Innovation and automation have affected every sector of life, whether working for day-to-day chores or while managing office work. Only those people are more productive nowadays who use technologies efficiently along with smart lifestyle and work management.
From managing your time and staying organized to improving your personal health and well-being, there are many tools that can be used to help you reach your career goals. Do you feel like you're not as productive as you should be at work? Do you feel like you're not as healthy as you should be? Have a high-stress level? You may need some professional help. These eight productivity resources will make it easier for you to reach the next level in your career and life.
Moreover, I have divided it into two parts to make it easily understandable and adaptable.
Part A - Lifestyle and Work Management
- Managing Your Time
- Improving Your Health and Well-Being
- Learning New Skills
- Building relationships
Part B - Digital Tools To Improve Productivity
- Calendars and Task Managers
- E-mail Management Tools
- Project Management Tools
- Communication tools
Part A - Lifestyle and Work Management
Lifestyle and way of working impact productivity at a large scale. A healthy lifestyle and efficient work management can increase your productivity to the next level. Following are some essential tips for managing your lifestyle and working.
1 - Managing Your Time
Time management is a big issue in the workplace right now according to recent statistics. It's very easy to get caught up in all the little tasks, and before you know it, your day is over, and you still have a lot of work to do. It's also very easy to lose track of your time when you're working from home.
So rather than stick to all the work simultaneously, you should allot a specific time to every work based on their priority and need. If you are a digital nomad working from home, it is more difficult for you because you might have people around you who would not understand the importance of your work and time and will try to influence you continually. So a better idea to get over this mess is, don't keep idle people around you. You need to choose your friend circle cautiously. Have a separate working room where access to family members is restricted.
2 - Improving Your Health and Well-Being
If you want to improve your health and well-being, several apps help you do so. One of the most popular is Headspace. It's a meditation coach that guides you through mediation without ever having to leave your home. You can use it on the go with the Headspace app for iOS or Android or download the Headspace app for desktop computers. This app will help you relax, reduce stress, manage your weight, be more mindful, and become more productive. You can also make use of online coaching services. A good life coach can help you with stress management.
3 - Learning New Skills
Technology and the digital industry are changing rapidly, impacting every sector. So the skills you have learned in professional classes might be useless when you join the job, or you might not understand the updated technology better. So it will impact your work productivity hugely. So what is the solution? The solution is to update yourself through education; learn new skills that will take place in your working domain. Some skills that can boost your career in this digital era are learning SEO, agile development, project management, and UI/UX design.
So you might be thinking, where will I get an update about these new skills? Don't worry; several online courses can teach you new skills. These courses are typically affordable and more convenient than traditional class times. Two most affordable and easy to learn online platforms are Udemy and Coursera. You can learn any course on these platforms at a very reasonable price.
These online courses offer opportunities for those who need them but don't have time or can't attend traditional classes due to scheduling conflicts or other obligations. Not only will these courses teach you valuable skills, but they'll also save you from having to take time off of work or pay a hefty tuition fee.
4 - Building relationships
Loneliness causes depression, ultimately impacting productivity at your professional and personal levels. So to overcome it, you must build strong relationships around you where you can pass your free time or hang out whenever you feel the need.
Research shows that the people who like to live in relationships are more productive than the people who tend to live alone. So if you want to be effective in every sphere of life, make a strong relationship around you.
Part B - Digital Tools To Improve Productivity
Information technology has impacted every sector of life, whether it is office work or day-to-day household chores. And when we talk about digitalization, we should also consider automation because automation is a big part of digital tools and devices, making them more efficient and effective. So for being more productive at work, the following are some digital tools that will help a lot.
1 - Calendars and Task Managers
One of the most important tools to use is a calendar or task manager. These tools allow you to keep track of your upcoming meetings, deadlines, and tasks. So how do they help?
Calendars can help you stay on top of your meetings, making sure not to double book your time. They also make it easier to plan for future deadlines and events like presentations and conferences ahead of time.
Task managers, on the other hand, take it a step further by allowing you to actually manage those tasks once they've been completed. You'll be able to organize your day by breaking up tasks into smaller pieces. There are many apps that can keep track of how much time you spend on each task and remind you when it's time for a break! The nice thing about these tools is that they offer different features that will work best depending on what type of business you have and what your needs are as an entrepreneur.
Here are some tools that will help you schedule and manage your day-to-day work hassle-free:
Calendly - Whether you are an entrepreneur, freelancer, or consultant, you likely juggle a variety of different projects and clients at the same time. And scheduling every work at the right time is crucial for any business to grow sustainably in the long term. You know the human brain has a limitation; we can not remember everything every time, so we need some help or assistance to get work done, and this tool is the right option. You can schedule your meeting and work easily with these tools and set a reminder to be ready to complete that task at the right time.
EngageBay - EngageBay is a task management tool that will help you organize your day and prioritize your tasks. With EngageBay, you’ll never have to worry about forgetting important deadlines again. This simple and helpful app makes adding tasks and completing them easy. Moreover, it's easy to assign tasks to various team members based on who is available and track all the progress made on each task. With features like instant messaging and group chat, it's never been easier to keep in touch with your coworkers and collaborate on projects.
Moreover, Engagebay is also a marketing automation tool that lets you automate your email marketing, lead nurturing, online advertising, and social media. It can also be used for inbound marketing and event management. The goal of Engagebay is to increase sales and revenue by automating the process of capturing leads, nurturing prospects to customers, generating leads from content sharing, and more.
