5 Apps For Productivity

Lately my workflow for getting stuff done has changed. I am working more from a travelling office and have less time to get things done. I needed to be more efficient when I am working and these apps help make that happen.

Podio

My main organization tool. I use Podio to mange both my personal and work projects. What makes Podio such a unique App, is its customization. There is a Podio App store to add different functionality to your projects or you can build your own apps. It is really something you have to try to see how expansive and useful the app can be.

Hootsuite

Running several Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin pages and profiles for companies and websites, as well as my personal account (swoicik), is hard to manage. Hootsuite makes everything a lot easier. It gives me one dashboard to view feeds, post updates, and schedule events for all of my accounts. I recently upgraded to the Hootsuite Pro account. If you do any social media work for a company, I highly recommend trying them out.

They also have a nice bookmarklet for quick posts, that is very useful.

Edmodo

A social network build around education, Edmodo has a great community with lots of resources. You don’t need ‘friends or followers’ to begin seeing the benefits. Users interact in communities based on interests rather than just your fiends.

Edmodo is also used to mange students in a classroom. If you are a teacher this is a great way to interact with students in a safer way than email. You can set up private areas just for your class and students.

You can find my profile here. There is also a group where I post most educational resources I find (group code: ovq0ab).

Evernote

This is a rediscovered favorite. I tend to take a lot of short notes during the day. Some are random tangents that never amount to anything, and some turn into full projects. Evernote makes it easy to organize everything. I can input notes from anywhere (my computer, cellphone, iPad, or even a web app).

Evernote integrates nicely with other applications as well. There is a clipping extension to save websites and articles to read later. It works with many of the Apps I use on the iPad.

IFTTT

Standing for If This Than That. Automate tedious online tasks. IFTTT has a collection of recipes and you can make your own for sharing and organizing data across your digital life. Most the tasks are so simple, it’s surprising it hasn’t been thought of before. If I change my Twitter profile picture, IFTTT will change my Facebook profile picture to match. If I favorite a tweet, it will be sent to Evernote so I can view it later. Simple and little things that can really save you time on tedious tasks.

Bonus Agenda

Agenda is an iOS calendar App. It has replaced the default calendar App on both my iPhone and iPad. It lets me view my schedule of upcoming events much easier than most calendar Apps. I can see what I am doing that day, and over the next week. I put my entire life on a calendar, so being able to view it quickly and easily is a boost to productivity.