6 tools I’m using for focus + inspiration within my business
You're distracted. I'm distracted. We're all trying to balance our businesses with whatever is happening outside of our office door. So I’ll cut to the chase—here are six tools that have helped me find focus, inspiration, and grounding within my business this year. Perhaps they might help you too:
1. Digital Vision Board on a Pinterest Widget
My friend Keisha inspired me to create a Pinterest vision board connected to a widget on my phone's home screen. The rotating images reconnect me with my goals each time I pick it up, plus I get an occasional chuckle when faced with a meme or TV character. Some examples:
2. I Finally Got a Walking Pad
After years of hesitation (worried about feeling like a hamster on a capitalist zombie wheel and tbh, my ability to multitask without falling over), I finally tried a walking pad while housesitting. Surprisingly, it improved my focus dramatically—often walking for 50 minutes without even noticing the time has passed. Walking pads are available in a lot of places, but I chose to (and would encourage you to as well, if it’s accessible) purchase mine from a neighbor via Facebook Marketplace.
3. Centralized Notion Page for 2025
I created a "2025 Priorities" Notion page with pages, backlinks, and website bookmarks to encapsulate everything I'm hope to learn and implement in my business this year. Rather than moving back and forth between disjointed pages, everything is easily accessible and bookmarked on my web browser. Bonus idea: Following the lovely Nicole Fournié's advice, I also added a "Content Ideas" Notion page and widget to my phone for capturing inspiration on the go (that's how this newsletter happened!).
4. Focus / Buffer / Rest Schedule
Inspired by a recent episode of Sam Whisnant's podcast and her reference to the book 10x is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan, I've been experimenting with splitting my week into Focus days (deep work), Buffer days (administrative, lower-brainpower tasks), and Rest days. From this framework, I created a new schedule that also requires I spend certain chunks of time on my own business development, which I know is a common struggle for many of us focused on serving clients. I’m not perfect at following it, but it’s a lighthouse in the abyss of an empty Google Calendar.
5. Connections with Other Service Providers
This year, almost entirely on accident, I've finally overcome my anxiety about networking with other online service providers. In the last three months, I’ve started co-working monthly on blog posts with someone I met at Tristan Katz's Content Club, had a 2-hour yap session via Zoom with a fellow (stellar) OBM, and am now trading monthly strategy calls with a brilliant friend, where she helps me with marketing and I help her with business systems. These recent collaborations have been so affirming, generous, and connective—something I've missed dearly since launching my business three years ago.
6. Structure Routines with Routinery
I’ve been using an app called Routinery to help structure my days through timed routines for mornings, workday opening/closing, Pomodoro sessions, and evening sessions to “complete the stress cycle.” I like that it not only guides you through the necessary activities, but everything is on a timer to prevent my “quick morning ritual” from ballooning to two hours.
I’m not using any of these tools perfectly! But in the event a nugget or two might be supportive in anchoring your business practice in the midst of everything this year is throwing at us, I thought I’d share. As my amazing client Dr. Kate Henry always says, “take what works and leave the rest.”
Give me a shout at hello@sabrinajoan.com if you have any questions or tools you've been using to cultivate focus and inspiration recently!
