As we all know far too well, time waits for no man and in today’s fast-paced marketplace, is more of the essence than ever. Thankfully advancements in modern technology have also been developing at a rate of knots meaning there are now a whole plethora of mobile and tablet apps available that can help us save valuable seconds, minutes and in some cases, even hours.
Web applications such as these mean you now have the ability to abolish time-wasting at your very fingertips and increase the productivity of your business and its employees in the process. So we
spent an afternoon researching the best time-saving apps of the minute so you don’t have to and have brought the top 5 together in this handy blog post to give you a head start.
Todo: the virtual to-do list – Favoured by a varied audience of high-flying businesspeople and working parents to fresh-faced school kids looking to organise their hectic homework schedules, Todo is the world’s very first to-do list and task managing app for iOS. Piles of Post-It notes and memos written on the back of the hand will only result in chronic confusion and a mild case of ink poisoning so it’s time to hop on-board the Todo bandwagon.
Users can digitally organise and manage their tasks on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to ensure that they never miss an important deadline again or forget to finish that thing that their boss wanted by the end of the week…or else. Tasks can be synched across a number of devices and filed with start dates, due dates and other useful features that aim to improve time-keeping and prioritising skills.
Todo also supports geotagging, which means tasks can be stored with locations so the app can then notify the user when they are nearing the destination and encourage them to just get the job done, for goodness sake!
Pocket: the digital bookmark – So if Todo has prioritising and task management covered, you’re going to need something else to keep procrastination and side-tracking at bay which is where Pocket comes in.
We’ve all been there, you’re catching up on the news while you wait for the kettle to boil then suddenly it’s two hours later and you’re well acquainted with the latest cat memes and top-10-things-to-eat-this-week but you’ve got no work done – zero, zilch, nada. Pocket steps in as a digital folder where you can save content to view at a more convenient time like on the train home or for bedtime reading rather than while you’re supposed to be meeting deadlines and being productive.
This app is also great for intercepting those mid-afternoon emails your chums send you containing a series of have-you-seen-this links and recipes for brunch at the weekend. Simply store them in your Pocket and come back to them after you’re done seeing to your never-ending to-do list. You don’t even need an internet connection to read them once they’ve been downloaded and the content will sync across all devices so you can catch up anytime, anywhere.
Hootsuite: the social media scheduler – Right okay, so you’ve got your priorities in order, you’re fending against procrastination and you’re well on your way to productive efficiency. Then, in a blinding flash, you realise you have neglected your social media profiles for a few days and become instantly worried that all your followers will have abandoned you and all you’ll be left with is your mum and that annoying ex-classmate who is still desperately clinging on to their high school popularity. Well, have no fear because Hootsuite is here to save the day (and your online reputation).
The Hootsuite app means you can catch up on and post from a number of social network platforms from one place, which is a saving grace when you’re a bit short on spare time. Rather than having to open each social app separately, Hootsuite will collate the various streams so you can kill three birds with one stone. We say three because this is how many social platforms the free version of the app supports and saving cash is equally as important as saving time when it comes to running a small business. The app also enables you to schedule social media posts in bulk so you can get well organised ahead of time.
BoxMeUp: the saviour of storage – Although this app is currently only available for Android users, it has fast become a must-have accessory for those of us who are conscious about shaving valuable minutes off time-consuming activities. BoxMeUp tackles the arduous and once-lengthy task of locating a specific item once it has been boxed away in one of three hundred identical containers, which is a God-send for those businesses dealing with high quantities of stock and storage on a regular basis.
Rather than wasting valuable time wading through numerous boxes and getting more and more frustrated in the process, BoxMeUp means the user can simply log the contents of each container into the app and it will then generate a corresponding printable QR label. This label can then be scanned to easily locate the desired item with minimal stress and optimal time-saving.
CamCard: the business card organiser – This is the blessing that businesspeople have been dreaming of for years and it’s finally here and goes by the alliterative name of CamCard. This app manifests itself as a handy card scanner and text recognition software which digitally stores the details from your business card collection in one secure place and backs up the data on your device. This means no longer have to waste precious time sifting through pieces of dog-eared paper looking for that one important email address. Simples!