“I don’t have time for that.”
Sound familiar?
I bet even the most motivated person reading this post has said that at some point. I know I have.
But the more you say this to yourself, the more you’ll actually be limiting your productivity.
It’s not that you don’t have enough time. It’s usually that you need to be using your time more effectively. And productivity apps can help with that.
So I’m going to show you some of the best tools out there that I recommend to every single client, whether that’s through blog coaching or managing their online presence. Whether you want to stay focused or keep more organised, there’ll be at least one productivity app in here to help make your life a little bit easier.
Before we get into it, I just want to give you a tip so all of these tools don’t make you feel overwhelmed.
Pick one. Try it. See how it goes.
Don’t aim to use all of them at once. Focus on a problem that you have and use one of these productivity apps to try and help you solve that. Click the number of each list to go straight to the app.
Now let’s get into it.
P.S. If you want to increase your productivity, I’ve made a template of the to-do list I use to get everything done every single week. Download it below!
#1 | E.GGTIMER.COM
Social media procrastination no more. This is an easy-to-use timer that you access in your web browser. Set the timer, click “go”, and the countdown will start. When the timer is up, you’ll get a notification.
This allows you to work in timed bursts based on what you set, which will really increase your focus.
#2 | TOGGL
Toggl is an app I use every single day and is designed to help you manage your time better.
You type in what you’re working on and the app will track the time you spend on the task until you hit stop.
I use this to track my time for client work, but for blogging, it helps you stay accountable for the time you’re spending on specific tasks.
#3 | EVERNOTE
This is my all-time favourite productivity app.
Evernote is a note-taking app where you can create notes within notebooks to help you stay organised. It’s an app you can take with you everywhere, because all your notes will be synchronised within your account, no matter what device you’re on.
I made a video on how I use Evernote to stay organised with my blog post ideas which you can watch below.
#4 | GOOGLE DRIVE
Some people recommend Dropbox, some people recommend iCloud. I go for Google Drive.
You create an account through Gmail and then your files will be synchronised no matter what device you’re on.
By being able to access your files from anywhere, your productivity levels will really increase. You can also share files with others, which is something I love doing with my clients.
#5 | ASANA
Myself and my clients love Asana so much that we talk about it ALL the time.
I use Asana to plan my blog content, keep track of client work and to manage my workflow for the Blogging Breakthrough magazine. You can assign tasks to certain people, attach files and even set yourself deadlines.
You can also see your tasks in one huge list for each project, which will help you plan in advance. When I work with coaching clients, I always suggest Asana, because it’s user-friendly and pretty hard NOT to be organised on there.
I’m planning to do a video on how I use Asana to manage my editorial calendar so watch this space!
#6 | TRELLO
When it comes to Trello and Asana, Asana is the one for me. But if you’re organised and know how to use it, Trello can be great for you. You might need to watch some tutorials, but it’s got some really great features.
You can set up different boards which act as your projects, create checklists and templates, and assign tasks to others. As you can see, it’s really similar to Asana.
I usually recommend Trello as an alternative to Asana because I know a lot of people who use it and really like it.
#7 | SLACK
Slack is different in terms of productivity apps and I wouldn’t use it as your only project management tool. But it’s great for keeping conversations in one place.
You basically create different folders to separate different conversations. So instead of keeping conversations within email, you keep them within Slack. Try not to attach too many files though – you might have to go back and look for them a month later which can be tricky!
#8 | LASTPASS
This is a password management tool that – you guessed it – stores all your passwords.
You get access to desktop software along with a browser extension, so when you want to log into a site, all your passwords are stored and ready for use. You can choose to auto-fill your details or click a button and select your account before logging in.
If you have accounts on lots of different websites, or need to store information for clients, this is the best productivity app for you.
#9 | POCKET
If you read a lot of articles and always find yourself with a million tabs open of things you want to look at, you need Pocket.
This app allows you to save content to read later and it only tags one click. You can even add tags to better organise your saved content. You can save content from your web browser, email, Twitter and more. It’s a really organised, distraction-free way to store and read content.
#10 | GRAMMARLY
Need help proofreading your content? All you need to do it install Grammarly.
It analyses your sentence structure, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and more. This productivity app tells you exactly how to improve your content with simple, pop-up edits that you click on to change. It’s a great learning experience for all bloggers and will also help you improve your writing.
#11 | CANVA
Everyone loves Canva, right? And with good reason. No longer do you need expensive image software to create graphics for your blog. With Canva, you can make graphics for your blog posts, social media posts, YouTube videos and more.
It helps increase your productivity, because Canva’s interface is designed in a way which makes it faster to create images.
#12 | IFTTT
IFTTT stands for “if this, then that”.
It’s a productivity app that allows you to create connections between various online channels. You search for “recipes” to link different channels together to perform automated tasks. Here are some examples:
Automatically share your Instagram photos to Facebook
Get new videos from your favourite channel in a weekly email
Add songs from videos you like to a Spotify playlist
IFTTT has countless automations that will seriously save you so much time.
#13 | ZAPIER
Zapier works on a similar basis to IFTTT – but the things you can do with Zapier is INSANE.
First of all, there are way more apps to choose from.
Here are some examples of the mind-blowing things you can do:
Add new Google Calendar events to a Buffer queue
Send mentions to a Google spreadsheet
Create MailChimp subscribers from Typeform entries
Save new Gmail attachements to Google Drive
This will really help your productivity because it has an automation for almost every task you do.
So we went through a lot of productivity apps right there, all of which can save you time.
But I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed, so avoid tools that aren’t necessary. And remember – that’s going to look different for everyone.
You won’t need all of these tools and some of them you might only need later on. Assess your needs and take it from there.
And like I said, when you’re trying out these productivity apps, just go for one at a time. See how it impacts your productivity and that’s how you can judge its effectiveness.
Now let me know in the comments, which of these productivity apps will you be trying out first?
P.S. Don’t forget to download your free to-do list template to help you accomplish your goals every single week!
