and follow up on progress without sending a million emails (because no the hell likes that). The best part? It’s all visual, so I can see what’s on my and everyone’s plate at a glance.

I use Asana to manage my personal tasks as well as the tasks for my team. I’ve found it really helpful to set up a Priority board and then use a simplified Kanban Board type of setup.

Canva

I have a decent bit of experience with graphic design software but honestly, sometimes, you just need quick visuals for social posts, newsletters, or even internal presentations, and Canva delivers. It’s user-friendly, fast, and has enough features to create professional-looking graphics without feeling overwhelming. Another plus is that it’s cloud-based, which is kind of essential for me. That makes it a no-brainer.

Outlook

I won’t lie—I hate Outlook. It’s buggy and annoying and the search doesn't work properly when I want it to but it’s the tool the office uses, so I kind of have to make it work. Between sifting through meeting invites, updates and general correspondence, it’s still an essential part of my workflow (begrudgingly).

I manage my personal life and business through Gmail. It’s the only tool on this list I personally pay for but you don’t actually need to do that for it to work just as well for you.

Microsoft Word Online/Google Docs

Gone are the days of saving Word files on desktops (amen). I live for cloud-based tools and Word Online (heavy on Google Docs being better though) is a game-changer for me. So if I’m drafting proposals, editing documents with my team, or leaving comments on someone’s work, nothing gets lost in the shuffle with these two.

ChatGPT

I know there are a lot of people afraid of AI and I hear that. It’s a section of the digital space that can feel a little crazy but it’s kind of my secret weapon. A lot of the time, I use it for those moments when I need to sound more professional than my brain can muster.

If I’m too tired to write an email that’s polite but firm—or I just can’t figure out how to strike the right tone—ChatGPT is my backup. It’s also great for brainstorming ideas or fine-tuning tricky phrasing.

I also tend to use it a lot for drafting these emails. I’ll just train-of-thought type out my email for the week and then put it into ChatGPT to get a review of the text I prepared, then I edit ChatGPT’s version to be closer to what I want.

Top Tip: I took my best-performing email and put it into a chat with ChatGPT and when I want help with new emails, I ask ChatGPT to use that sample email as the draft for the tone of what it submits to me.

Google Calendar

I use Google Calendar to manage pretty much all of my time. If something is not on my calendar, you’re guaranteed that I’m not going to remember that it’s happening.

I set up a bunch of colour coding so that work stuff is separate from private work or even personal to-do’s.

It’s also helpful if you’re managing people like keeping track of who’s out of office, on vacation, or assignments that’ll have them tied up. Google Calendar keeps it all together for me. And again, it’s cloud-based. So it’s become basically my safety net to keep me away from scheduling chaos.

My tool stack isn’t about having the flashiest, most complex or most expensive tools. It’s about having tools that work. Each one serves a specific purpose like keeping my team aligned, helping me stay on top of deadlines or just making day-to-day tasks a little easier.

What’s great is that these tools don’t just support my role at the 9 to 5—they’re versatile enough that I’ve carried over a lot of these systems from my freelance and consulting days.

Do you have a tool or system you swear by to manage your workflow? Or are you curious about how one of these fits into my daily routine? Hit reply—I’d love to hear about your must-have tools or answer any questions about mine.

Love from your Chronically Online Friend,
Sydney ✨💖