How I Use Asana for Easy Project Management in My Small Business

When it comes to running a small business as a solopreneur, I need help keeping organized and on track, which is why I use Asana for project management. Learn how I use Asana to management client projects, stick to my own business deadlines, and prep content for my blog and podcast.

When I first started Lemon and the Sea, I kept track of everything in notebooks and my paper planner. And while I still love paper, I quickly realized that managing a business and multiple client projects wasn’t going to work if I was digging through 15 pages of notes.

An Asana Overview

That’s when I found Asana – a project management software that makes it easy to manage multiple projects and collaborate with others. I stayed on the Free plan until 2021 and it had all the features I needed until I wanted to include some more automations in my business, so I’d recommend it as a starting point for anyone in business.

If you’ve never used Asana, it can be a little confusing at first. The most important things to understand are the different ways of organizing projects.

First there are Teams, which is a group of people (or just you) that can collaborate together. You can give access to one team without sharing access to everything in Asana, which is why they are really useful for giving clients access to their information while keeping other information private.

Next, there are Projects. Projects are exactly what they sound like - a place to keep all the information and tasks related to one big group. You can send message to team members, store forms and files, and add tasks to projects.

Each project has tabs for the different view options, as well as a dashboard to see goals and progress, messages, forms, and files. Any files added to tasks or comments within the project show up here so they’re all in one place.

You can choose to view a project as either a list, board, or calendar based on what works best for you. I often switch between the list and board views depending on the project. You’ll see examples of both in this post.

Each project can include Sections and Tasks. I use sections as big headings so I can divide projects into different phases or categories. The tasks are the individual to-do list items for that phases and can include an Assignee, Due date, Description, and Subtasks. Plus, you can comment on tasks and upload files and links.

An individual task in Asana with a description. You can also assign the task to a specific person and add a due date.

How I Stay Organized

I have my Asana divided into Teams that I use for different clients. Mine include one team for Lemon and the Sea, one for each of my current clients, and another for my finished projects. This allows me to quickly find what I’m looking for and what I’m working on.

Lemon and the Sea

My Lemon and the Sea team actually includes a lot of different projects. I keep them all here because they don’t need to be shared with anyone else, so I don’t want clients accidentally stumbling across them.

Teams that I use include one for my business and others for each of my current client projects.

The projects I have here include:

• Lemon and the Sea - this includes my weekly and monthly tasks, as well as mapping out to-do lists for long-term projects for my own business

• On-Going Support – for clients who come back to me for small updates and edits after we’ve wrapped up a project

• Process to Profitability – weekly tasks for the podcast, plus a specific task for each episode with subtasks for all the steps needed to go from brainstorming an idea to publishing an episode

• Internal Client Projects – all the tasks for current client projects that I have to do internally. Each client get their own Internal board that only I see and one that they collaborate with me own (explained below).

Once I’ve wrapped up a project, I typically leave it for a few months, but do eventually move it to my “Finished Projects” team and archive it. I only do this once I know my client won’t need access to it anymore, but it does keep things more organized so that I can see what I’m currently working on without getting distracted by previous projects.

I like to view my own business projects as a list with different sections for each big project I’m working on. Many of these tasks are recurring, so I know they are due every week or month without having to recreate them.

Client Projects

Each client has their own Team and project for their website design. I set up a team so that I can share things only with them and don’t have to worry about other clients seeing their tasks or submitting information in the wrong place. Basically, I make them a member of their Team and then set it to private so that no one else can see the projects under it even if they have access to other projects.

The project is set up as a Board (I like this better visually when walking clients through how to use Asana) and contains sections for on-boarding, website strategy & content, design, development, edits, launch, and off-boarding. Of course, they can change this view to anything they prefer.

Asana makes it easy for me to collaborate with clients by commenting on the task we’re currently working on and allows for sharing files and links (which makes it easy to know where someone uploaded their content).

Each client project starts as two templates - one for internal use and one that is shared with the client for collaboration. I prefer to view these as a Board.

Templates

I have template projects for the two services that I offer – full website design and refreshes. Both types of service have two templates (one for internal use and one to share with the client) and can be duplicated and customized based on the project.

This makes it quick and easy for me to create a new Asana project once a client books their design because all the tasks already exist with descriptions, videos, PDF links, and any other information a client needs while we work together. All I have to do is set the correct due dates and  add the new client to their tasks.

I also have a template for the client-facing project. This includes tasks the clients need to complete and information and links to help them know exactly what to expect and when things are due.

Using Asana to Meet Deadlines

The biggest reason I use Asana is so that I know exactly what deadlines I have coming up for my business and for clients and can keep up-to-date with what’s next. I start my work days by checking Asana’s My Tasks list to see a list of all the tasks that are assigned to me listed by due date.

This lets me know what I need to prioritize for the day and what to expect coming up. It’s also an easy way for me to see any due dates that need to be adjusted because I haven’t received content or feedback from a client or because I need to postpone a business task while I focus on client work.

While I prefer the Board layout for client projects, I like to view my daily to-do list as a list that I can quickly scan to see what’s due for different projects.

If you’ve been looking for a project management tool, I recommend checking out Asana to see if it would be a good fit for your business. I really like that you can stick with the free plan for as long as you’d like and still have access to tons of functionality.

And, by the way, I still use and love my paper planner from Day Designer.