Don't you just love an awesome app that helps you to get organised and stay organised? Well, I do! We are in a day and age where there are thousands and thousands of productivity apps available and they all profess to make our lives easier.
More...
What I have noticed though, is that it is difficult to distinguish between productivity apps and I spend a lot of time testing new apps in the hope that I will find my holy grail – that is not so great for my productivity!
When I originally wrote this post mid-2015 I included the details of 5 productivity apps that I was using consistently. Since then I have found quite a few additional apps that have definitely helped me to up my game in both my home life and in my business and I ditched a couple of apps that were causing me more of a headache. In the end, I got to the 9 productivity apps that I have featured here. This is not a sponsored post – I am currently using all of these apps in some form or another and want to share them with you! The best new yet? They are all free!
Any.Do is a seriously cool to-do list application that is not only available on Android and iTunes - it has a Google Chrome extension that allows you to sync your tasks and manage them directly from your computer! I use Any.Do to manage my daily and ongoing to-do lists.
This is where I drop a note if I need to remember to buy milk. It is also really helpful for jotting down notes of an evening that you want to remember in the morning – anyone else think of stuff right before bed and worry that you will forget them before morning time?
I have the app set up to send me a reminder at 9am to plan the day ahead and I just love the super-fast way I can set a reminder to call someone back when I have missed a call. To check out all the features head to www.any.do.
Unfortunately ColorNote is not available on iTunes and when I wrote this post originally I was an Android user so it was no great shakes. I have recently bought an iPhone though and this is one productivity app that I really miss.
ColorNote is a notepad application that is perfect for a "list-lover" like me. Personally, I was using ColorNote to manage my longer shopping lists and also for other lists that I add to regularly - like my reading list or movies I want to see. It is so easy to use and the check-list function is great, especially when you are at the supermarket. Another really cool function is the sticky note widget, which allows you to paste your colourful sticky notes onto your device's home screen.
Since moving to an iPhone I haven’t decided what I am going to use to replace this app in my daily workflow, but the good news is that it is available on Windows, so I am still using Colornote on my laptop and the icon sits in my task bar where I can reach it quickly. You can check it out at www.colornote.com
Unroll.Me is freaking fantastic! I am so excited about this app I have just been telling everyone I know. Unroll.Me gets into your email account, finds all of your subscriptions and helps you to create a "Roll Up" - thats right, all of your subscription emails wrapped up in a neat little package and delivered to you at your chosen time of the day.
I look forward to checking in on my Roll Up first thing every morning before breakfast. I subscribe to so many emails (I am an email subscription hoarder...) and was finding the constant email notifications on my phone to be super distracting. Now I just get one email a day and I can devote my full attention to catching up on all of my favourite newsletters.
There are mixed reviews about Unroll. Me around the internet, particularly from bloggers and businesses. The main complaint is that Unroll.Me allows you to use their bulk unsubscribe tool to get rid of all of the email subscriptions that you are no longer interested in. The problem is that Unroll.Me doesn’t actually unsubscribe you, it just moves these subscriptions directly into your junk folder without them passing through your inbox. This means that bloggers and businesses are still paying their email marketing service provider to have email addresses on their list, of people who aren’t actually receiving their emails.
This is unfortunate and I don’t have an immediate response for this issue, but Unroll.Me is in my opinion, still too helpful not to share. Head to www.unroll.me for more information.
IFTTT made its way onto my list of productivity apps because of its unlimited uses – I just wish that I had have discovered it and mastered it sooner. IFTTT is awesome for bloggers and small businesses, but if you aren’t in business, don’t be tempted to skip this one!
IFTTT stands for “If this, then that”. It connects your apps together and allows you to identify a trigger and a result. For example, IF you change your profile picture on Facebook, THEN your profile picture on Twitter will be updated to match. Or IF you receive an email that is tagged as #Invoice, THEN a reminder will be set in your Google Calendar to pay it.
IFTTT can also be set up to work with home automation products like Wemo, so in theory you could do very cool things like switch your heater on when you arrive home or turn your iron off when you leave the house (just in case you forgot!) Give it a look at www.ifttt.com.
Check out 9 of the best Productivity Apps that can improve your life and biz!
