If you’re constantly late for meetings and conference calls, behind in answering email and jumping from one project to another, it’s no wonder you’re never getting anything finished. Ask any super productive person how they manage to get it all done and chances are, they have a whole lot of help from productivity apps.
Whether you work on iOS or Android, the app store is filled with tools to help keep you focused and productive throughout the day. From time-tracking tools to note-taking and to-do lists, here are our favorite productivity apps to help get stuff done.
1. Voice Recording
If you record your business meetings or frequently conduct interviews you need to transcribe, check out
Just Press Record for OS X and iOS devices. Sure, your phone has a Voice Recorder utility, but this paid app is easy to use, saves the audio as an M4A (AAC) or WAV file and automatically backs up the recordings to the iCloud Drive so you can access them across all your devices.
The app transcribes the recordings, turning the speech into searchable text so you can find specific meetings notes or recordings with just a key word or a phrase. One tap starts, stops or pauses your recording and if you’re too lazy to grab your phone or tablet, you can start recording right from an Apple Watch.
2. Project Management
Sometimes you just need to see your whole strategy or work flow laid out in front of you.
Trello is like a digital bulletin board with moveable cards that can be customized to show lists, notes, ideas, tasks, anything you want to track. The cards can be dragged and dropped to different lists or project boards and can be shared with other users.
Whether you’re working with a large team or just want to manage a project from start to finish, Trello’s project board lets you organize and revise as you go so you can see your progress and know what’s left to be done. Everyone on a team can see the work flow and cards can be tagged to specific team members to assign a task. You can upload photos or attach files to a card, saving the hassle of emailing files or uploading them to the cloud. Trello is a free app for iOS and Android with a paid plan offering increased storage and upgrades.
3. Team Communication
We’ve come a long way since the days of using AIM for communicating with co-workers. AIM, officially being
laid to rest in December, gave way to group messaging and communications tools like
Slack which is the tool of choice at tech and other companies worldwide. Slack provides real-time messaging and file-sharing, group chats, and one-on-one conversations in separate channels. For companies with employees based in locations across the globe or just working from a home office, Slack offers constant team communication. And just think about all the email that’s NOT being sent with questions being responded to in real time. Slack archives conversations and group chats so you can refer back and integrates with third party apps like DropBox, Twitter, and ZenDesk.
4. Password Storage
Hacks, data breaches, ransomware, all threats that keep the IT team up at night. You can minimize the chances of having your passwords stolen by never storing them in a digital file, or worse, writing them down.
LastPass is a password vault that stores and automatically fills in your passwords for you, so you never have to think about them. The built-in password generator comes up with long, complicated, random passwords that are far safer than ‘12345’ or the name of your dog and, since the vault syncs across your devices, you will never have to remember another password except the one you use to log into LastPass. The desktop app works with a browser extension on your toolbar for easy access and the mobile app works on iOS and Android devices.
5. Stay Focused
If you juggle multiple projects on any given day the most important thing you can do is focus. It’s easy to get distracted while working on one project and thinking about the other.
FocusList helps break your tasks down into set time periods. It uses the “Pomodoro Technique” of setting 25-minute chunks of time to focus on one specific task, and then layers in a five-minute break to clear your head or check email. Just don’t go down any email rabbit hole!
6. Just Breathe
A better way to use that five-minute break is to breathe, just breathe. Meditation apps like
Aura help keep you focused and calm, especially during a deadline-filled day. It’s a great app for time-challenged newbies since it offers daily, three-minute guided mediations, letting you take advantage of those few free moments.
