Introduction
The digital world is getting smarter with technological advancements. The tech-savvy generation has become highly reliant on the virtual world to simplify everyday office activities. Still, some workers do not find it easy to stay organized. Ultimately, it affects their productivity. Thus, how do you increase your efficiency? The best solution for you is to use some productivity tools.
Several employees have become obsessed with innovative productivity tools. However, these tools are designed for particular purposes. That is why your first task is to know your goals before searching for the tools and apps. Some commonly chosen productivity goals are-
- To increase profits with better outputs
- To get promotion
- To accomplish a project
- To manage your workloads
Most importantly, a productive employee is less distracted and more focused. You can identify your productivity goals and choose any tools from the list.
Below are the best productivity tools for every business-
Evernote
The cloud-based platform, Evernote helps in creating and saving your files as notes. Due to the diverse capabilities, you may use it for your business purposes. It has both free and paid versions. The paid version has two options-
- Business-centric
- Premium
Some free features of Evernote are-
- Self-management– You can use reminders, create to-do lists, and do other activities to avoid missing the deadline.
- Scrapbook-style note-taking– While browsing the internet, you may find relevant information. Evernote’s browser extension will enable you to pull the content to the notebook.
- Compatible with Assistant– The Google Assistant and Siri users can easily navigate the platform to edit the notes.
- Shareability– The content created on Evernote is easy to share with others.
RescueTime
RescueTime is a cloud-based management tool available on Android and iOS platform. It enables you to track your activities from any device. The tool reveals the amount of time for which your employees have stayed on distracting websites. RescueTime also provides you with details about your employees’ activities in the website. Check out the most important features of RescueTime to increase productivity.
- Goals customization– You can use the tool to set your regular goals.
- Distracting site blockage– The premium feature lets you automatically block social media and other distracting sites.
- Offline time tracking– While working with your remote workers, you can find how much time they have been in the online and offline modes.
- Weekly productivity report– RescueTime sends the weekly activity report to your employees.
HootSuite
HootSuite is another revolutionary platform to increase your social media productivity. You can schedule your social media posts and tweets to save effort. HootSuite not only makes you productive but also helps you to make social media strategy. Go through the list of features of HootSuite.
- Multiple social accounts– You can add 10 social networking accounts with Hootsuite. It will be easy to check social media messages and posts.
- Automated post scheduling– Create your content and set the time for posting it. Hootsuite will automatically post it for you.
- Upcoming campaigns– You can schedule campaigns for the future.
- Incoming messages– As your contacts interact with you through different networks, you can respond to them with one click. Social media messages are also shareable with your teammates.
Asana
Asana has gained popularity as one of the productivity tools. However, solo workers may not find this tool useful. When you are working on a project with your team, you can rely on Asana. You can easily assign tasks to your team members. Although Asana has a free version, the premium one has advanced features, like-
- Forms– Connect the forms to your projects and keep them organized.
- Start dates– This feature reveals when you have started your work and finished it within deadlines.
- Custom fields– With this feature, you can track information and status.
- Dashboards– You will have real-time charts that help you to identify the obstacles to your work.
Google Calendar
As you like to get the optimal value of your effort, you can rely on Google Calendar. You can keep your professional and personal lives organized with this tool. Moreover, there are ways to integrate other tools with Google Calendar. You will have better scheduling and time management capabilities with Google Calendar. Make the best use of available features of Google Calendar.
- Color coding every calendar– You may choose red for social engagement and blue for office-related tasks. It makes everything manageable and free of clutter.
- Calendar view customization– Customization prevent distractions. You can find the schedule for a chosen day. You may hide weekend events.
- Appointment slots– It is easy to block off times for any events. Choose the calendar and input details, like the title of your events.
Slack
Slack presents you with a real-time communication platform to increase your team’s productivity. Its special features will let your team members stay organized. From direct messaging to private chats, several IRC-style features are available with Slack. Have a glance at the useful features of this productivity tool.
- Integrations– Slack enables you to integrate different third-party tools, including Salesforce and Google Analytics.
- Channel creation– With Slack, you can create multiple channels to collaborate with your team members to work on projects.
- Channel owner assignment– You may assign every member to deal with a particular Slack channel.
- Regular reporting– Maintain transparency in your team by having a clear report.
- Pose questions– Slack can record the questions and answers of your team members. Those recorders will be useful in the future for employees.
- Project sharing– You can share Projects through Slack to create the best work environment.
- Reminders– When you need to take breaks and attend meetings, Slack’s automated reminders will be helpful to you.
- DND Mode– Stop receiving unimportant messages with this mode.
Skype
Unified communications are always important to make your team more efficient, and that’s why Skype is the right choice for you. You can choose Skype for Business and integrate Office 365 to find better capabilities.
- Instant messaging– Skype for Business users can display their status, like Do Not Disturb, Available, and Offline. Moreover, they can receive and send real-time messages over IP network.
- Audio and video calling– With a web camera and a PC, you can make video calls and audio calls. Both users must use Skype for Business to make these calls.
- Digital conference– It is easy to start a multiparty audio and video calling sessions. Schedule your virtual meeting with video.
- Phone System– It is useful for both outbound and inbound calls. As you have integrated Office 365, the Phone System lets you mute, unmute, receive, and transfer calls from any place
Zapier
With an easily navigable dashboard, Zapier lets you connect more than 1500 apps. Thus, you can find your favorite tools in one place. Synchronize your everyday apps and reduce your stress. Zapier is available with a number of features-
- Zap creation– Users can create Zaps (blueprints for different tasks) to trigger automation. The repeated tasks become easier with this tool. Moreover, you can choose fields for different actions. The pre-made integrations are easy to implement, and you do not need to go through a complicated installation process.
- Task History– It is one of the powerful features displaying your activities from the Zaps. You will find how other users have done their tasks successfully. Zapier lets you replicate those tasks automatically and manually.
- Connected accounts – As you can integrate different apps with Zapier, you can connect those accounts. You will have a centralized system with Zapier.
IFTTT
This free web service represents If This Then That, one of the prominent connectivity platforms. Moreover, it will save your time, as you can automate the digital tasks. Brands will find it easy to connect products with third-party apps. Thus, they will engage more customers by using IFTTT.
Find more than one way in which IFTTT will be helpful to you-
- Back up media files to your cloud account
- Prebuilt applet to use multiples of an action in one Applet
- Design an applet to team up with brands
- Give access to different services
TeamUp
It is slightly different from the standard calendar. When you are a group of employees, you can use it to organize virtual conference programs. Moreover, TeamUp presents you with different ways to add events that are sharable with others. It also helps with the automatic adjustment to the users’ time zones. In most cases, remote workers taking part in the virtual conference may be from multiple time zones. They will find TeamUp highly useful for them. However, there are several other features of this productivity tool.
- Schedule work– You can avoid scheduling issues and keep your files in one place. It is also easy to streamline communication.
- Organize teams– The team members and their real-time activity details will be visible to you.
- Manage availability– Disclosure about users is easy to customize.
You can now decide on the right productivity tools to find a better output of your business or you can use couple of them. Check out the features of these tools and install the best one. Most of these tools are easy to manage from different devices.