Regardless of how long you have been running your business from home, you can always benefit from more free time. With today’s digital technology, many tools can streamline your daily operations, manage your workflow and automate essential processes. Business apps enable you to take care of tasks anywhere, giving you more flexibility. Here are some time-saving apps you can use straight from your phone.
Optimise workflows
Manage necessary jobs and optimise your team’s efficiency with project management apps.
Consider some of the following tools to control workflows and collaborate with staff:
• Asana: Use this tool on your computer and your mobile device to help you increase
productivity. Create custom lists to manage and track the components of your company’s
projects.
• Trello: Organise your personal or professional undertakings from your phone or computer.
You can delegate job assignments, make lists and integrate with other programs, like Slack
and Google Hangouts.
• Basecamp: Segment your to-do list into separate projects and incorporate all the relevant
elements to keep your team on task. Keep track of documents, jobs, deadlines, and
discussions.
In issue 13 (Proactive) we explore several different visual planning techniques that will help to keep you focused and your workflows streamlined. Access the back issues as a digital subscriber.
Manage your money
Tools that keep track of your finances can be critical to the success of your business. Not only do
they handle your cash flow, but they can also free up valuable time by automating daily
processes and tasks. You can read more on the power of automation and using accounting software here.
Some systems to compare:
• Quickbooks Online: With multiple service tiers, you can customise this accounting software
to fit your needs. Access it anywhere via touch interaction mobile apps.
• Wave: This free, cloud-based app provides valuable features specifically for small business
owners. Track your expenses, create invoices, handle payroll and transactions and manage e-
commerce.
• FreshBooks: This app works well for freelancers, plumbers, therapists, and other service-
based operations. It is user-friendly and tracks revenue and expenses to create simple
business reports.
Want more? Check out the article we did in Issue 10 reviewing all the major accounting software platforms from Xero to Crunch, Quickbooks and Free Agent. All back issues available with a digital subscription.
Increase productivity with time-saving apps
When you use mobile apps, you can share documents, communicate with employees and clients,
and automate essential tasks from your phone. Some examples of apps that save you time:
• Evernote: This mobile note-taking app lets you save videos, audio clips, PDFs, photographs,
and more. Record voice reminders as you think of them so you don’t forget important tasks.
• Zoom: Conduct business meetings or discussions with staff members or clients wherever
you are. Holding business meetings directly from your phone allows you to address
situations as needed and save time and money.
• Adobe: PDFs are ubiquitous in today’s business landscape, so knowing what tools are
available to use them is helpful. For example, knowing how to save an iPhone file by
printing to PDF can make your workflow smoother by letting you handle everything on your
smartphone. This is especially useful when you don’t have access to your laptop.
• Notion: An organisation tool, which we have recommended in a previous magazine issue. This is for businesses to track projects and share important documents or files. For individuals, it is perfect for managing and tracking to-do lists and filing things such as recipes and planning budgets.
In each of our quarterly digital issues, we recommend useful apps to download that can help with your wellbeing and productivity. Make sure you subscribe so that you can see them all and which ones can improve your organisation and overall work-life balance.
Organise travel plans
Manage your work trips or journeys with time-saving apps such as:
• TravelPerk: This all-in-one travel planning system handles your routes from start to finish. You can book your flights, transportation, and accommodations with updates on the latest travel alerts and safety warnings.
• Hopper: This app allows you to book flights and also look ahead to see when will be the cheapest or most expensive time to fly. It will also notify you when flights have dropped to their lowest price, saving you money as well as time.
• Waze: Less for booking travel but a useful app for when you are on the road. It lets you know about delays and road closures and you get warnings about speed cameras – including mobile police cameras. It will also alert you to your speed to help prevent any speeding fines.
Declutter your mind
Avoiding burnout is a challenge as a business owner and particularly prevalent today as we all look to protect our mental health. Many business owners say burnout hinders their company’s success. It is essential that you remember to invest in yourself to prevent exhaustion and remain focused during your workday. You can use meditation, fitness, self-care, or breathing applications to help you manage stress and improve concentration. Taking time for yourself enables you to make executive decisions with a clear head.
Apps such as Moodkit, Headspace, and iBreathe can all help with mood tracking, meditation and regulating your breathing when you are feeling stressed.
We have a brilliant quick video on coherent breathing to help you de-stress in our Subscribers Lounge. Breathwork specialist and yoga teacher, Felicity Wood, guides you through the exercise for a moment of calm and release. Available in our Ten Minute Tea Breaks in the Subscribers Lounge. Aren’t yet subscribed? You can explore the options here.
When you use your smartphone technology to streamline your tasks and to-do lists, you can save
time, work from anywhere and optimise productivity.
A few years ago, burned out and miserable from his job in corporate marketing, Lance Cody-Valdez decided it was time to invest in himself. He quit his job the following day and used his meagre savings to stay afloat as he built a career as a freelance writer and content marketer.
