Top ten apps and tools to boost your work productivity
July 1, 2014
There's a lot of pressure on at the moment. If you want to thrive and survive, then it's important to be as efficient as possible in every aspect of life.
Of course, in order for the non-work parts of the day to be as effective as possible, you need to get as much as you possible can done - as well as possible - during the time you have to work.
Here is our round-up of the top ten apps and tools that will help you achieve your goals more quickly and, more importantly, in a smarter manner.
Any.Do
Any.do is a list manager that consistently appears as best in class in reports. It's good-looking and syncs well across platforms and devices. You can put in recurring tasks as well as let it give you a short summary of what's on your plate for today.
Doodle
Doodle is an internet tool that lets you sort out meetings. Instead of those endless back-and-forth email strings when you try to organise a time that suits everyone, use Doodle to work out what's the best time for all the people you need to invite. Identify a few windows for what you're trying to do and then ask the invitees for their availability.
Workflowy
Workflowy allows you to organise yourself and what you have to do. It mimics human thought processes by making a list of high-level ideas and then breaking them into bite-sized chunks. Its fans describe it as a brain-clutter buster.
Garminfit
Garmin Fit lets you turbocharge your exercise regime - or at least keep closer tabs on how well you're doing. Using sensors, log your heart rate, distances covered and speed. You can analyse your efforts, set targets and get motivated to be more effective.
Due
Due is an app that very simply allows you to set reminders to get things done. Your phone will alert you of the essential call you need to make or the email you must send. Instead of leaving yourself reminder notes, Due will nag you until the job is done.
Swizzle
If you've ever been annoyed by how long it takes to wade through all the emails in your inbox that offer you all manner of things you don't want and don't need, then you should welcome Swizzle. It scans your inbox and shows you a list of all the newsletters, promotions and offers it finds - you can either unsubscribe or bundle them into a daily digest.
Clear
If you just want a simple, sleek list with the option of reminders, then Clear is for you. It's ideal for straightforward, clutter-free collections of things such as packing or shopping lists. And crossing things off is satisfaction in itself.
Sunrise
Sunrise gathers all your information from the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn and the Google Calendar and lets you know what you should be doing today. It's designed to make life easier, and thousands of users agree that it does.
OfficeWrx
OfficeWrx is a professional-grade, feature-rich mobile office suite. You can use it to find and view your documents, edit and save them in MS Office as well as countless other features. You'll find it the best thing on your phone or tablet if you really want to get things done.
Evernote
Evernote users swear by it and call it their external brain. It's the place they put everything they come across, knowing they can find it whenever they need it. It's also the go-to choice for note takers and hoarders.
iA Writer
For anyone who's ever been distracted during the process of writing. And that's pretty much everyone. iA Writer strips away everything else that's going on, so you've only got the words on the screen in front of you. Get those distractions under control in an instant.