It can be easy to lose focus or get blown off course, especially during periods of uncertainty or change.
Whilst it’s important to keep up to date with current developments from around the world, it’s also necessary to drown out the noise, focusing on those things closest to you, and within your sphere of control.
Whether you’re looking to stay on top of your productivity – and that of your workforce – or trying to keep hold of the good habits you’ve spent a lifetime in business building up, there are apps on the market to help.
Concentrate on the things that matter to you with these five apps for remaining productive and focused during difficult times.
1. ToDoist
If you’re a habitual writer of to-do lists but are running out of Post-it notes – or places on your monitor to stick them – you might try ToDoist.
With over ten million users worldwide this intuitive to-do list app allows you to keep track of all your tasks, and those of your team too.
To begin, simply input all the tasks you need to complete and let the app sort them into categories tailored to you. It will then keep track of them, issuing reminders to you before a lunch date or an important anniversary.
According to the app, making a list of the tasks you need to complete ‘frees up mental space’ and can allow you to ‘regain clarity and calmness’.
Used as a team-wide organisational tool, it will allow you to plan and keep track of projects, from personal responsibilities to milestones and meetings, allowing you to concentrate on your own role within the business.
Available across multiple platforms (Mac, PC, IOS, Android), it is also free for basic functionality.
2. Hootsuite
Whether you’re running a business or simply trying to keep track of your Twitter or Instagram accounts, social media presents a great opportunity to get instant access to your customers, followers, or fan-base. But it can be massively time-consuming too.
The Hootsuite app brings together all of the social media that you or your company has, and integrates them onto one page, without the need to log in to each one separately.
From this one, simple-to-use interface, you or your social media team can upload posts, add comments and track followers. Not only that, but the app is also a scheduling tool that you can use to plan and automatically upload posts, for the days, weeks or even months ahead.
Available on IOS and Android, the mobile app has a 30-day trial period and subscription after that starts at around £20 per month.
3. Otter Voice Notes
Another app designed to save you time, keep you on task, and ultimately improve productivity is Otter Voice Notes.
Essentially a note-taking app, Otter Voice Notes will record and transcribe in near real-time.
Using your device’s internal microphone or via Bluetooth, the app will record everything from shopping lists to memos and team meetings, spellchecking, punctuating and identifying individual speakers as it goes.
The result is easily searchable – it highlights key parts of the text and allows you to jump instantly to important sections – and is also easily shareable, with colleagues, friends or family members.
The free version of the app – available for IOS and Android – comes with 600 minutes’ worth of transcribed audio a month. A paid subscription of just under £10 will give you 6,000 minutes.
4. Evernote
If you’re using Otter Voice Notes to track the spoken word, try using Evernote to keep a log of the written word.
From lists and recipes, to present ideas for the kids, it’s great for jotting down on the go.
At work, capture internet sites, article links or any other piece of inspirational content you come across, using the app’s Web Clipper tool. It allows you to easily clip and collate thoughts, opinions, and quotations from all over the internet, whenever they crop up throughout your working day.
You could also consider Evernote Business to increase the app’s functionality, using it to plan and monitor your ongoing projects, provide updates and share important briefings with your colleagues.
Companies currently making use of Evernote Business include Abercrombie & Fitch, Whole Foods Market, and Harvard Business School.
5. RescueTime
RescueTime endeavours to track your productivity, whilst also offering a distraction blocker to keep you focused.
To get full use of the app you’ll have to permit it to watch your every move, but once set up it will run quietly in the background.
It can record the time you spend in different apps and using different software or websites and cut off your access to distracting sites when it thinks your concentration is waning.
It will then produce detailed reports of your computer usage throughout the working day.
You will need to place apps and sites into the categories that work best for you. And as it is you that sets the app’s parameters – deciding which website is a distraction and which one crucial to the running of your business – you’ll only have yourself to blame if the distraction blocker kicks in!
Having a physical map of where your attention is throughout the day could help you plan more effectively, and the very act of having your usage monitored might also act as a deterrent to distraction.
