“The true price of anything you do is the amount of time you exchange for it.”
― Henry David Thoreau
Photo courtesy of CanStock Photos
Everything that we do in life has a cost of time. How many hours do we exchange to pay for a car, a house, an education, or building great relationships? We all have 168 hours in a week. No more and no less than anybody else. How we allocate those hours will determine our success in business and life.
The more you focus on what makes you productive, the greater your value is to others. When we learn to say “Yes” to what is most important and “No” to what isn’t, we become more valuable. Maintaining the highest level of productivity for the longest period of time possible can only be done by setting boundaries and prioritizing your day. If you don’t prioritize your day, someone else will. You only have a limited time to achieve your goals,168 hours each week. You are a limited resource.
In order to maximize productivity I use several apps to make work and life simpler. I have listed ten apps that I use to boost productivity.
1) Evernote: This is a great app that you can use to keep notes and makes a great file cabinet. I keep track of everything from the projects I’m working on to items I need from suppliers. It can be used to save emails, clip web articles, and store scanned documents. It can also sync with all of my devises (phone, iPad, computer). If you are just getting started the best guide on how to use Evernote is Evernote Essentials by Bret Kelly (Cost is $15). *Note: Next week tips on how to organize Evernote. Including how to set up files, save emails, clip web articles, and scan documents directly to Evernote.
2) Expensify: I just recently started using this app. It is a powerful expense accounting app. One of the big features is the ability to scan, organize, and store invoices that will later be used for taxes. Expensify also lets you track mileage. It provides reports based on l parameters defined by the user.
3) Podcast: Podcasts are a great way to access content about business, building your platform, marketing, and any other interests you may have. The Apple podcast app works great for this. Downcast is another good app for organizing your favorite podcasts.
4) Google calendar: I have tried other calendars but have come back to this one because it syncs well with other apps and is user friendly.
5) Sugar Sync: This is a computer back up service that includes cloud based storage, file sharing and will sink with your desktop, laptop, phone, or iPad. It will automatically save to cloud storage any new file. This includes pictures or videos from your mobile devices. This service uses encrypted security for cloud storage providing a safer option.
6) Kindle: This app is very easy to use and syncs with Amazon with very little trouble. I can highlight passages and take notes of eBooks I’m reading.
7) Focus@Will: Focus@Will is a neuroscience based subscription service that provides background music that is designed to increase productivity. It has a broad range of classical music, acoustical music, and ambient selections to appeal to different tastes.
8) Dropbox: This service works well to share files with individuals or groups but lacks some in security.
9) Pages: This app is Apple’s word processor. It is very simple to use and can save or send in whatever format is needed. (Pages, Word, PDF)
10) ScanBot: Scanning app for all types of documents. The scanner auto crops and can auto save to Evernote.
Question: What are your top apps for productivity?
Quote of the Week: “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King
Next week: 5 tips on using Evernote
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