Half of us consider ourselves time-poor. This phenomenon describes the feeling that there’s not enough time to complete everything that needs to be done. Many of those that feel like this consider that they have a poor work-life balance. Fortunately, with the rise of time-saving apps created by an iPhone app developer, people are able to complete certain tasks quicker than before. This article covers the top 6 time saving apps for busy people.
The Top App for Silencing Emails: Boomerang
Boomerang is the perfect app for blocking out background noise and cracking on with those time-sensitive projects. 90% of customers expect a response within ten minutes or less – a time pressure which means we waste precious moments reacting to emails. Over time, we become reactive and simply react to situations rather than plan or prepare for upcoming tasks.
Boomerang blocks out emails to avoid distraction for certain periods of time so you can focus on the things you need to. Need to make time for that one important email? Boomerang allows emails from those important people in, so that you can still respond to time-sensitive items. You can also schedule your emails to be sent on a specific time or day, so they are primed to go at the right time.
Other apps that block or sort emails include Blocksender.io and Spark Mail App.
The Top App for Reducing Your Screen Time: The Forest App
On average we spend between five to six hours each day on our phones. Studies suggest that time spent on any devices, like browsing our iPhones, actually reduces concentration and means we can become easily distracted and take more time to complete certain tasks. Research already shows that children that spend excessive time on devices experience issues with concentration into early adulthood.
The Forest App incentivizes you to spend less time on your phone, as for every 30 minutes you spend away from your phone, you grow a virtual tree. Over time, you gain credits which allow you to plant a real-life tree in the world. If you go back to your phone or leave the app, your virtual tree could die. The Forest App is an eco-friendly way to encourage time away from your screen.
This is the kind of app that can be useful for anyone with any kind of phone. Whether you have a brand new Samsung or you are using a refurbished Apple, you’re going to be keen to keep an eye on your screen time. As such, having something like the forest app can be hugely helpful at all times, and it’s certainly worth looking into.
The Top App for Networking: Brewster
Those that spend at least 6 hours a week networking on average gain 50% of their income through referrals. If that seems a daunting amount of time each week for you, then time-saving hacks could be the way to gain success through networking.
Brewster is a handy way to hack networking. It collates all your social media conversations with a person into one place, so you don’t have to scour the web to see if you’ve ever spoken to them before. Each time an individual updates their social media tags or contact details, the app logs this for you, so you never have to worry about losing touch.
The Top App for Social Media: Buffer
The average internet user spends over 2 hours a day on social media. When you consider the number of platforms available, the amount of time you spend posting can become overwhelming. Fortunately, there are a number of apps available to centralize and schedule your social media from one place.
Buffer is one of the best apps for this as it allows you to easily schedule posts and navigate between up to five different social media channels on the free version, while the premium version allows for up to 10. You can schedule up to 10 posts in advance, freeing up your time for the future and allowing you to schedule all your social media in one go. Other apps which allow this are Hootsuite, Sendible and Loomly.
The Top App For Tracking Productivity: RescueTime
There are inevitably times in the day when we are more productive than others. A productivity tracker can help track when you are most engaged with your work. Learning when you are most engaged with your work can help you plan meetings and project work effectively throughout your day. Studies predict that at the most we average four hours of focused work each day.
RescueTime not only tracks your productivity, but logs which websites distract your focus the most and blocks these during the times where you are having the lowest motivation. It logs how many hours you spend on social media sites and how often you visit them. At the end of your work day it logs how much time you were focused for.
The Top App for Lists: Todoist
41% of to-do list items are never completed. Many people struggle to achieve and meet the goals set out for them in their task list. While these lists are intended to help structure and organize your day, many of us are missing out on the structure that a to-do list can bring to our lives.
Todoist is an app that allows you to simplify complicated to-do lists, breaking down the steps you need to achieve specific tasks or goals. It has a feature for allowing you to prioritize key tasks and set project goals to make sure you’re on track with key deadlines and projects. Todoist also has handy reporting so you can physically see your productivity and reporting levels.
Takeaway
There are many apps out there for saving you time in your busy life. Apps that help block out emails or the internet for a certain period of time can help you focus on projects. If you do have time-sensitive emails that pop up throughout your day, certain apps like Boomerang can facilitate this. Time spent on certain work-related tasks like networking or posting on social media can be automated through apps, allowing you to complete these tasks quicker.
Finally, if you need comprehensive apps to help you better structure your time, productivity apps can help you identify the hours you are most productive and easily view this through tailored reporting. We hope these apps allow you to save time in your busy lives.
Image Credits: cottonbro, Jeremy Levin
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