Five Web Tools to Increase Productivity

Slack

A messaging app for teams

When I first introduced Slack to a startup I was working for at the time, there were mixed feelings amongst the team. Some of the team were not that embracing, but others were keen to give it a go and see what happens. Fast forward several months and Slack is now their number one internal communication tool. Say au revoir to lots of internal emails, Skype chats, and not knowing what’s going on with collaborative projects. Slack gives ultimate transparency on communication, workflow and open projects.

What I love about Slack?

• The desktop and mobile apps. They make it super easy to tune in with the team in the office, and stay connected on the move. Make sure you turn notifications on and you’ll never miss a trick.
• Channels for different projects. I love the fact that not all team members have to be on all channels. You just pick the ones most relevant to you and you can even mute them if you have a chat happy colleague who just can’t stop posting.
• Built in emoticons to help make communication more human. For me, business can be too formal at times and I like to keep it as fun as possible. Life’s too short to be super serious all the time. Slack helps to make communication more light hearted with happy faces and the occasional wink. It also takes away the coldness of written communication.
• Integration with Google Drive and Dropbox etc. Slack allows you to integrate these file sharing tools, making life easier and cutting down the amount of attachment heavy emails you need to send.

How much does it cost?

Wunderlist

Task management for individuals or businesses

This task management tool helps me stay super organised at work and in my personal life too. It also helps to clean up my inbox as I assign tasks when I get an email which needs some actions. Then the email can be filed away and help me get back to #InboxZero. There’s nothing more satisfying than the ping noise when you tick off a task! The interface is nicely designed with customisable themes.

What I love about Wunderlist?

• Collaborative tasks. If you want to share a task with other team members, you can collaborate so your colleagues get notified of progress.
• Subtasks. When you have a main task which you want to split into bite size chunks, simply use subtasks which are ticked off as you go, until the progress bar reaches 100% and you can finally complete the overall task.
• Reoccurring tasks. This feature is very useful if you have a task like ‘monthly invoicing’ for example. Wunderlist can remind you daily, weekly or monthly if you have tasks which need to be repeated.

How much does it cost?

• From free to $4.99 per month – Get all the details here

Harvest

Time tracking and invoicing tool

If you work on multiple projects for multiple companies or clients, Harvest is your key to understanding how much time you are spending on each task, and how much you should invoice each company or client. It works as a simple timer which you set running for each task you are working on. At the end of the week or month you can see reports and graphs to understand where your time went and what the cost of that time should be to your customers.

What I love about Harvest?

• The mobile app which allows you to keep track of time when you are on the move. Ideal if you travel for work.
• Simple easy to use interface.
• The addictiveness of trying to use your time at work as effectively as possible.

How much does it cost?

Dashlane

The world’s best password manager and secure digital wallet

I’ve tried and tested a few password management tools, LastPass and KeyPass X didn’t really cut the mustard for me. But then Dashlane came in to my life, and I can’t see it leaving any time soon. So you might be thinking, ‘how can this help with productivity’? Well, Dashlane not only automatically logs you in to your favourite website, social media profiles, email accounts and anything you need log in credentials for, but it also automatically fills in forms for you using your address and other personal details. Hell, it even fills in your bank details when you are shopping online!

What I love about Dashlane?

• The design. Not many other password storage options look and work as well as Dashlane. The user experience is slick and well oiled.
• Ease of use. You really don’t need to do much as Dashlane does it all for you. Every time you log in to an account, Dashlane will ask if you want to save the log in credentials. Next time you come back to log in, it will happen automatically.
• Secure notes. Not only can you save passwords, you can also make private notes which are stored in Dashlane should you ever need them.
• Mobile app. Good software isn’t complete unless there is a mobile app to match the desktop version. Dashlane doesn’t disappoint with their app and you can be sure to have all your secure passwords and notes with you at all times.

How much does it cost?

Google Sites

Build company intranets and time-saving resources

This Google feature has been around for some time and is free for anyone who has a Google account, but it’s relatively unknown and underused. You can use Google Sites for anything you like. I choose to use them for these three things.

• Building company intranets and storing knowledge to give an open directory to team members new and old.
• Creating ‘canned response’ email templates which answer common questions you get on email. These can be copy and pasted in the correct format to speed up your reply time. It’s kind of like a non-public FAQ glossary.
• Finally, I also use Google Sites for end of month reporting for my clients. In this case I build an organised storage space and upload files and links to useful resources and end of month reports. That way my customers have a one stop shop where they can transparently see what work has been done each month without having to sift through emails to find everything.

What I love about Google Sites?

• Storing everything in one place. You can literally build a company intranet and link to all your important resources and documents in a couple of hours.
• Search function. You wouldn’t expect anything less from Google, would you? The search function helps you find any document or resource stored on your Google Site in no time.

How much does it cost?

It’s free to anyone who has a Google (Gmail) account.

 

Balancing work and life can sometimes seem an uphill struggle, but using these tools effectively can really help you get your life back, whilst still executing excellent results at work and being super-efficient in everything you do.