Smartphones are both a curse a blessing. While they may act as an electronic leash hooking us to our employer wherever we go, they can also turn downtime into productive time. I strongly believe that you should never kill time or waste time. Every minute is precious. If you are constantly on the move and want to stay productive, here are nine apps to stay productive on the go.
Asana
Asana is a to- do list and project tracker that offers both a web app and a mobile app. I joined Asana in January 2014, and it quickly become the nerve center of all of my projects and businesses.
Asana allows you to create dashboards, projects, tasks and subtasks to help you manage anything from start to finish, and has advanced sharing features to keep what you need private to yourself, and share what you want with specific people.
Asana can replace email communications for much of your online collaboration, and you can do all of this for free. A premium version is available with more advanced features to be super-productive on the go.
Available for Android and iOS.
Slack
Slack has taken the online world by storm. Inc’s company of the year is quickly growing and touted as a better way to coordinate, collaborate and reduce the number of emails that drain productivity.
Whether you need to coordinate with a team from work, a nonprofit, or any other kind of group, Slack is an excellent option to keep productive on the go.
Available for desktop, on the web, and Android and iOS. Slack is free and offers a paid version with more features.
Gmail
If you have any emails left after Asana and Slack, Gmail is the best way to manage your email. More than 1 billion monthly active users log into their Gmail accounts through their web browser or phone in this email service that lets you save virtually every email you receive into a searchable archive. You can even use the Gmail mobile app to connect to your work or other third party email service!
Gmail is available through your web browser and on Android and iOS. Gmail is completely free.
TripCase
Whether you love to travel for fun, for work, or as a travel hacker, TripCase is one of the very best ways to organize your plans and access them in airports, train stations, hotels, or walking through your favorite park.
TripCase is available for Android and iOS or through your web browser. TripCase is free with a premium version available.
Evernote
Evernote gives you access to all of your online information anywhere with an internet connection. Evernote is perfect for taking notes, remembering important details, to-do lists, and clipping web pages to come back to later.
Then, when you are on the computer or your phone, you can pull up and access your entire history, which is organized by notebooks and notes which can also be tagged for quick searching.
Evernote is available through the web, a desktop app, and an Android and iOS app. Power users can also take advantage of the useful Evernote Web Clipper browser plugin. Evernote has just raised its prices, and you can use the free version on only two devices. Premium versions start at $3.99 per month.
Tasker
Serious Android power users can use Tasker to automate virtually everything a phone can do. Whether you want to automatically turn off your power sucking WiFi if your battery is low or automatically turn up the volume when you open your favorite music app, or a seemingly endless set of other options, you can do it with Tasker.
Tasker is available for Android and has a one-time $2.99 fee.
IF by IFTTT
If Tasker seems a bit daunting, IFTTT, which stands for “If This Then That,” is another great automation app. The core IFTTT app on the web allows you to automatically create triggers using your online accounts to perform tasks for you, like automatically saving every picture you were tagged in on Facebook to Dropbox, the mobile app gives your phone much of the same IFTTT power, and more.
The IF app integrates IFTTT with your phone, and is available for Android and iOS and is free to use.
Do by IFTTT
If you think the IF app is cool, wait till you see DO, also from IFTTT. The DO app allows you to create buttons on your phone’s screens that automatically perform specific tasks when triggered.
My favorite find so far is triggering a phone call to your phone to get out of a conversation or meeting (or bad date) with a discreet button press, but that’s just scratching the surface. DO Button is available for Android and iOS.
HabitBull
Starting and killing habits is really hard. But with HabitBull, it’s a little bit easier and can be used to boost your productivity with a gentle daily reminder. HabitBull lets you track five habits for free, or pay for more.
