Our Top 10 Tools for Running a Calm and Streamlined Online Business
As online business owners, we have many nifty tools at our disposal, from websites to apps to gadgets, all promising to make us more productive and successful.
Since we’re unashamedly geeky here at Team Kerstin, we love checking out the latest innovations, both analog and digital. However, the tools we ultimately choose to become part of our workflow all have one thing in common: they help us run a calm online business.
This means we choose tools that:
Make our work less complicated, not more.
Value simplicity and ease of use over endless bells and whistles.
Provide a clean, uncluttered user experience.
Don’t over-organize us! We don’t want to spend time organizing more than doing our work.
Make us answer, “Yes!” when we ask the all-important question, “Does this feel calm?”
Today, we are sharing our favorite tools that we wouldn’t be without when running a calm online business.
Affiliate disclaimer: Please note that links marked with an asterisk* are affiliate links, and I will receive a small commission for any purchases you make through my link at no extra cost to you.
Kerstin’s Top Tools for a Calm Business
1. Squarespace
It will come as no surprise that Squarespace is the keystone of my calm business. Over the years, it's evolved into more of an all-in-one business hub than just a website host. I can manage my website, email marketing, online courses, Eule Planner sales, digital products, online scheduling, and analytics all in one place. This brings me a great sense of calm and order and makes running a business a pleasure.
Squarespace is not perfect, but no system is. I passionately believe it’s an excellent technology partner for us solo entrepreneurs who wear many hats and manage many aspects of our businesses.
→ Save 20% on your first year of Squarespace with code KERSTIN
2. Eule Planner
Whether I’m planning my work day or dreaming up a new course, it all starts in the pages of my trusty Eule Planner. It’s been my best business buddy since I launched it in 2019… and it’s now a favorite for hundreds of fellow solopreneurs, too!
Writing in my Eule helps me manage my business with ease, joy, and calm. With charts for tracking events, stats, finances, content ideas, plus the signature weekly spread and two extra dotted notes pages after each week, it’s the ideal analog companion for a calm business, if I do say so myself!
It’s hard to believe that 2025 will be the seventh edition of the Eule Planner. It’s a limited edition so be sure to join the waitlist if you want to try it yourself!
→ Subscribe to my Calm Letters to be notified of the 2025 planner pre-sales.
3. Apple Notes
Evernote, Notion and Asana may have more fancy features, but I remain devoted to good old Apple Notes. This simple yet powerful app is where I turn my Eule Planner scribbles into detailed content, capture ideas and research, collate client feedback, and collaborate and communicate with my Business Manager Shauna.
Apple Notes syncs quickly across all devices, has a calm and simple design, is easy to search, and makes working together simple. My whole digital brain is in one place, which keeps me calm and organized.
4. Termageddon
Privacy policies, terms of service agreements, disclaimers… if you collect email addresses or sell services or products on your website, you need them. But unless you’re a legal expert, it can be confusing and expensive to make sure you tick all the necessary boxes.
Enter Termageddon, a website policy generator service. With their simple setup process you can not only have tailored policies on your website within 30 minutes, they are automatically updated!
In my humble opinion Termageddon is the best policy generator out there - they have top notch customer service and it gives me peace of mind knowing my business is always compliant with relevant laws.
→ Get your own policies and save 10% on your first year with code KERSTIN
5. Quickbooks + Dext for Squarespace
Bookkeeping used to be the most dreaded and time-consuming task in my business. With transactions coming from multiple sources using multiple payment providers, I had a plethora of annoying issues and manual workarounds. It was a mighty source of frustration and procrastination!
Then in 2020 I decided to take control of the situation. I started using Quickbooks, as well as a Squarespace extension called Dext (formerly Greenback) that automatically syncs my Squarespace transactions with Quickbooks.
It was a massive learning curve, but now instead of my bookkeeping taking 6-12 hours per month, it only takes me… one hour! You can imagine how much calm and happiness this has given me.
→ Watch how I use Quickbooks & Dext to simplify bookkeeping
Shauna’s Top Tools for a Calm Business
6. Sukha
When I need to knuckle down and get work done, I often find myself lost in a field of browser tabs or suddenly making a third cup of tea. Thankfully, a lovely friend told me about Sukha (formerly Centered), an app designed to help you “find your flow”. It’s a to-do list meets Pomodoro timer meets co-working pod meets nagging boss.
How it works: you list tasks to get done in the session, then start the Centered timer. The idea is to focus for 20 minutes, take a 5-minute break, then start another 20 minutes. You can have ambient background music or connect to Spotify, but I prefer monastic silence.
The best part? If you wander off to your email or Facebook, a posh voice asks, “Are you still on task?”.
I was highly skeptical, but this app has rocked my working world. Instead of getting overwhelmed, I take things one 20-minute block at a time. I’m part of a little pod of virtual co-workers, and we leave each other messages of support in the chat area that’s only accessible during breaks. Centred gives me focus, camaraderie, and gentle butt-kicking all in one!
7. FreeAgent
For the first year of my business I tracked my finances in a Google Sheet and manually created invoices in Google Docs. It was a perfectly functional system, but a little clunky.
Then I found FreeAgent, a web-based accounting software for UK small businesses. I can now track client time, generate invoices in seconds, keep track of expenses and run reports all in one place. It automatically chases late payments and syncs transactions from my bank accounts. I can even lodge my tax return from within the software!
FreeAgent means I spend barely spend 30 minutes per month on financial admin. It brings so much calm and peace of mind, knowing my numerical ducks are in order.
That said, part of me is a wee bit sad that FreeAgent is so efficient - bookkeeping used to be one of my favorite ways to procrastinate when I was on a deadline!
8. Loom
This video messaging tool makes clear client communication much easier, a true essential for a calm online business! You can simultaneously record your camera, microphone and desktop, then share the video right away. It’s so dang nifty when you work with people around the world in different time zones. Instead of spending ages writing lengthy emails explaining something - or let’s be real, over-explaining - I record a quick and friendly video message. The client can see on my screen exactly what I’m talking about, and the whole thing feels more personal, warm and human!
I use Loom to walk copywriting clients through their copy and to give editing clients friendly feedback on their words. It’s also great for creating quick tutorials, or for troubleshooting technical issues.
9. Apple Reminders
I consider myself an attention to detail person… but my brain needs a lot of backup! So I use Apple’s free Reminders app to remind me of everything.
I schedule reminders for recurring work tasks, client check-ins, website updates and renewals for business software. I get a daily reminder to stop for a lunch!
I love how Reminders integrates with other Mac things. Whenever there’s a Share button in an app, there’s always an option to add a Reminder. I also love the Siri integration - I frequently yell at my devices while doing the dishes or walking down the street to please remind me later about this or that.
Reminders is a bit of a snooze, design and feature-wise. I’ve previously used (and loved!) fancier options like Things and Remember The Milk, but I switched to Reminders because I find its dull functionality rather calming, like a no-nonsense assistant!
10. Google Drive
It’s an obvious choice but I couldn’t do without these tools! From collaborative editing with copywriting clients in Docs, creating customer surveys with Forms, keeping track of Team Kerstin data in Sheets, to whipping up a presentation in Slides, I love the simplicity of these apps.
I also dig the ease of sharing, the ability to export files to other formats, and being able to access all of my docs from any device.
