5 Amazing Productivity Tools that will get you more organized

Photo by Anete Lūsiņa on Unsplash

5 Productivity tools to get you more organized

The term productivity is often associated with how effective and efficient a system is. It is so important that every quarter that the US Labor department roll out the various economic parameters, the workers productivity is one of the most important factors that measures the health of the economy. Productivity is about getting more done with less or in less time. An individual that wants to be more productive must ensure that they maximize their time and eliminate time wasting activities from their daily schedule. Most people want to be productive, they want to achieve more with less. There are several ways you can achieve higher productivity. This can be done either by becoming better at time management making sure you reduce the time it takes to get stuffs done, or by becoming better organized so that you are not wasting time looking for where you put your stuffs. Coincidentally, as the advent of modern technological advancement has brought distractions especially with our phones, it also come with its merits if properly utilized. There are technological tools at your disposal that you can use to optimize your time and increase your productivity. Here are my top 5 productivity tools that will simplify your life and make you more efficient.

1. Evernote: Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you urgently need to take notes so that you don’t forget some important piece of information? Well, look no further. Evernote is by far the best digital notebook that will help you increase your productivity and put your life in order. With Evernote, you can quickly capture information such as shopping list, using the Evernote’s web clipper tool, you can easily capture information from your browser. You can set reminders, take pictures, record audio notes and share useful information with your contacts using the app. Its available on iOS, Windows, Mac, and Android. With paid version, you can write email and forward to your contact, you will have access to your notes offline, and you can do a search of your documents. The business version fosters team collaboration by making it possible for people on a project team with the right permission to edit notes and publish it back and make it available online for the team.

Evernote can act as a memory tool thereby taking off the pressure of the need to remember everything by yourself. You can absolutely use it to capture and record your thoughts, ideas, and any information you want to keep handy by using your phone. You can also use it as a scanner for scanning and digitizing business cards and create contact notes. The premium version costs $7.99 per month and it comes with lots of amazing features that will help you get organized and improve your productivity.

Here is how it works

1. Download the Evernote App on your device.
2. Register and create your free account.
3. Click new note to type a note, create a to-do list, record audio file, capture documents and many more.
4. You are all set to go.
5. Scanbot: Scanbot is a great scanner app that let you scan any document anywhere with just a tap on your phone. It is available on iOS and Android. You can use the app to scan documents, receipts, Barcodes, QR Codes, business cards, labels and much more with your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. It comes in different color mode so that you can easily configure the color of your choice. With Scanbot you no longer have to depend on your printer, with this app you can scan on the go. With the app, you can easily upload and share your document on drobox, iCloud, or Google drive. You can save your document as PDF or JPG and it is compatible with all major cloud services. The most amazing thing about this app is that it let you send fax directly from your iPhone without the need of a fax machine. Scanbot has just integrated with Todoist so that you can scan your document and properly schedule your tasks so that you can accomplish more. At a cost of $6.99 you can upgrade to Scanbot Pro and enjoy unlimited Scans with search features and signature annotation. Scanbot will come in handy for students, working professionals, and business owners that want to stay productive and accomplish more.

Here is how it works

1. Download the App on your device.
2. Register and create your account.
3. Pull down the document list to enter scan mode.
4. Hold your device over the document which you want to scan.
5. Scanbot will automatically detect the borders and take the scan.
6. Single-Page Scanning: If you only want to scan a single page choose “Save” at the top right of the screen.
7. Multi-Page Scanning: If you want to scan multiple pages just swipe left and continue. When you are done scanning tap on “Save”.
8. You can then share the document either through email or upload it on a cloud-based storage.
9. Todoist: You have so many activities competing for your attention, with “Todoist” you can get your life on track and ensure that you are only doing meaningful and impactful activities. The app will keep track of your daily activities and let you know the time you spend on each of your tasks. It is available on iOS, Android and Windows platform. Todoist will help you easily manage your projects and keep you on schedule. The app can be used to schedule tasks or projects with ease and it let you set deadlines and reminders conveniently. One great thing that I found most useful about this app is that it lets you prioritize your tasks, whereby the most important task stays right on top of your to do list. The app can also let you reschedule tasks if your priorities have changed. It makes life easy by letting you properly organize your tasks and activities so that nothing falls through the cracks. Using Todoist will help boost your productivity by providing the assurance that all your tasks are organized and accounted for, so you can successfully complete your tasks.

