In June I celebrated my 1 year Latchgate business anniversary. I formed Latchgate in 2017 and it has been a rollercoaster of fun and hard work.

 

I must say that launching Latchgate was the best decision for myself and my family. I have been able to enjoy trips abroad, attend my sons first sports day at nursery and make sure I am getting plenty of “mummy time” with my boys – without having to ask anyone for permission.

 

I am not saying that I have been slack – I think I have worked more hours in the last 6 months than I really planned – but it has all been to make a difference.

 

I have worked with awesome clients, in a mixture of industries, which is great to do. From planning consultants, property developers, online training providers, lawyers and marketing experts to personal trainers. What they all do have in common is the knowledge that there is only so much time in the day and that outsourcing of tasks is not a failure – it is a win!

 

By outsourcing their admin, social media or project work, they have all created more time to focus on their actual job – to lead their companies and have enough time to also think.

 

With hindsight, which is a wonderful thing, I would probably have spent more time also outsourcing some of my tasks to give me more time too. (I have now done that which is super exciting!)

 

The Tools I Use Now

I have switched my company onto G-Suite. I have always been an “MS Outlook girl” but I must say that I am loving Gmail and all the new features. The apps work well and I have not had any hiccups at all.

I can also integrate loads of great Chrome extensions like Todoist – which is my addiction. I have lists per client, project and even family – it keeps me on track while I have a lot of things on. You can assign people tasks and share the work load. Also, the satisfaction of ticking things off is great.

Another great tool I have discovered is Blinkist. If you want to keep up to date with non-fiction books and learn new things in 15-20mins than Blinkist has great summaries of books for you to read.

Don’t worry I do not have any affiliation to any of the above companies and programmes – I am just letting you know that they work well and if you want to try them, go for it.

The last tool I want to share with you is using a Bullet Journal – I have always kept a journal and notebook.  This was a revelation for me to be creative while organised. I enjoy preparing the pages and making them look pretty, I guess it is my ‘colouring in’ that gives me some reflection time. I think that has been really great for gaining clarity on all the ideas I have swimming in my head.

 

What has been the highlight of the last year?

 

Making a difference.

It sounds cheesy I know, but when you come from a corporate background where decisions take a long time and approval processes seem to have a zillion hoops to jump through, it has been so refreshing to make a difference to my company owners quickly and efficiently.

 

I am excited for what the next year has in stall for Latchgate…

 

If you want to find out more, please get in touch by email jane@janedevos.com