There are never enough hours in the day when you’re an entrepreneur. There’s always something to do, even if you work hard all day. Most entrepreneurs struggle to find time for themselves and their personal lives. Fortunately, there’s technology: With the savvy use of some business utility apps, you could automate or speed up many work tasks and thereby free up a significant amount of time.
Below, we offer a handpicked list of nine business productivity and general utility apps that free up time for entrepreneurs that are worth exploring:
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1. Task time-tracking apps
Do you know how much time you spend on specific work-related tasks every day, such as meetings or administration work? With a time-tracking solution, you can track exactly how much time you spend on what. When you have an overview of how you use your time, you can cut back, eliminate, and reprioritize. The best time-tracking apps include Harvest, Toggl, and TimeCamp.
2. To-do list and project management apps
Writing down the tasks you need to perform for the day can help you stay organized and on track. A to-do list app such as Todoist can help you make a list quickly on your phone, tick things off when you’re done, send reminders, and more. If you manage many people and tasks, you could use a full-fledged project management app instead.
3. Browser organization apps
If you have dozens of tabs open on your browser at any given time, you’ll love browser organizational solutions. A browser tabs list maker like One Tab will convert all open tabs into a list, which you can save and come back to later. If you’d like to save interesting snippets of a page – like a video, some text, or a link – you can use Pocket. An app like Session Buddy will store entire open sessions and restore them later.
4. Focus-boosting apps
Distractions abound and eat up a great deal of precious time. With focus-boosting apps, you can minimize distractions and better concentrate on your work. An app like Freedom will block distractions like calls on your phone or notifications from websites. Apps like Headspace or Calm will play soothing music, which can help you bust stress and stay centered. Apps like Lumosity offer mini-games that give you a breather and your mind a stimulating workout at the same time.
5. Outsourcing apps
You can’t do everything alone, and you shouldn’t. Delegating exists for a reason. Also, needless to say, delegating work is one of the best ways to free up time. You can use outsourcing solutions to delegate individual tasks or entire projects. You could also hire a VA for help with basic tasks. Some apps to try out include Upwork, Fiverr, and PeoplePerHour.
6. Design and Branding Tools
As an entrepreneur, establishing a strong and distinctive brand is crucial. A visually appealing logo can make a significant difference in how your business is perceived. If you’re not a designer, don’t worry; there are tools to help you out. Online logo makers can provide a cost-effective and quick solution to create a logo that suits your brand’s identity with ease. These tools often come with customizable templates, ensuring that you can create a logo that fits your vision without needing advanced graphic design skills.
7. Expense Tracking and Financial Management Apps
Managing your finances effectively is crucial for the success of your business. With the right apps, you can keep track of your expenses, income, and overall financial health on the go. Apps like QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and Expensify offer user-friendly interfaces to help you manage your finances, send invoices, track receipts, and even prepare for tax season.
8. Communication apps
We spend a large majority of our workday communicating. As such, finding ways to speed up communication or eliminating non-necessary talk is one of the best ways to make way. You can use messaging apps like Slack to conveniently talk to your teams or clients in real-time (as opposed to emailing them). Instead of having time-consuming face-to-face meetings, you can Zoom instead.
9. Mobile scanning apps
You probably have to review and share countless paper documents on a daily basis, from invoices to contracts and everything in between. A mobile scanner can be an incredibly useful tool to have. You can quickly capture and save documents for later, which helps you save time and stay organized. You can also scan and send documents right from your smartphone, which saves you from having to use a scanner.
Keep in mind that apps aren’t magic and you can’t rely on them exclusively – you will still have to put your nose to the grindstone on occasion and do what needs to be done. Still, if you make strategic use of the solutions we’ve mentioned here, you will be able to free up precious hours of time, which you can invest elsewhere.
