15 apps that will boost your productivity

If you look at your workspace right now, would you find your desktop littered with post-it note reminders and stacks of paper?

Is your to-do list buried somewhere or do you have three on the go right now? Or, are you struggling to get everything done during your workday and need technology to automate and make your life easier?

Either way, we’ve got the ultimate list of 15 apps that will boost your productivity at work and have you breezing out the office at 5pm, knowing everything’s in hand.

1. Get to work on time with a wake up call

Wakie | iOS & Android | Free

Start the day off right by avoiding the snooze button and getting a social wake up call from someone around the world. Set your alarm for 6:30am and you’ll get a phone call from another member who’ll ask you questions, read you a story or sing you a song.

And, it’s backed up by science. You’re much less likely to snooze if you’ve someone waiting for you on the other end of the phone line, and you wake your brain up by chatting to them.

2. Was your email actually opened and read?

Mailtracker | iOS | Free

Mailtracker will sync with your iPhone/iPad’s mailboxes and will ping you when your emails have been opened by the receiver and how many times it’s been viewed. So, you’ll know whether they really didn’t ‘get your email’ or not.

3. Track all your systems and processes like a pro

Asana | iOS & Android & desktop | Free

Asana is a godsend for the organisational-challenged like me. It’s a project management tool you can use individually or as a team. Create workflows, log systems and processes and manage campaigns and projects quickly and easily.

4. Social media scheduling on the fly

Everypost | iOS & Android | Free

There’s a whole host of great scheduling tools for social media, like Buffer, Hootsuite and Latergram, but I love Everypost for the breadth of channels you can schedule to from your mobile – including Pinterest and Google+.

5. Easy automation

IF by IFTTT | iOS & Android | Free

IFFTT stands for If This Then That and allows you to create recipes of conditions across your major software and apps. For example, IF I post to Instagram THEN it saves to Dropbox. There’s a whole host of recipes created by the community to get you started in a dash.

6. Access your computer from anywhere

Logmein | iOS & Android | Free

A simple app which allows you to securely access your Mac computer from anywhere using your phone over 3G or WiFi.

7. Track your receipts and keep the accounts team happy

Expensify | iOS | Free

Forever losing your expense receipts or missing the deadline to submit them to accounts? Take a photo of your receipt on Expensify, it reads the info automatically and helps you tag, group and categorise them so you can send a quick and comprehensive report.

8. An elegant calendar that syncs properly

Sunrise Calendar | iOS & Android | Free

Sync your Google, iCloud and Facebook calendars in one stylish and simple calendar app that knocks spots off the inbuilt ical app on the iPhone.

9. Kanban board style to-do and project management saviour

Trello | iOS | Free

Trello is essentially a to-do list app with the ability to add photos and documents and share with other users, however if you’ve used the Kanban style project management system, you can set it up to create a virtual Kanban board for work.

10. Word processing, spreadsheets and presentations anywhere

Google Drive | iOS & Android | Free

Create, edit and share office files on the go and live edit between teams in real time. The easiest way to access and use documents on the fly (and store them securely in the cloud).

11. Team communication and online chat at its best

Slack | iOS & Android | Free

This real time messaging app takes team communication to the next level, even if you think you’re doing just fine with email and dropbox. It lets you all communicate, in the way you prefer, all in one place.

12. The easiest file sharing and storage solution

Dropbox |iOS & Android | Free

Gone are the days when you needed an internal server to host and access your company’s files. Now, with Dropbox you can create a cloud server and organise and share files in the office, on the go and from home.

13. Never forget a thing again

Remember the milk | iOS & Android | Free

Take your to-do list anywhere and have multiple to-do lists on the go all in one place – from office to projects to home and personal. And, the app lets you set notifications to prompt you throughout the day!

14. Keep up to date with the things you care about

Flipboard | iOS & Android | Free

A magazine style app that allows you to follow trends, industry topics and news and keep up to date with what’s going on for your business life and personal life. It’s got a fun interface too that imitates flipping through a magazine, so you can browse quickly (and share across social if something takes your fancy).

15. The tomato timer comes to your mobile

Pomodoro Timer | iOS | Free

The pomodoro technique improves your work habits. Break tasks down into ’pomodoros’ (25 minute chunks) and take a short break inbetween. Great for office workers who struggle to focus and also don’t get away from their desk as much as they should. Use this timer as you would an original pomodoro timer.

Jen Smith coaches entrepreneurs in social media.