The Business Apps We Loved 

Let’s go retro! Technology was supposed to give us more freedom to do the things we want to, yet for years we’ve been tied to our desks by the fear of missing an important email that needs an immediate response and the dozen or so post-it notes that cling precariously to the edges of our screens.

It’s about time tech delivered on its promises and there are a few signs that it’s finally going to with a handful of apps that will help you to keep your busy schedule on track and your list of ‘things-to-do’ properly prioritised.

1. Clear is only available for iOS so far, but we’re sure an Android version (or copy) will follow soon. It’s a simple list of prioritised tasks that you can swipe away once completed. You set the priorities and the most important will sit at the top. You can create multiple lists and edit them as you go, so if you have a groceries list but forgot to include Udon noodles, simply open the app and add in what you missed.

If a priority changes, you can move things up or down the list as you wish.

The clean interface and simplicity of use are what appeals to us most of all.

2. IFTTT is a really simple but clever app that integrates a range of current technology devices to do things for you. For example, using GPS tracking it will know when you’re 10 minutes from home after a day in the office and will direct a NEST thermostat to turn on your heating. If it’s dark outside, you can walk into a lit house.

‘IFTTT’ stands for ‘If This Then That’, so takes its name from conditional programming in which an event is triggered by specific conditions being met. Yes, we do GeekSpeak.

This means that IFTTT will only sound your morning alarm on a workday and will delay your scheduled wake-up coffee brewing at weekends.

3. Pocket is a must for anyone easily distracted by the trail of things connected to other things online. It’s also very useful for research on a particular topic, collecting all of the information you find into one place for you to view as a consolidated collection when you have the time to spend on it.

Pocket sits on your phone or tablet, waiting for you to drop stuff into it. That can be videos, articles, blogs or almost anything else – everything you put into Pocket is downloaded so you don’t even need a connection to view it.

4. RescueTime offers a solution to those who feel that their productivity isn’t as high as it should be. It tracks the time you spend on your computer and measures how productive you are throughout the day.  Being able to spot a pattern of low productivity at certain times enables you to make an informed decision to go off and do something else for a while because you’re not going to achieve much in the next hour. Go for a walk or do something that doesn’t involve you sitting at your desk just because you feel that you should be there.

It also provides weekly tracking for you to see whether what you’ve done differently has had a positive or negative impact on your productivity.

5. Basecamp is a great tool to boost collaborative productivity. The interface may take a little time to get used to, but once you get into it you’ll wonder how you ever did anything that involves others without it. As a business app we score this one very highly.

Basecamp enables you to set up a project, invite other members to it and assign tasks to them. You can upload files and make them available to those who need access to them and To-Do Lists will help to keep things on track. As someone completes a task on a list they simply check a box and you’ll be able to see who did what and when.

As with all things tech-related we think five at a time is plenty to be going on with. We loved these business apps in 2015 but no longer use 1, 3 and 5 in 2021. See our blog next week for the reasons why!