6 Productivity Tools To Get More Done

I’ve pulled together a few of our favourite tools that we have found to improve efficiency within our team over the past 6 months. Some of these tools have enabled us to save many man hours that we would usually be lost from day to day, most of these tools are free to use with some having limitations dependant on the type of use.

Toggl, The Online Time Tracking Tool

Dave, the MD at Webtistic discovered Toggl a few months ago and we have found it to be a fab tool for tracking the time spent of designated tasks and for improving the overall effiency of the team. We downloaded and installed the Toggl Desktop software free version but there are paid plans available with more advanced features.

In a busy, thriving office environment where you’re multitasking it’s difficult to recall exactly how long you spent on a specific task such as taking telephone calls or answering an urgent email but with Toggl you are able to create individual tasks and switch easily between them, thus enabling the ability to track everything with a single click. You can then view various charts online and interpret the data in the ways you wish. We have found to be very useful in informing our weekly meetings

We have found it a great tool for tracking the time spent on SEO milestones. This enables us to accurately and confidently invoice SEO clients on a monthly basis thus eleveating the worry that wasted time or interruptions don’t become part of the client’s invoice.

Through Toggl, all the time spent on various daily tasks are monitored. This should then provide the basis for improved productivity as you can go on to analyse exactly where time is being spent and where you can allocate time more efficiently.

Toggl is also available as an application on smart phones such as Android and iPhones downloadable from the iTunes store or Android Market Place. It’s also available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 9/10
Making efficient use of your team 10/10

Dropbox, Simple Tool To Share, Store And Sync Files Online

Dropbox has been installed on our desktops as a way for us to easily share and update files that are used within our office on a daily basis. The contents of the Dropbox folder automatically synchronises between everyone in the office. This eradicates the mundane task of emailing files to each other for updating and checking and allows for a single copy to be stored that can be edited, accessed and saved by everyone remotely on the Dropbox server. You might be thinking, ‘What if I delete a file by accident?’. Well, you can undelete files by logging in to the Dropbox site where you can also view changes to documents that have previously been edited.

For us Dropbox has cut out the need for sending documents internally via email and the fact we can can all edit the one document stored on the Dropbox server is proving to be a great efficient tool for us. I’m pretty sure the standard free 2 GB storage allowance is adequate for the majority of smaller set-ups but this obviously depends on the file types that are being stored on the server. Dropbox runs in the background on your desktop and simply works like any other folder saved.

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 7/10
Making efficient use of your team 8/10

TeamViewer

TeamViewer simply allows you to take control of another computer so it enables you to remotely control a client’s computer to give them a tutorial, presentation or to assist with a technical enquiry.

Taking control of another PC is straight forward as no software installation is required as long as you run the application on both sides. We also had no problem with firewalls blocking the application unlike other similar applications.

In addition you can transfer files using the drag and drop functionality. Dragging a file to a partner’s screen during a remote support session will automatically initiate a file transfer, placing the file on the user’s desktop.

TeamViewer is available on Windows, Mac, Linux and as a Mobile Application and we are currently trialling this free for personal use to decide if it will enhance the support we offer our clients. The early signs are that this could potentially save an incredible amount of time with regards to solving client’s technical problems.

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 10/10
Making efficient use of your team 6/10

Google Calendar

Google calendar is available for free and enables you to set up a calendar for your business and can be shared with each member of the team. This enables you to keep track of meetings, deadlines, scheduled telephone calls and various other events. You are able to assign different colours to staff so that you can differentiate who is responsible for carrying out a specific event or task at any given time.

If you’re organising a special event, the calendar enables you to invite colleagues to a function and they can reply even though they don’t use Google calendar. Google calendar will then track accepted invitations.

You can get event reminders sent directly to your mobile phone or sent straight to your inbox and the calendar is easily accessed from the Google homepage but in order to use this you must sign up with a Google account.

We have found Google Calendar really useful when setting deadlines for clients and is a great way to see exactly who is in the office on any given day in terms of staff holidays etc…

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 8/10
Making efficient use of your team 8/10

Skype and MSN

Both of these are web-based internet applications that are widely used and are better known than the other tools mentioned above but with our business being based in Derby, UK we have many clients and partners whom are London based so the video chat functionality is very useful. Both of these tools allow file sharing but in my opinion is that Dropbox offers a more simplistic answer.

Using Skype you can have a video conference and we find it’s a great alternative to business trips, helping you work together and make decisions while spending more time being productive in the office. Both tools are cost effective as the only outgoing are your internet costs providing you make your call through the connection using the webcam, microphone and speakers.

Both of these tools allow you efficiently to make quick contact with people. We also use it for communicating with staff working outside of the office. Furthermore you can leave staff messages which they can retrieve the next time they login.

I’m a big fan of both these tools and this is why we have awarded them nearly 5 stars.

Ease of use 9/10
Time saving 8/10
Making efficient use of your team 9/10