This is a multi-part series on how to juggle everything you have going on at work and in your personal life.
Part 1: Active Rest | Part 3: Willpower
Many apps exist to help you manage your time, and other apps without this primary purpose can also be used to help you be more efficient in your day. Over the past 10 years, I’ve learned that the apps you decide on using are mainly based on personal preferences and/or work situations. However, I’ll go over each of the types of apps and the particular one(s) I use for time management.
- To-do lists: I used Todoist for several years, but every update kept making the app more annoying to use (e.g., not being able to resize the app window), and it withheld too many features for the paid version. I switched to TickTick and love it. As examples of the features, you can tag your tasks (think of tags as categorizing your tasks) and make them recurring. I follow the advice of others in that I tackle the three most important/urgent tasks first each day. Any other tasks that I accomplish are considered bonuses, and tasks that I don’t complete are rescheduled to another day.
- Project management software: Examples in this category include Basecamp, Wrike and Asana, all of which I’ve used. My favorite is Trello, which reminds me of Pinterest. You create boards (e.g., one for each of your clients), and within each board, you create lists (e.g., subcategories of the boards). On those lists, you create cards (e.g., tasks) that can have deadlines, notes, attached files, assigned personnel, etc. It’s really nice to be able to visualize all the components of a particular project. While this type of software is better used for teams working on a project together, you certainly can use Trello by yourself.
- Note-taking software: It’s important to stay organized to avoid wasting time finding things or trying to remember things. That’s why I use Microsoft OneNote. You can create different notebooks (e.g., “Branding”), each of which can have multiple sections (e.g., “Blog topics,” “Presentation topics”). In each section, you can create multiple pages (e.g., “Presentation 1,” “Presentation 2”). To maximize the use of note-taking software, you should record everything that has any bit of importance to you by typing it into a note, writing it into a note, taking a photo/video into a note or recording audio into a note. Later, you can search for a particular note in the search bar. I also like dictating notes into OneNote.
- CRM software: If you do sales, then you should use CRM software like HubSpot. It keeps all of your sales efforts in one centralized area, and you can more easily keep track of what you need to do (e.g., make a follow-up call) and when you need to do it. Most of the time, CRM software is able to automatically determine the first name, last name and company of your contacts through the email messages you submit, which should save some time with data entry. Some CRM software also can send automated messages that are sent in a predetermined order and time sequence (known as a drip campaign) so that you can save time not having to resend your standard sales emails to every prospect.