Get Your Sh*t Together is a one-week mini blog series all about – you guessed it – getting your shit together. We'll be exploring tactics and resources, talking to some creative biz experts, and have some downloadable worksheets, all to help you get your shit together too.

I think it's pretty obvious thus far that I'm a bit of an obsessive list maker. I list what I need to do, where I need to go, what I'm going to eat and buy. But, for me, this organization and obsessive list making is definitely what helps me get my shit together.

Today's list-making and organizing mania comes in the form of goal-making and planning projects. Specifically, I'll be sharing my goal-making and project-planning resources for business.

Setting & Tracking Goals

Setting Project Goals
To make my desired income (which pays the bills and feeds us) I know how many projects I need to take on in any given quarter. I also set goals for personal projects, like launching premade templates, launching that [damn] eCourse (which I totally started re-planning yesterday, get your shit together indeed!), and even taking time off. I keep this tracker in my goals binder as well.

Download a printable Monthly Project Planner >>

Tracking Quarterly Goals
My quarterly goals are tracked on my blackboard, Braid Creative style. I implemented this specific system at the beginning of this quarter and I don't see myself ever going back. It's so wonderful to be able to spin around in my desk chair and see where I need to be putting my focus to get those lines filled.

At the end of each quarter I'll record it all, and – you guessed it – stick it in that mighty goal binder. 

Planning Projects

I have three big project groups going on in my studio at all times: blogging, newsletter (sign up for Indie Tactics to get in on the fun), and – of course – my client design projects. Sometimes I'll throw in other things like personal projects or Indie Spaces projects, but those three are the ones that are constant.

Blogging
I try to keep an ongoing blog editorial calendar. I'll be the very first person to say that I take it more of a suggested guide more than I should, but it's nice to plan out that on the first of each month I'll be posting about 3 in 30 dates, and when I can take aside a Monday to announce a project launch.

I keep all these sheets in a binder separate from the goal binder, but I pair up the blogging sheets with the following newsletter performance reports.

Download a printable Weekly Blog Editorial Calendar >>

Newsletters
Newsletter sign ups and performance is one of my success metrics, so, obviously I have to track this, or else how do I know if I'm being successful?! First, I track quarterly signups on my chalkboard, and then I track the performance of each 

This allows me to do A-B testing (how does the email subject effect opens, how does template effect click-throughs, etc), and also allows me to just generally compare effectiveness. It also makes it clear what kind of content my subscribers like most, as opposed to topics I should just leave by the wayside.

Download a printable Email Newsletter Performance Tracker >>

Design
Last, but certainly not least, are my design projects. I track my project calendar with iCal. Simple and always nearby. I put big bars that cover the entirety of a project, and then events on days where milestones are scheduled.

For each individual client I keep a manilla folder, complete with as much info as I can. I start with printing off their initial contact email, their interview sheet, then contracts, project sheets, all notes, and finally maintenance sheets after a site is launched. These folders can get intense, but it's so easy for me to be able to pull out a whole client project all at once.

The most important of these (besides the contract, of course) is the project sheets, which, by the end of a project, are wrote all over, with paper clipped sketches and notes and doodles. These are the heart of every project I do. Thinking of my life without these makes me shiver.

Download a printable Project Sheet >>

Sometimes I'm a little overwhelmed by how much I track regarding my business, but it gives me an overview of the things that are important to me that I have to have in order to see when things are successful, where I should put my energy, and to prove to myself that I'm growing. Goals and project planning. It's why I'm here.

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Get Your Sh*t Together Blog Series
GYST: Daily
GYST: Nourishing
GYST: Goals and Projects
GYST: Money
GYST: Delegating