The Digital Business Toolkit: 8 essential apps for business
As a digital business there are a number of apps we use everyday to keep Digital Polish running smoothly. As these apps make our lives so much easier we thought it would be rude not to share our digital business toolkit.
The Digital Business Toolkit
Google Calendar
It might be obvious and not particularly sexy, but without Google Calendar we wouldn’t know what day of the week it was, literally! More than just a calendar, it helps us schedule work and create clean and clear content planners. One of my favourite features of Google Calendar is the option to view all calendars at once, or split them to see calendars such as meetings, projects or blogging individually.
Astrid
Astrid is a new addition to our digital business toolkit, but one that now we have it, we can’t imagine life without it. I’m a sucker for whimsical branding and sharp designs, but Astrid is more than just a pretty face. The cross-platform productivity app (yep, there’s an iPad and iPhone version too) allows users to easily manage their projects through interactive lists and tasks. Create lists for projects, prioritise tasks and assign tasks to members of your team.
(NB: Another productivity app worth checking out is Trello… thanks to @thegeekyfrenchy for that addition to the toolkit.)
Yast
We all know we should time track our work, but sometimes it’s a case of ‘easier said than done’. That’s where Yast comes in. Yast is a stand alone time tracking application. What I particularly like about this app is its no fuss approach to time management. From one page users can easily manage multiple projects, start and stop the timer and view all time listings for each project. The paid versions of Yast also enable users to export their time tracking into downloadable reports.
Sparrow Mail
What was most appealing about Sparrow was the opportunity for a fresh start. Its simple interface allowed us to quickly get our inbox to zero — something I didn’t think we’d see again! Now the Digital Polish inboxes are clutter free and all emails are neatly filed away in their corresponding folders.
Another benefit of Sparrow is the in-built Dropbox feature. With Dropbox integration there is no need to open a browser, we can send large files right from Sparrow.
Dropbox
Speaking of Dropbox… the cloud storage service is a great way for us to backup our project files to insure against any hard drive mishaps. Free options are available, but for a few quid a month and peace of mind, we use the paid for 100GB option. What I like about Dropbox over other online backup services is how accessible it is. Through the desktop application users can access their dropbox files like any others on their computer. Web and mobile apps grant users easy access for when you’re on the go.
We’re always scouring the internet for new and interesting content, but sometimes we just don’t have time to go through it all. Fortunately we discovered Pocket. Formerly Read It Later, Pocket enables users to save up all that content and come back to it when they have more time. I find Pocket particularly handy when researching projects. The tagging features mean I can create separate lists for each project, keeping things all neat and tidy.
Hootsuite
When it comes to managing our social networks Hootsuite is our favourite. (Again with the whimsical branding, are you noticing a theme?) Hootsuite allows us to view and manage our social feeds from one dashboard. We can read, write and auto-schedule posts across all our favourite networks. With the fast-paced nature of social media, never mind fitting in the rest of our working day, Hootsuite is an essential tool.
Spotify
Finally… Spotify may not be the obvious choice when you think of a digital business toolkit, but when you’re having a tough day, having that album on demand might be the thing that stops a work related breakdown. As the New Radicals once said, ‘you’ve got the music in you’.
I could happily talk about apps all day, and this is by no means an extensive list, but these are Digital Polish’s bare essentials. Do you have any apps you couldn’t live without? Why not post below in the comments and let us know? Happy apping!
Photo credit: Kaptain Kobold via photopin cc
