Methods of staying productive and strategies to help you improve efficiency look different for everyone.
You can always get advice from other people on how they accomplish their tasks. However, tips that work for one individual may not be the best fit for your needs and your style of work.
The same goes for productivity tools. With so many applications and tools on the market, it’s important to know what you actually need.
Perhaps you’re a skilled note-taker but are having a difficult time staying focused on other responsibilities. Or you may have a great style for communicating with colleagues and clients, but don’t have an efficient method for making appointments.
Help is as near as your phone, computer, or tablet. The six apps listed below will help you improve efficiency so you can sit back and watch your business blossom.
Hive
Hive’s productivity platform is among the top tools available. When integrated with Hive’s desktop or web applications, the mobile application offers an additional way to improve efficiency all day long.
With Hive, team members are able to look over their lists of tasks as well as communicate with one another in real-time. They can work together on their schedules, share documents, and keep track of the status of their projects.
Alongside the mobile application, Hive’s desktop and web applications come with additional tools to increase productivity. Each project can be viewed in different ways, based on the individual’s style of work and preferences. These include a Gantt Diagram, Kanban Board, Calendar, and many more.
Changes are visible across all views of the project. Everyone is able to work as they’d like. Everyone is kept updated. Your tasks across all projects are also included on your personal to-do lists. This keeps you accountable and helps you when prioritizing your next tasks.
Todoist
Todoist is an easy application for managing tasks that allows you to track and group tasks according to projects. If you really want to improve your efficiency, think of Tdoist as an upgrade of your standard to-do list.
Apart from creating and organizing your own tasks, you can also use the app to work alongside other users. Todoist allows you to share tasks as well as assign work.
Google Docs
Google Docs is one of the most effective tools for sharing documents and working in real-time. The online word processor eliminates saving files and sending them back and forth during the editing and writing process.
Based on the settings you select, document files are shared internally as well as outside your company. It allows team members to collaborate from any location and reduces the number of redundant documents. This alone can greatly reduce communication issues.
Google Docs also has a comment feature. This allows you to highlight and take notes about the text in question. Comments targeted at particular users can be notified via email to keep everyone informed. To ensure your privacy as well as security, Google allows the owner of the documents to decide how to edit each person who is a part of the document.
Google Sheets has similar benefits including the capability of importing CSV files. This allows you to save all your documents together in one hub.
IFTTT (If This Then That)
If This Then That (IFTTT) is an automated tool that effortlessly connects various applications and experiences.
IFTTT allows you to set up automated processes that range from routine tasks to more unusual connections. It helps you automatize repetitive tasks. This, in turn, lets you concentrate on the other important aspects of your job.
Calendar
Calendar relieves you of the burden of going back and forth in email or on the phone just to set up a meeting. This feature alone is a huge time-saver, but that’s just one of its benefits.
When you create a Calendar account you can customize your preferences for availability. This includes offering timeslots of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and so forth according to when you’re available.
When you’re ready to set up an appointment, simply send an email with easy-to-use checkboxes. They get to choose the time slot most suitable for them. This eliminates confusion and makes it easy to schedule multiple meetings in a short amount of time.
Evernote
If you prefer taking notes on the computer, or have a mixture of digital and handwritten notes, Evernote is for you. Evernote is among the most effective tools available for storing your thoughts and ideas in one spot.
One of the cool features of the Evernote application is that it lets users capture pictures of handwritten notes and then upload them. Of course, this is in addition to making notes directly on your devices.
Search allows users to browse all their documents — either written or typed. This is made possible by the handwriting analysis built into the app. Once you have your notes uploaded, you can arrange your notebooks into systems and then filter them using tags.
There are so many efficiency apps on the market now that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Your best bet is to, first of all, identify where exactly you need help getting your act together. Odds are good millions of other people face the same struggle, so yes, you can bet that “there’s an app for that.”