Later is another tool that is great for businesses but is not just limited to business people. Later is also for those of you who are passionate about Instagram and covet a perfectly curated feed.
Later (previously known as Latergramme) is an Instagram scheduling tool that not only allows you to schedule your Instagram posts, but you can also preview what your feed will look like before posting. The drag and drop calendar means that you can move your posts around with ease and ensure that you are getting the “flow” you are looking for.
Later also lets you write your captions in advance and although it doesn’t automatically post to your Instagram feed at the scheduled time, it does send a reminder to your phone, ready to post within a few clicks. Head over to www.later.com to see it for yourself.
Dropbox is an oldie but a goodie. I just had to include it because it is so incredibly useful! I have Dropbox activated on all of my devices and I love the fact that I can access all of my documents anytime, anywhere. One of the things I use Dropbox for is storing all of my ebooks - I refer to them regularly. I also keep my major work and blog projects on Dropbox so that I don't have to keep saving and transferring files from device to device as I am working on them.
Dropbox is honestly one of the best productivity apps I have ever come across and I use it everyday, to store everything (except the kitchen sink!). Because I use Dropbox so much (and I am an information hoarder) I have just needed to upgrade to the paid plan, but the free plan kept me going for years – you can get bonus data as part of different promotions that might ask you to refer friends or sync a certain number of devices. You can find out more information at www.dropbox.com.
Evernote. I fought this for so long. Every list of tools or productivity apps includes Evernote and despite this, I tried for a long time to pretend I didn’t need it. Why? Because I couldn’t wrap my mind around how it could work for me.
Now, I have been using Evernote for a while now and one of the main ways that I use it is to collate all of my blog posts ideas. Most of the time I even write my posts in Evernote as it means that I can access them on the go from any of my devices and write a paragraph or two when I have a few spare minutes in my day.
I also use the Evernote web clipper to capture ideas that I want to refer back to later, whether these be from blog posts I read or even products I am researching. Evernote has a voice recorder that I use sometimes when I want to record an idea and I don’t want to type and I use it to record my longer form lists and ideas that aren’t quite suited for Colornote or Any.Do.
There are so many different ways to use Evernote to improve productivity in your life and business – I am no expert so I would strongly suggest researching the ways that other people use this program. Michael Hyatt has some great starting points. You can get started with Evernote at www.evernote.com. (For more information about cloud-based note-taking apps, including Evernote, you might like to check out this post from Cloudwards!)
There are thousands of Productivity Apps, but it lessens productivity to test them all!
Asana is another program that I tried multiple times and gave up on, because I wasn’t sure how to use it. Fortunately I persisted and Asana has become a part of my regular workflow.
Asana is a project management app that can be used solo or with teams. But don’t just think of teams in a business sense. Are you undergoing a renovation at home? Plotting your dream holiday? Planning your wedding or another event? Creating a professional portfolio? Asana could be really useful to you.
Asana allows you to plan your project using a hierarchy structure of tasks and subtasks. You can add reminders and assign tasks to anyone who has access to your project. Yes, that’s right! Need your husband to collect paint chips from the hardware store for your dining room reno? Want your bridesmaids to research local florists? Assign them tasks in Asana and stay on top of where you are at with your project.
Nora Conrad has loads of great resources for learning more about Asana and she is the reason that I finally bit the bullet and jumped in. To sign up for your own Asana account, go to www.asana.com.
The final productivity app that I am sharing with you today is Trello and it is great for those of us who like a more visual representation of our work. Trello has a list and card system that lets you manage your project, workflow or ideas on a board – it is almost like having a notice board and some index cards.
I love Trello because I can colour code my notes, set reminders and include research, images and inspiration all in the one place. I use Trello more so in the planning stages of a project when I want to see how everything will fit together. For instance, when I was planning a course, I colour coded all of the different elements and was able to see at a glance where I needed to add more material.
Trello is also brilliant for coordinating your job application process and I will have a detailed blog post on this coming up in the next couple of weeks – this is one you won’t want to miss! Check out Trello at www.trello.com.
Phew, that's 9! Are there any amazing productivity apps that I have missed? I am always on the look out for new ways of doing things – especially if Please let me know in the comments below!
Becca xo
