Coffee Powered Systems

Episode 34. Do you find yourself writing the same things over and over again when you respond to emails? Whether it’s in response to an inquiry about working with you, prices, frequently asked questions, or appearing on your podcast? You should have canned emails set up for these situations. It might not seem like it takes a lot of time, but if you really pay attention to how much time you spend writing the same email responses, that time adds up.

In this episode, I’m walking you through step by step of how to set up canned emails for your business, so you can spend time working on more important things.

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

• Gmail

Related Blog Posts:

12 Cool Gmail Hacks: Did You Know You Could Do That?

21 Ways to Manage Your Out of Control Inbox

Other Helpful Links:

Free Productivity Power Pack

Website

Instagram (@mirandamerten)

For Full Show Notes

https://www.mirandamerten.com/34

Send A Voice Message:

https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 33. If you are still looking for a place to keep your central business hub, Etch could be a great option. It reminds me of a simpler version of Notion. Easier to create pages, collaborate with your teammates, start from complete scratch or use some of their templates to give you ideas. Currently free forever, try it out and let me know what you think!

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

• Etch
• Notion
• 032: Get Your Business Processes Out Of Your Head. It’s Time To Create Your SOPs

Other Helpful Links:

Free Productivity Power Pack

Website

Instagram (@mirandamerten)

For Full Show Notes

https://www.mirandamerten.com/33

Send A Voice Message:

https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 32. Running a business is a lot. Like it can be full on - am I right? There’s so much to remember, but that doesn’t mean it all has to stay in our head. The best way for you to get and stay organized is to create a centralized hub where you keep all of your standard operating procedures (SOPs). Not only does this help you save time when doing recurring tasks, it helps you prep your business for taking on new hires. Tune in to hear how you can create your own central hub with organized SOPs.

Discussed In This Episode:

• The different type of places where you can store your SOPs
• What “departments” you can categorize your business into
• Why you should avoid the “everyone and no one” philosophy
• Some examples of business systems that you can (and should) template

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

Google Sites

Asana

ClickUp

Zenkit

Other Helpful Links:

Free Productivity Power Pack

Website

Instagram (@mirandamerten)

For Full Show Notes

https://www.mirandamerten.com/32

Send A Voice Message:

https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 31. What are you using to invoice your clients and customers? I've got a super simple tool, easy to set up, that you can use for invoicing, time tracking, expense reporting, sales and invoice reports, and more!

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

Online Invoices

Other Helpful Links:

Free Productivity Power Pack

Website

Instagram (@mirandamerten)

For Full Show Notes

https://www.mirandamerten.com/31

Send A Voice Message:

https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 30. This is just a quick episode because I want to pose a question to you and I want you to start thinking about your current setup - are you prepared? This month it’s all about organization and I’m going to talk all about how you can set up your business and systems to make it work for you. Specifically, if you got hit by a bus tomorrow, would your team be able to pick up where you left off or would your company have to shut down because everything is in your head?

Helpful Links:

Free Productivity Power Pack

Website

Instagram (@mirandamerten)

For Full Show Notes

https://www.mirandamerten.com/30

Send A Voice Message:

https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 29. When you have crazy long links for your blog posts, podcast episodes, offers, and affiliate links, you want to be able to have a way to easily share them with your audience. Trying to remember a long, cumbersome link (multiple!) is difficult, and Pretty Links makes it easy to shorten your links into memorable URLs. Tune in to learn why this is important for your business and your audience.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Pretty Links

Other Helpful links:

• Productivity Power Pack
• Website
• Instagram (@mirandamerten)

 Show notes: https://www.mirandamerten.com/29

Ask a question: https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 28. If you’ve tried time blocking but it didn’t work, I’m going to walk through the steps - cause it’s more than just blocking “work time” on your calendar and hoping you get everything done. Find out why it works (and who it might not work for) and follow the steps in this episode to create your own schedule. Before you start, you'll want to know these 3 things:

1. What are your goals - what do you want to accomplish?
2. What is getting your time (figure out these time buckets)
3. Where are you spending too much time and could be spending less?

Your action this week is to create a time blocking schedule and try it out for 1-2 weeks. If something doesn't work quite right, tweak it a bit. Tag me on Instagram with your schedule!

Discussed In This Episode:

• Why knowing how to do proper time estimates is crucial
• What are time buckets and how can you use them to your advantage?
• Why blocking every spot in your calendar could be hurting your plan
• How to plan ahead and be really protective of your time
• Planning overflow blocks and catch-up times
• How to structure your full time block system

Links for this episode:

• Printable daily agenda

Related blog posts:

• Increase Your Productivity with Time Blocking + A Free 12 Week Planner
• 006: Discussing The Swiss Cheese and Salami Methods of Productivity
• 2020 Balanced Life Action Planner

Other Helpful links:

• Free Productivity Power Pack
• Instagram (@mirandamerten)

For the transcript and full show notes: https://www.mirandamerten.com/28

Send a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 27. Sometimes we need a little help and motivation to keep track of our habits or follow our routines. I've got 2 apps today that will help you "not break the chain", and build (or break!) those habits.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Routinery
• The Done App
• 026: Creating Pre-Work and Post-Work Routines to Help Define Your Workday 

Other Helpful links:

• Website
• Instagram (@mirandamerten)

Send a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

For the transcript and full show notes: https://www.mirandamerten.com/27

Episode 026. Do your days tend to run long and always seem to run into each other? You might need to establish some definitive routines to help signal the start and end of your work day. In this week's episode, I discuss why it might help you to establish a pre-work routine that will signal the start of your work day and a routine that will also signal the end of your work day so you can wrap it up and transition into your evening work-free.

Your action step this week: Create your routines and tag me on IG with a pic of your space or you doing your routine!

Discussed In This Episode:

• Why creating a pre-work routine is crucial at the start of your day
• Why ending the day with a post-work routine can help you wrap things up
• How to create pre and post-work routines

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Productivity Power Pack

Related blog posts:

• I Have Had Huge Issues With Consistency. Here Is How I Tackle It.

Other Helpful links:

• Website
• Instagram (@mirandamerten)

Send a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

Episode 25. In today's Tip Tuesday, I'm talking about Creative Market! If you spend way too much time creating digital assets for your business, or you're always on the hunt for new templates, fonts, textures, etc. Find out why Creative Market should be your go-to place for easy templates and ready-to-use products.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Creative Market

Other helpful links:

Free Productivity Power Pack

Website

Instagram (@mirandamerten)

Send a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/CoffeePoweredSystems

For the transcript and full show notes: https://www.mirandamerten.com/25