10 Tools to Help You Increase Productivity

How to, Organisation0 comments

Like a lot of people, I’ve been spending the last few weeks putting my plans together for 2012.  Obviously planning is essential when running your own business.  As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!  However, one of the things that can stop a lot of business owners from achieving their goals is having a lack of focus on their core activities.

So I’ve put together my top 10 productivity tools that can help you to work more effectively.  By doing so, you can have more time to focus on those tasks that will take you towards your goals.

MindMeister or Mind42 – Both these mind mapping tools will help you to brainstorm and put together your goals and plans for next year, using text, images and links.  I use mind maps when I’m working on a project and I’ve also created one for my 2012 plan for my business.  MindMeister has a limited free account whereas Mind42 is totally free.

Workflowy – If you like to organise your projects in hierarchical lists then Workflowy is the solution for you.  You can use it when working on projects, brainstorming ideas or keeping a journal.  Because it works like a text editor, it’s very simple to use. 

Focus app – Use this to limit the amount of time you spend working on a project.  You can set a deadline and once the alarm goes off, you take a break and move on to something new.

RescueTime – Enables you to track the time you spend on projects and voluntarily blocks the most distracting parts of the internet for a period of time set by you.

Rememberthemilk – Great task application which lets you manage your to do list and sends reminders via email and SMS.

Enso – Enso is designed to give you instant access to your applications and windows, meaning that you no longer have to hunt around the Start menu to find a particular application such as Notepad or Calculator.

Dropbox – I’ve mentioned this before but Dropbox is a great tool to share documents with other people and also back up documents online so you can access them from any PC – great when you’re on the move.

LastPass – LastPass allows you to manage your passwords from one place so you need never forget a password again and can log in to your sites with a single mouse click.

Evernote – The best tool for clipping and sharing online articles and web pages – basically a virtual scrapbook which you can organise by tags and folders, and then share with other people.

Fiverr / MechanicalTurk – Not a tool as such but 2 websites that will give you more time by outsourcing those minor tasks at a fraction of the cost it would take for you to do them.  So whether you want to create a short promo video, design a header image for your website, or get comments and views on your YouTube videos – you can hire people to do just this for a few cents or dollars.  The quality may not be brilliant but it’s a good alternative if you’re working on a tight budget and need something doing quickly.

If you want to get more organised with your workload then download a copy of our free guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you”.  This guide contains essential time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively.  So click on the link to get your free time management guide.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions in the comment box below!

5 Google Apps Add-Ons to Help You Work More Productively

Time management4 comments

I’ve been using Google Apps for quite a while now and in my opinion it’s one of the best tools to use for working remotely.  With GA, I can access my emails, calendar and documents from any PC, meaning that I can work anywhere in the world as long as I have a laptop and internet connection.  This makes my service truly virtual!

The other great benefit of Google Apps is the Marketplace which has a range of applications that you can download to help you work more productively.  Here’s 5 applications which I use that enable me to keep on top of my workload and run my business effectively.

Mavenlink – A collaboration tool for effective team work to help you manage projects, tasks, files, invoices and online payments.  You can use the workspace to communicate with your team and share Google Docs and track tasks, as well as automatically sync milestone and project due dates with your Google calendar.  You can also track your time, invoice clients and tie it all in with the work being done.

Insightly – A CRM and project management tool where you can add contacts, track leads and opportunities, and add projects, tasks, and reminders.  You can organise contacts by tags so you can easily find people by organisation, profession, location etc.

AwayFind – Lets you set up mobile alerts for urgent emails that you receive related to specific people or topics.  So you could set it up to alert you whenever a client sends an email.  This means that you will always receive your important emails even when you don’t have access to your email system.

EchoSign – Allows you to sign contracts electronically online.  Integrates with your Google Apps account so you can send Google Docs, spreadsheets, presentations, and other content for signature and have your customers sign it online in seconds. All communications sent through EchoSign are encrypted and you can send up to 5 documents a month for free.

GQueues – Task manager for Google Apps that integrates with your calendar.  You can set up recurring tasks, delegate work via assignments, collaborate with co-workers, and set up email and SMS reminders for tasks with due dates.  There’s even a mobile version so you can manage your tasks on the go.

So these are just some of the applications that you can add to your Google Apps account.  I would love to hear what GA applications you use and can recommend – just drop a comment in the box below!