Productivity Apps

Sometimes, your workflow will hit an unexpected speed bump, but it shouldn’t affect you or your team’s productivity. There are plenty of new apps that not only help you stay on top of tasks but collaborate with your team like never before.

That’s why we asked 11 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

Q. What is one new app you rely on that has significantly changed your workflow?

1. FollowUp.cc

FollowUp.cc is a simple and inexpensive email app that lets you set reminders for yourself instantly on team to-dos. I can set milestones and deadlines without even leaving my email (or worse, trying to remember). —John Rood, Next Step Test Preparation

2. Trello

We’ve been using Trello over the past several months as a way to capture our workflows, share accountability, and collaborate on the best way to get things done. Trello offers something for everyone. You can capture images, checklists, documents, conversations, and much more. It also helps us stay on top of things that aren’t business critical, but still need attention. —Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

3. Buffer

While not brand new, Buffer has made a significant difference in our social media workflow. It saves us time by providing us with a more efficient way to manage all the content for the various social media sites we work with. This gives us more time to focus on the content rather than uploading and managing it. —Angela Ruth, Due

4. Realtime Board

One app I’ve recently started using is Realtime Board. It gives you the essential functionality of a whiteboard, but online. I’ve been able to use it to map out email marketing campaigns, visualize my product offerings, and plan out products as I create them. The best part is I can share my boards with my team so they can collaborate. —Sean Ogle, Location Rebel

5. Things

The Things app by Cultured Code is a minimalistic and simple list program that uses the “get things done” principle. It lists actions only as a way of telling you exactly what needs to be done next. Actions can be organized by project, as well as “now,” “next,” or “scheduled” time frames. —Peter Bonac, Mobiado

6. Brewster

Brewster makes sure you have a clean contact list to speed up all communication. It gets into multiple places where contact information is stored and takes care of any duplication or old information so you have the most accurate contact list possible. It improves my workflow by saving me time finding the most current contact information to send emails or make calls. —Andrew O’Connor, American Addiction Centers

7. Assistant.to

With Assistant.to, I can book meetings with customers in just one email instead of having to send a dozen emails back and forth. I propose my available times and my customer can click a time in an email to instantly book a meeting. This tool is fast, simple, and free. —Brandon Bruce, Cirrus Insight

8. Asana

Since we are a close-knit team, we all wear many different hats throughout the day. This makes keeping track of our tasks difficult. To become more organized and efficient as a team (and as individuals) we recently started using Asana. I have already noticed significant improvements in my team’s efficiency and work quality. —Stanley Meytin, True Film Production

9. Calm

Recently, I had a breakthrough where I realized my reactive workflow had to become much more proactive. Before checking my email, answering requests, and reading, I get situated by using Calm. It’s a meditation app that helps me stimulate creativity and solve yesterday’s unresolved questions, and it precedes any of my productivity tools. —Abhilash Patel, Recovery Brands

10. Postmates

With Postmates, I have both my lunch and dinner delivered to my desk at work. It saves me an hour to two hours each day that would otherwise be spent cooking or picking up food. —Nanxi Liu, Enplug

11. Google Keep

As a full user of Google products for my business, Google Keep makes it simple to keep track of tasks, ideas, and projects in a clean UI that integrates seamlessly into all of my devices. By having Keep readily available, it’s easier to stay focused and on top of tasks. —Raul Pla, SimpleWifi and Antenna World