With endlessly busy days, especially during tax season, managing and remembering everything can seem overwhelming. So why not let an app do it for you? Here’s a look at five apps you can run from your phone to help manage both your personal and professional time.
1. OmniFocus
This app syncs to your calendar and your inbox. Think of it like your reminders tool on overdrive. The app can forecast your schedule, tasks and projects based on your calendar. You can automatically create tasks, tag them, and/or add them to a project directly as they come into your inbox. Flag items that are important to go back to. OmniFocus helps you pair down the time you are spending trying to transition between tasks, streamline your schedule and focus on priorities.
2. Zoho
Reduce time tracking down client payments with Zoho. Do you ever catch a client that’s been hard to track down to pay their bill ready to hand over their credit card, but they “cannot find their invoice.” Zoho Invoice is free to use and also includes the ability to track time and expenses as well as accept payments. Easily send invoices right from your phone (while your client is on the phone) and reduce your time spent on receivables management.
3. RescueTime
In case you’re feeling like your tax season needs time rescuing right about now, check out last week’s article on staying productive here. The first tip was to eliminate distractions. RescueTime tracks your time spent on various apps and websites. Prepare to be horrified. Your mindless scrolling time will blow your mind.
4. Toggl
Another tip included in last week’s productivity article was working in short, timed blocks, followed by a quick break, and repeat. Known as the “Pomodoro Technique”, this approach to efficiency and focus is built right into the Toggl app. The app features a built in timer and a time tracking interface to help make sure you don’t spend too long on any one task.
5. Teams
Love or hate it, there are reasons why Teams is better. This function can serve as an internal messaging system for your team, or an external one for your clients using it. You can go to settings and “Recording & Transcription” and turn the setting to “on” to create a meeting transcript for each recorded Teams meeting. The transcript is fully searchable and automatically saved with the recording. Reduce note taking or time trying to find (or understand) your notes post meeting.
Your time is precious this time of year. When we’re busy and inundated with a long to-do list, it can be difficult for us to remember every single task and key point of each conversation. Inevitably you’ll forget to pick up milk on your way home. Leveraging these apps can help clear your mind for your most important projects and improve your efficiency.
