Before we dig into naming the best productivity apps out there, let’s explain what exactly a productivity app is. Productivity app or productivity software is an online software solution designed to help users make better use of the time they spend on work or their personal time. Once we got that covered, it’s important to clarify what these so-called productivity-boosting apps are not. They are most definitely not a surefire solution to all your work challenges. Unfortunately, you will still need to do the work yourself. These time saving crafty solutions are only there to help you organize your workload and have a better overview of tasks to come.
Bellow, we will name 7 best-ranked tools on the market in 2020:
1. Todoist
This is one of the most popular and best-established apps on the market. Due to its free plan, Todoist is used equally for business as for personal affairs. A free plan will get you up to five people per project and the capacity of eighty projects. You can assign each other tasks. However, once you decide to go pro, it will cost you 36$ and you will be able to do other cool things like leave comments on tasks, use filters, and have reminders. Having in mind the above-mentioned cost is in fact a yearly and not a monthly expense, it’s fair to agree this tool is priced more than reasonably.
2. Evernote
Even though Evernote is not a tool you can use for collaboration with other team members, it can still increase your own personal productivity. This is a software you can use to write notes, record video, and audio, store photos, etc. The main key selling point here is the ability to search your Evernote account by using your voice. Saying you took a picture of your dog yesterday and stored it on your Evernote account. Today you decided to take a second look at it, you can easily do that by saying “dog” to your phone and the app will automatically find it and present it to you.
3. Blink
This app has emerged on the market more than three years ago and has been keeping countless teams from hair pulling since. Blink is designed to improve internal communication and organizational communication. Among other things it offers intranet solutions, intranet dashboard and employee retention. The app is mainly designed for frontline employees. The idea is having all information in one place, visually appealing to the employee using it. It also comes in handy as an HR solution.
4. G Suite
Google’s free platform called Google Drive became increasingly popular ever since it emerged on the market in 2012. By 2018 it has collected 1 billion users. Therefore, it came as no surprise when Google introduced the pro version in 2016 named G Suite. G Suite for business is an upgraded version of Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. In addition to the features provided by the above-mentioned tools, G Suite for business offers benefits such as collaborative meetings, video conferencing, joined storage, and shared calendars.
5. Asana
Asana is a pioneer in project management tools. It was one of the first to emerge on the market and was able to stay at the top ever since. Asana is great for assigning tasks and following who assigned what to whom and was the work done. Downfall may be the impossibility of creating projects rather than tasks. Meaning you can’t create a project with a start and finish date. However, if you are only looking to keep track of ongoing work, you can do that starting from $13.49 per person monthly.
6. Basecamp
Just like Asana, Basecamp has been helping teams increase their productivity since the very beginning of online productivity tools. Basecamp package starts from 99$ a month and allows you to communicate with your team members in many different ways. You can send messages, create tasks, follow recent activity across the entire team, and have a clear overview of what is on your own plate. Considering the price is not per person but for the entire team regardless of the number of people involved, it may be a bit pricey for smaller teams.
7. Slack
Slack is an online messaging tool. It is also one of the most used communication tools out there. With a free package that will allow you to send texts and video files freely without limits, your written communication needs are fully covered. The paid plan will cost you 8$ monthly per user and it will entail video and audio calls.
Conclusion
All the mentioned tools are hugely beneficial when used properly. Before deciding on your preferred productivity app consult your needs first. Why do you want to boost productivity? What will boosting productivity get you? Is that time? Efficiency? Or something else?
Being productive is not the same for everyone. Productivity can mean leaving office sooner, or gaining insight into other team member’s tasks so you can complete your own. It means having all your tasks in one place and not getting distracted.
No matter what the ultimate goal is, it is safe to say productivity-boosting apps have become an essential part of doing business in 2020.
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