23 May 2016

We’ve all heard the saying, time is money and today that’s truer than ever. Whether it’s at uni or work I’m noticing something I like to call a “multi-tasking mentality” that urges us to work faster and produce more in less time than ever. But with this mindset comes a lot of pressure.

Luckily there are time-saving tools out there to help keep us on track, focused and owning it every single day.

Probably the most well-known organisational app, in my opinion, Evernote is a digital notebook that stores everything you need in one place from your notes and daily journal to project management tools and even recipe ideas. All of this information is then stored in a cloud so it’s available wherever you are.

The best thing about Evernote for me would have to be the easy and powerful search function. You can search, filter and link all your information by keyword, date, media type or hashtag. It will even find your handwritten notes – it’s that good!

Trello is the Pinterest of the organisation world. For visual thinkers, it's a dream because it's like a giant work in progress whiteboard where you can see everything you need at just a quick glance. It enables you to create a board for each project which you fill with “to-do-lists”. You then organise your lists in progress categories from “in progress” to “complete” as you chip away at them – which, for me, really helps when I’m slammed and feeling like I’m getting nowhere.

Trello is so effective because it’s simple and visual. Plus you add as many people as you want to each board so it’s perfect for working as a team and sharing ideas.

Say goodbye to BuzzFeed procrastination and hello to the Pomodoro Technique with Focus Booster. This handy little tool uses a popular time management technique to break time into 25-minute working intervals that are separated by five minute breaks. It records each session against a client or project so it’s easy to keep track of your time #winning.

Focus Booster helps to develop good working patterns. All you have to do is set your timer; you’ll type furiously for 25 minutes then spend five minutes checking your Insta feed and repeat.

Asana is a project and team management tool that helps teams work together better and take projects from start to finish. In my experience, I'd consider it one of the ultimate task management tools out there because it allows to share, plan, organise and track tasks all within a bright and friendly user interface. I personally like being able to see project progress at a glance so I didn't have to waste any time in morning status meetings. Asana also helps share ideas; it facilitates team conversations and brainstorming which can then be turned straight into actionable tasks. Plus, there is an inbox for each task so your emails are pre-sorted. Zing!

Firstly, it’s free for up to 30 members - why not! Secondly, Asana is really interactive so it fosters a great team environment while helping you avoid endless meetings. Lastly, it integrates with lots of other productivity apps from Google Drive to Evernote.

Slack is team organisation for today and a personal fave for the amaysim crew. It’s kind of like a work chat room that helps you stay in contact with your team. It lets you tag users and create different chats for different teams and you can then filter and search chats by hashtag. Available on mobile and desktop, it helps you stay right on top of everything that is going on with your current project or projects.

The best thing about Slack is that it keeps you updated in real time without interrupting your work. The chat notifications are sent to the corner of your screen and are unobtrusive, so you can stay focused and in the loop at the same time.

So there you have it, my favourite productivity tools to get the most out of each and every day. I’d love to hear about your favourites, which app helps you?

Cheers,
Mariah – amaysim’s communication’s coordinator

#productivity    #tips    #apps