Four Apps I Couldn’t Do Without at Work

By Todd J. Sukol

Though lists of the latest and greatest apps are a dime a dozen, I thought I’d add to the conversation on behalf of nonprofit execs, like me, who often have more passion and responsibility than time and attention span. Here are four apps that have helped me reduce stress and increase productivity over the past few years. Give them a try:

Nozbe is a simple task management tool that enables you to dump everything anyone in your organization needs to do in one central place. In our case we use it to organize tasks by goals and projects. Team leaders can access the information by goal (who’s doing what to advance this goal?), team member (what should Joe be prioritizing?), date (what’s due in the next three days?), etc. By connecting granular activities to big picture objectives we are better able to focus on what matters most. As a side effect, I find that having all the details trapped somewhere reliable helps me be a bit more present in the interpersonal interactions of the day, knowing there is a safety net to catch things that could fall through the cracks. Because I can access it on all my devices I immediately capture to-do’s as they come up, obviating the need for the silly notes, emails and voicemails I once used to leave for myself (I know!). You can get your feet wet with the free version and switch to the paid version as you want to add team members to the system. Integrates well with Google Calendar, Gmail and Evernote. Great for managing personal projects too.

Evernote has become a ubiquitous note taking app of late. I rarely bring paper into meetings anymore, taking all of my notes in Evernote and saving them to “notebooks” that loosely follow the same organizational scheme I use for all my work and personal responsibilities. This provides easy access when I’m trying to find something later. You can add drawings, photos, audio, etc., which makes it a great tool for capturing impressions on site visits, etc. The best feature is that everything is searchable, so you can find those notes from a meeting three years ago even though all you can remember is that someone used the word “ubiquitous” too many times. It’s easy to share notes, access notes on multiple devices, and clip things from the web, etc. The paid version allows you to grant other staff members selective access to certain groups of notes, a handy productivity feature.

Focus Keeper Pomodoro App[/caption]Focus Keeper is one of a string of apps based on “the Pomodoro Technique,” a time management system developed in the late 1980s and named after the Italian word for tomato. The inventor, Francesco Cirillo, discovered that by setting a kitchen timer (his was shaped like a tomato) for short bursts of concentrated work separated by enforced breaks he could dramatically increase his productivity. This technique is deceptively simple and – most importantly – it works! Here’s the deal: You work in concentrated periods, typically 15 to 30 minutes (I do 25 minutes), followed by a 5-minute break. After several rounds of this (typically four) you take a longer break (I do 20 minutes). So it’s 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off (x3) and then 25 minutes on, 20 minutes off. Repeat. Once you turn on the timer it tells you when to start and stop work. I find I have to force myself to take the breaks (I cheat a little) and get up and stretch briefly. It is AMAZING how much of a productivity boost I get from this simple structure. If you are sure this won’t work for you because it would be too many interruptions, just try this. I do not work this way all the time, but when I have a particularly difficult project, I whip out my phone or iPad and open up the Pomodoro app. I make little games out of the process for myself by setting little goals for how much I can do by the end of each Pomodoro. There are a bunch of different versions of this app – look up Pomodoro and try one. You won’t be sorry.

Stitcher: I spend a fair amount of time on the road. Whether travelling in my car or on a trains or planes, my podcasts help me keep on top of trends in the nonprofit field, hear thoughtful social and cultural commentary, listen to book reviews, news, comedy, etc. Stitcher is by far my favorite way to listen to podcasts and live radio from around the country. It even helps me fall asleep in lonely hotel rooms.