5 Must-Have Apps to Increase Productivity

Your mobile device is well equipped to helping you organize some aspects of your life, from nutrition and travel, to work and shopping. If you have a smartphone, you should be using these five apps to stay organized and be more productive. Most are free, but some may cost about $3, pennies if you consider how much time it will save you.

1.  DropBox (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, iPad)

“Simplify your life”, ok! That catch line is enough to get me downloading this awesome app. I am sure you have heard about DropBox before, perhaps already use it on your computer. Well, it is just as incredible on your phone. Talk about simplifying your life on the go. DropBox does it well:

• You can bring your files with you when you’re on the go
• Add files to your Favorites for fast, offline viewing
• Easily upload photos and videos to Dropbox
• Share freely with friends and family

2. Daily Routine (iPhone)

Quickly create routines to help you manage what you should be doing and when. With Daily Routine you can easily set up alerts and activities so you never forget the milk or mail again.  This app is great for people who manage their own time, like freelancers, researchers, designers, programmers, and even workout enthusiasts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Rocketr (iPhone, iPad)

They say “Think Together”, I say why not. This tool, created by the Canadian team at Jet Cooper in Toronto, clearly had some things they needed to-do. Rocketr’s a notes-on-the-go app lets you share ideas, scrapbooks and what not for yourself or across your team.  Manpacks got the chance to chat with Andrew Peek, one of its creators to ask him a few questions about why they created the app:

“Rocketr was built on the premise that notes should come to life at the moment they are written. To capture our thoughts isn’t enough when you consider that they represent the seeds that become our best ideas. Our app is used most by entrepreneurs, freelancers and creative professionals working in small teams. They are the ones generating the most ideas and who are part of many groups across the many projects they get involved in.  Rocketr has quickly become a place for shared bookmarking, playing with ideas that are not time-sensitive, and contributing in a frictionless way to the development of ideas seeded by others on the team.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. TripIt (All mobile devices)

Traveller? Always on the go, hoping from airport to airport, hotel to hotel, meeting to meeting? Even occasionally, you’ll need some common repository for all your trips details. Enter the TripIt app. Whether you need to remind yourself, or share your travel schedule with your girlfriend (Yikes), this is the app to have for the job. It can include maps and directions on where to go, gives the option to book theater tickets and restaurants and enables you to check in to flights and print your tickets. A can’t-live-without app for the unorganized traveler.

 

5. Pomodoro Pro (iPhone)

CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT. The Pomodoro Pro app ($2.99) is well worth it’s tiny price tag. What it is is a timer tailored for those practicing the Pomodoro technique. This app helps you avoid the anxiety of time and enhances your focus and concentration by allowing you to set a timer for certain tasks, typically in 25 minute intervals with five minute breaks. An alarm will sound when the time is up that brings you in to your break period.

6. Runners up

1. Documents ToGo - Access Microsoft documents
2. ShoppperFree – shopping list app
3. Collections - slide show app for iPad

With the many options out there, remember to pick only a few apps to help you stay organized. It won’ do you any good if you have 50 productivity apps. Pick a few that you know you will use weekly and store them in a folder on your mobile.

 

Which productivity apps do you use?

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Tags: iphone apps, iphone productivity apps