If you are not using productivity tools available for your PCs, tablets, or smartphones, you are certainly missing out a lot on technology. There are several time management apps accounting professionals can use to help them improve focus and save time. Here are some examples:
Trello
Big companies from different industries like The New York Times, Adobe, Tumblr, Google, and PayPal have been using Trello. Wanna know why?
Trello is an online collaboration app that uses a board like Pinterest, except this board has a list of lists filled with cards. These cards can be dragged and dropped between lists and you can also add as many people to get involved in the workflow. Lists can be also reordered as needed. Trello works real-time with any device, anywhere. That means you can get updates instantly and get notified when important things come up. Perfect for accountants who are always on the go.
Remember the Milk
No need to tie a string around your finger to remember things. Remember the Milk is an application service provider that acts as an electronic calendar, a task manager, and a to-do list. It is the brainchild of Emily Boyd and Omar Kilani who claim to forget stuff – including the milk.
Boyd told Lifehacker.com how they have come up with this idea. “The biggest thing for us was simply being able to access and manage your tasks from anywhere. It’s no good having your tasks stuck on a single computer (or piece of paper you forgot to bring with you) if the urge to add a task or review your list strikes you when you’re out running errands, at home, at work, on a bus, or wherever.”
Evernote
No paper and pen? Jot down notes with this powerful app. Evernote is a freemium app designed for notetaking, organizing, and archiving. It allows users to create a “note” which can be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten “ink” note. Notes can also have file attachments. Notes can be sorted into folders, tagged, annotated, edited, given comments, searched, and exported as part of a notebook.
Anyone guilty of taking bad photos of business cards? Evernote can also be a business card reader app which can scan important details on your card and creates contacts on your phone. Goodbye, CardMunch!
Dropbox
‘Ever e-mailed yourself just to transfer a document to another computer? Or have you freaked out because of a file you left in your PC at home? Then it’s time to download Dropbox.
Dropbox is a file hosting service that offers cloud storage and file synchronization released 7 years ago. Drew Houston, an MIT graduate, conceived the idea of Dropbox after repeatedly forgetting his USB flash drive. After he benefited from it, he thought of making it available to everyone who share the same problems.
Dropbox lets you sync your work between all your systems so that you can accomplish your tasks even if you’re not at home. You can also share a single file with anyone via e-mail just by sharing a link from your phone. No more lost flash disks.
Focus Booster
Does the Pomodoro technique sound familiar to you? This time management method involves a kitchen timer to break down work into intervals which are called “Pomodoro” sessions and separate them with short breaks.
This is the concept followed by the app Focus booster. It lets you focus on your tasks and avoid procrastination.
BONUS: But if you struggle with work due to distractions like social media, you better install a Chrome extension called StayFocusd which limits the amount of time you spend on these websites.
Toggl
Toggl never lets you “lose a minute of your billable time.” How? The app gives you an overview of your billable time and team progress, export timesheets, and e-mail/print professional reports. You can organize your time by projects or tags and mark it as “billable.”
Toggl keeps track of your time just by tapping the start button and entering the details of your project. You can also create teams to track (up to five teams with unlimited projects) and even clients to associate with projects.
Whether it’s all about online collaboration, battling procrastination, or simply having all your files in one place, there is an app available for that. Take advantage of these technological advancements to make your life and work easier.
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REFERENCES
https://www.rememberthemilk.com/about/
http://lifehacker.com/5056800/remember-the-milks-co-founder-on-the-future-of-task-management
Interview: Stepan Pachikov, the founder of Evernote, talks about his future vision (TCTV)