There are a lot of tools out there that aim to make your day more productive. Most of these tools are labeled as a productivity tool. A productivity tool can be a word processor, spreadsheet, databases, publishing systems, graphing software, video production equipment, and even Internet browsers. From this list you can tell that almost any program that is used to create, edit, or modify a document is considered a productivity tool.
With so many different tools like this on the market, it can be overwhelming trying to decide what is best for you and your business. In order to find the best productivity tools for your needs, you have to look at a few different factors. You have to look at what your needs are, what your budget is, and then what tools may fit those needs and your budget.
Whenever you’re getting anything for your business, you have to make sure to look at your needs first. Sure, it might be fun to get a giant aquarium for the office, but chances are that’s really not going to help with your employees’ productivity. Spending money just for the sake of spending money does not help your business. You may need a tool that:
- Let’s you house all tasks and projects in one spot while assigning users different jobs.
- Shows you how people get to your website and how many visitors you get daily.
- Helps you manage the social media of your business.
- Tracks how long it takes you or your employees to complete a task.
- Helps you convert PDFs to Excel.
- Gives you writing advice and rates the readability of your post, newsletter, or article.
- Remembers your many passwords for you.
- Keeps on eye on where and when your business is mentioned on the web.
- Filters your email inbox to keep the more important emails front and center.
There are a lot more needs out there in the business world. The good news is that there are also a lot of productivity tools.
Obviously there are a lot of great tools out there that can make your workday much more productive, but they do come at a cost. There are some free productivity tools out there that you can try. However, more often than not you have to pay for the really good ones. Chances are you don’t have an unlimited budget for this type of thing.
What you have to do is think about how much you can spend on productivity tools, and then figure out which of your needs are most important. After that, you can start doing some research to find out which tools fit your needs and your budget. The really big reason you have to remember your budget is because some of these tools may seem cheap on their own. Then you keep getting these cheap tools, which add up to be way more than you can spend each month. To put a long story short, make sure you keep in mind all of your needs and your budget so you don’t spend more than you should.
The hardest part is doing the research. Like with everything else, you can’t really buy the first productivity tool you come across. You have to find out which does what you need, which tool comes in at the lowest price, and which tool is easiest to use. There are a lot of websites out there that review productivity tools to help make your time easier. To get you started, here are a few productivity tools to fit the needs listed earlier:
- Asana: Asana is a team productivity tool that houses group projects and lets you assign certain users to specific tasks. You get to start using it for free, and then you pay $21/month for up to five team members. You can pay more to add more team members.
- Google Analytics: This is a tool that tracks what people are doing on your website, how they get there, how many visitors you have, and so much more. You can get a free version or a premium version.
- HootSuite: This is a popular social media management tool that has versions for personal use, small businesses, and larger organizations. The personal use version is free, but the other two versions start at $10/month.
- Toggl: Toggl lets you time how long it takes you to do certain projects. It even has a report feature. You can get a business version that costs $59 per user per month, a pro version that costs $5 per user per month, or a free version.
- PDF2XL: This is a PDF to Excel converter that helps you analyze financial statements and inventory lists with ease. It can cost anywhere from $199 to $399.
- Hemingway: This is an online app that helps you write bold, clear articles, posts, and newsletters. This is a free app to use.
- LastPass: This is a productivity tool that remembers all of your passwords for you, and can even remember passwords on multiple devices. There is a free version and a better premium version.
- Google Alerts: This tool helps keep an eye on your business’s PR by tracking every instance of your business getting mentioned on the web. You can use this tool for free.
- SaneBox: This tool helps declutter your email inbox and puts the more important emails in clear view. You can try SaneBox for a limited time for free. Otherwise, there are three different versions ranging from $7 to $36 per month.
These tools may be just what your business is looking for. Now all you have to do is do a bit more research to find out if these are the right tools for you.
Getting productive in the workplace doesn’t have to be hard. There are a lot of tools out there that can make you and your employees work smarter rather than harder. Finding the right tool is as easy as assessing your needs, figuring out your budget, and then doing a bit of research.
Start looking at all of the wonderful productivity tools today. You can change the way your business runs and make every day a smooth, productive day. Don’t wait to get more productive. Start figuring out where your needs lie today, so you can make finding the right tool that much easier.