There are different plans and features that you can try with Todoist. The free version is sufficient for me from the standpoint of managing my daily tasks, but if you really want to get more sophisticated with and enjoy more benefits, you can upgrade to the premium plans at a cost of $29/year which will let you automatically backup your schedule history, upload files, add tasks via email, build a project template, and receive notifications and reminders as you make progress on your activities.

Here is how it works

1. Download the Todoist app on your device
2. Register and create your account
3. Tap to create a task and add details
4. Set due date or recurring dates
5. Organize tasks to project so you know what’s important
6. Add task to priority
7. Share task and sync across your devices
8. Rest, relax and recharge with Todoist planning your time.
9. Dropbox: With dropbox you can access all your documents on the go. You can save documents, pictures, videos in your dropbox and share with anyone you want. It is available on Mac, Android and Windows computer. The days of saving and storing your documents in one location hard drive or flash drive is over, Dropbox let you have access to all your documents wherever you are and whenever you need it. It lets you keep all your files safe in one place and always accessible. If something happens to your computer that make it unusable, you will still be able to access all your files in Dropbox because it is a cloud-based service. The free version provides 2GB of storage capacity, with $8.25 per month you can upgrade to the Dropbox plus plan that comes with 1TB of storage capacity, or the Dropbox professional with storage capacity of $16.58 per month at a cost of $16.58 per month. The upgrade version also comes with more features like offline access to your files on your mobile device, full text search, file viewer history, and much more. You will also be able to get support from the drop box team with the upgrade. The most amazing feature about Dropbox is that it lets you delete data from a lost or stolen device thereby keeping all your files safe.

Here is how it works

1. Download the Dropbox app on your device.
2. Register and create your account
3. Create folders
4. Save your files directly in the folders.
5. You will be able to access the folders and share your files as you desire.
6. LastPass: If you are like me and you have multiple accounts whether it is your social media account, bank account, credit card account, email accounts, or all your subscriptions account, it can be challenging keeping all the passwords safe and secure at all times. You will most likely have multiple passwords because the password requirements vary from one company to another. It is a pain to reset your account password every time you forget them, and it is risky to write them somewhere in order not to forget. With Lastpass, you do not have to store, or remember all your passwords because the app does. It is a great password manager that take away the time and effort require to manage your password by yourself. You can store passwords and logins, create online shopping profiles, generate strong passwords, track personal information in photo and audio notes. The only password you need to know and remember is your LastPass master password, and LastPass autofills web browser and app logins for you. To get started, you need to install the LastPass browser extension and download the LastPass app. You will then create your account and your master password. You will create your LastPass vault where you can add all your accounts. LastPass will then manage your password from the vault. You can then relax and never worry again about your password. The premium plan cost $2 per month and a family plan that contains up to 6 users comes at a cost of $6 per month. It is available on Mac, Android, and Windows platform.

Here is how it works

1. Download the LastPass app on your device.
2. Register and create your account
3. Create a strong master password
4. Explore your LastPass vault where you can add all your accounts that you saved.
5. Security of your account is the top priority with LastPass.

Improving and increasing your productivity will help you become better organize and make you accomplish more of your goals. The five apps that I shared will help alleviate some of the pains you face every day as you manage your daily activities. You can boost your chances of succeeding quicker at what you do by becoming more productive, and you will achieve greater productivity with those apps.

Originally published at www.winnersways.com on September 28, 2018.