Great Productivity Tools to Manage Your Business On the Go

With the exponential growth of technology, turning to productivity tools you can access just about anywhere is one of the smartest moves to run your business. After all, what good reason have you to ignore the increasing number of great free apps that can help you check in on your business while on the go?

So, without further ado, here are some of the best easy-to-use productivity tools that simply work.

Click the logo to go to the app’s website.

Google Drive [File Sharing and Management]

When it comes to managing all sorts of files, you need not look further because the best one is already provided by one of the most established multinational technology companies out there – Google. What we love about it is, not only is it reliable and functional, it’s also smart.

• Upon signing-up, you already get free 15GB of storage.
• It’s not just a place for storing or sharing your files, with Google Docs/Sheets/Slides integration, you can edit your files in there too.
• It may not be able to copy the formatting perfectly, but did you know Google Drive can convert PDF and photo files to text? Try it out!

Asana [Project Management]

In addition to being versatile and great for collaborating seamlessly within your team, Asana has a solid reputation for keeping track of individual tasks that comprise your projects. More than a step-up to your usual to-do lists, it’s great at visualizing what needs to be prioritized and who is in charge of it.

• It has a calendar perfect for keeping track of upcoming deadlines.
• It uses Kanban boards, which help dissect projects into smaller components (cards), known to help identify areas of improvement in your business processes.
• Timeline view of projects gives you a visual representation of how long processes take. (Note: This is a paid feature. It’s only available for Premium, Business, and Enterprise plans.)

Slack [Messaging]

It’s no secret that there are tons of messaging apps out there, so it won’t come as a surprise if you’ve already asked yourself this question: “What’s the best messaging tool to use for my business?” With Slack, you can create channels for different topics and add specific members who can participate in those channels.

• Channels allow you to organize conversations based on topics.
• It has a search feature showing where a certain word was mentioned – very helpful for backtracking through long conversations.
• Slackbot assistant is there to help you with simple tasks like reminders within the app. Other commands are available as well.
• It has third-party apps and services integration.

LastPass [Password Management]

Having the need to take note of every single password you have for your online accounts can be cumbersome. And if you have this bad habit of just writing down your passwords on a handy-dandy notebook, which – if we may add – poses security risks, then LastPass is the solution to your problem.

LastPass is a password manager that stores encrypted passwords online. You may access it through the web, but it’s advisable to use plugins/extensions for your web browsers and the app for your smartphone/tablet instead.

• You don’t need to remember long difficult passwords for multiple accounts anymore.
• It allows you to share login credentials without giving away your password.
• You can automatically fill out username and password fields on login pages. (Note: A good practice would be to use this only on your personal devices.)

Buffer [Social Media Management]

If you’re looking for a one-stop place to create, schedule, and track performance of all your social media posts, then you better check out Buffer. Supported platforms are: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, and others.

• It has analytics for tracking metrics including clicks, likes, shares, comments, retweets, and more; helping you better understand which posts get people’s attention.
• You can integrate blog feeds to give you sources of content to share.

Spark [Email Management]

If you’re the type of entrepreneur who deals with a lot of emails, Spark is a tool you can use to organize them. It’s a great app to cut down the time you spend for emails.

Though Spark is only currently available for iOS and macOS, a version for Android is under development.

• Using keywords, you can filter and categorize emails you receive using Smart Folders.
• You can schedule emails to be sent later.
• When receiving many emails becomes too much, you can use Smart Notifications to only get notified when you receive an email that’s important.