When you are starting up a small business you will soon learn the value of productivity. The phrase “time is money” starts to make a lot more sense when you are working on your own time and your own money!
Essentially when you are working for yourself the more efficiently you work the more you can get accomplished with your time. This means that you can make more money without having to spend more hours working. Getting more done with your time doesn’t necessarily mean going into overdrive and tiring yourself out, it just means adapting to a smarter way of working and using techniques and strategies to focus your energy rather than wasting time.
So how can you combat your naturally lazy brain and train yourself to focus and get work done quicker? Different strategies will work for different people, but there are many great apps and programs which will help. These apps can help you manage and keep track of all of the 1,000 things that you will need to do every day as a busy entrepreneur and help you get them done faster. Some are free, some charge a small fee, but all are worth the investment.
Dropbox
This is a free cloud-based storage service which allows you to keep all of your documents, photos and videos online so that you can access them from any laptop or mobile device. This means that you will never have to worry about your computer crashing and deleting your files, cancelling out hours or work.
It will also make it so much more efficient to share files with other people on your team, as everyone can simply access the Dropbox folder rather than having to email different versions of a collaborative project back and forth to each other.
Evernote
This very clever app helps you manage all of the little tasks that you need to do and keep track of a million details at once over all of your devices. It allows you to sync files, take notes, capture photos, save web pages, make your own to-do lists and even record voice reminders. It is also completely searchable whether you are at home on your computer or on the go on your mobile device.
You will not forget anything anymore because it is so easy for you to jot down quickly. This app makes your life easier by making you more organised; successfully eliminating the need for you to keep so much information in your brain.
Nozbe
When you are a small business owner you will probably have many tasks on the go at once, so this task-management system will help you remember what you have delegated to others as well as what you have assigned to yourself. It is very easy to use, integrates with Dropbox and Evernote and is available on both Android and iOS devices. It even allows you to enter tasks by sending it an email.
Total Recall
If you attend a lot of meetings, lectures and conference calls you will likely find yourself constantly scribbling down notes that you sometimes can’t even read or understand afterwards. An easier and more effective way to remember all of the great points from that meeting or workshop is to record it with Total Recall, which is a simple app for most Android devices. It allows you to automatically or manually record your calls or meetings as well as even leave yourself an audio note.
These are just a few of the clever apps out there which work well to maximise the productivity of your small business. Of course, depending on what kind of work you do there will be other more specific apps which will help you out in other ways. Find the apps that work the best for your specific needs and get in the habit of using them and you will find your productivity greatly increased, leaving you with more time. What you do with that extra time is up to you!
Author Bio
JonJon Yeung is a freelance writer and enjoys writing on Technology, Entrepreneurship, Business and lives a Savvy lifestyle. He writes about software products for businesses (in particular Intuit products). He also provides tips for small businesses.
