Good time management skills contribute to the success of any entrepreneur. Operating a startup or an established business requires you to fill many roles and perform countless tasks. Without the ability to squeeze productivity into every moment of the workday, your business can encroach on your personal time. If left unchecked, your business could completely consume your life.
Time management skills enable you to maintain a healthy balance between your work and personal life, without sacrificing either one. Managing your time will help you focus on your activities to get important things done. You can also reduce clutter and eliminate distractions as you improve the way you work and live.
Smartphones give you access to a limitless number of applications, many of which can help you do more at work and enjoy more of your life. Time management applications help you concentrate on the tasks and activities that contribute the most to your business and personal life. Use the following five essential time management apps to start turning your mobile devices into tools that will help you organize and manage your time and your life.
Evernote
Get the free Evernote app to help you manage your appointments, contacts, assignments, and tasks. You can use the app to create checklists and make notes and always have them accessible for reference. There’s a version of the app for Apple and Android devices, and you can also access your notes via any web browser.
You can also use Evernote to coordinate and discuss team projects in a central location. You can get extra storage and features for your Evernote account by signing up for a paid option. If you start using Evernote, you will soon increasingly depend on the app to store manage all the digital information needed to keep your business and personal life organized.
Todoist
Ditch sticky notes and your pencil and paper and start using Todoist to manage your tasks. Using the application will reduce clutter and make your task manager accessible from any computer or mobile device.
This app for Android and iOS gives you access to a simple but powerful to-do lists which you can view and manage with ease. You can schedule future tasks, add task details and make reminders that can help you remember everything you need to do. Upgrade to the premium version to get extra features that help you manage teams and projects.
BrightNest
Your life as an entrepreneur can distract you from important tasks at home. BrightNest can help. Begin using the app by taking a short quiz that asks you whether you have children or pets in the home and identifies some of your home’s features and characteristics. You can also choose the type of the home-related tips you need to make your residence a clean, safe, green, and efficient place to live.
This app will help you stay on top of your home maintenance tasks by sending you personalized tips for managing your home. If you work from a home office, you can take advantage of the app to make your home more comfortable as a workplace.
Using BrightNest gives you the inspiration needed to keep up with maintenance tasks and the knowledge you need to do common jobs. It can help you make your home a fantastic place to live and work.
SyncBack Freeware
Simplify your file management with SyncBackFree, a tool that keeps updated copies of files in a secure online location. The easy-to-use tool protects you from hard drive failure and other problems that can cause you to lose your business and personal data.
SyncBackFree saves you time by automating your file backups and speeding data recovery via an easy-to-use restore wizard. The application works on Windows PCs and the free license for commercial and personal use has no strings attached. If you want more features from SyncBackFree, you can upgrade to the premium version.
Toggl
You can easily eliminate time sheets by creating a free Toggl account. Described as the ultimate timer, Toggl gives you simple tools to track the use of your time. Use the tool to track the time spent on particular tasks and projects.
The information you collect from Toggl will help you schedule your tasks and accurately bill clients for your time. Time tracking doesn’t need to bust your budget. You can create a free basic Toggl account to use with as many as five users. You can get extra features by signing up for a premium pro, pro plus, or business plan.
Final Word
These five apps can help you declutter your life and manage your time. Give each tool a try and see how much more you can accomplish in your personal and business life. Stay alert as you discover these apps because you’ll probably discover even more free and premium tools that can make your life as an entrepreneur better than you ever thought possible.