There are many benefits of using Engagebay to save time because you don't need to spend hours every day on your marketing efforts.
2 - E-mail Management Tools
E-mail can be a huge time-waster, especially if you're not organized. With these tools, you'll be able to stay on top of your emails and communicate with them efficiently.
Email management tools help you organize emails, automate the process, set the priority level based on the needs, and sometimes auto answers, which saves a lot of time and can be utilized in some important work to make it more productive. There are a lot of tools in the market for email management that can make your work easier.
You may think of e-mail as one of the only ways to communicate with people electronically, but there are other options out there. Video conferencing is a worthwhile option if you're trying to have a conversation with someone who's at a distance from you geographically. There are many free conference call services that will allow you to have video conference calls for a free or low cost. You can also use chatbots as an alternative way to communicate with clients and employees. Chatbots are easy to set up and don't take up as much time as talking on the phone or instant messaging. If you have a digital store, a chatbot powered by machine learning models for eCommerce can enhance customer interactions by providing personalized recommendations and streamlining the shopping experience.
Following are some examples of email management tools that you may include in your productivity arsenal:
Emercury - Emercury is an email management tool with features that will make your life easier. Emercury has automated filters for different types of messages, which will automatically sort out spam or any important messages you need to know about. You can also create templates for responses you often use, so you don’t have to type the same thing repeatedly. With this helpful tool, you can save time on emails while maintaining professionalism with your clients!
Sendinblue - SendinBlue makes managing customer relationships easier than ever before. From the automation of your campaigns to email templates that help you keep things organized, it offers everything you need in one package. When it comes to your business, you should be able to spend more time marketing and less time organizing your inbox! With SendinBlue, you’ll never have to worry about forgetting to unsubscribe or sending the same email multiple times again. All you have to do is focus on what matters for growing your business.
3 - Project Management Tools
Project management tools are software programs that help you manage your tasks and projects. These types of programs can help you stay on top of deadlines, assign tasks to team members, track time spent on projects, manage budgets, and more.
Project management tools are great for those who have a hard time keeping track of their to-do list. From visual timelines to interactive dashboards, these tools can help you visualize your projects and stay on top of deadlines.
Following are some examples of Project management tools that you would like to know about:
Smartsheet - Smartsheet is the customizable project management tool that you’ve been looking for. With this application, you can customize every detail of your project management process. You can create your own custom, no-code app to help your team’s specific needs. It can develop custom filters, dashboards, and reports. If you find yourself helpless to customize it yourself, you can hire a professional software development company that will customize it efficiently for your specific needs.
It will even import data from Google Sheets! Key features include mobility, sharing capabilities, full customization of dashboards with widgets, and more. With this easy-to-use tool, you can finally take control of your projects.
Monday.com - This software is designed to help manage your projects, tasks, and processes all in one place. It’s an all-inclusive app that will make your life easier. We cover everything from task management to scheduling meetings and even tracking expenses. And it’s not just for big businesses either! No matter what size or industry type, Monday.com can help automate your business process for better outcomes.
4 - Communication tools
Communication is key when running a business. Whether you're communicating with employees or clients, it's important to maintain open lines of communication. This can be achieved only through an effective communication channel. You can use an online client portal to be in constant touch with your customers and provide them with excellent experiences.
If you don't design your communication channel effectively and adequately, it will cause communication breaches that will affect organizational productivity on a large scale.
There are tons of tools available to help you communicate with your team, clients, and prospects. Here are some examples of communication tools that you would love to know about:
Slack - If you're looking for a free chat platform where you can chat live or send messages back-and-forth, Slack is the perfect tool. It's great because it's both quick and easy to use. You can use it on your computer or smartphone!
Slack is a chat tool that is used by companies for work purposes. It shows messages in chronological order, so you don't have to scroll through pages of old messages. Slack also has search capabilities which makes it very easy to find specific messages across all channels. This means that if someone mentions something about widgets, you will easily find that conversation even if it happened months ago.
Botsify - Botsify is an AI-powered chatbot that uses natural language processing to help you improve your relationship with your customers. It can answer any question about your company's products or services in seconds, automate routine tasks on your behalf, so you don't have to spend time doing them manually, and surface new opportunities for you without you having to look for them. Whether you're looking for more leads or just want help managing your day-to-day operations, Botsify can do it all!
Zoko - Zoko is a central hub for all your WhatsApp communication, perfect for businesses that want to grow and connect with customers in an engaging, effective way. With Zoko, you can easily and efficiently engage with customers and prospects via WhatsApp, helping you build lasting relationships and connect with them at the times that are most important to them. The intuitive dashboard makes it easy to provide an optimal experience to your customers on WhatsApp, letting you quickly respond to their messages, qualify leads, and guide them towards making a purchase.
Whether you’re looking to engage new customers or deepen the relationships you already have, Zoko is an essential tool for businesses that want to thrive in today’s digital economy.
On a Final Note
Technological development has created opportunities as well as threats for all. Whether you are sitting inside the home or busy with day-to-day office chores, only the success depends on the fact how you are turning technologies in your favor. As soon as technologies take place in our lives, our daily lifestyles become more and more idle and lazy, finally affecting our health and productivity. There are many lifestyle diseases that were born in the 21st century, and before that, scarcely anybody knew about them. So for rapid career growth, you not only need to use technology prudently, but you also have to keep your lifestyle healthy. I hope these eight resources will solve your productivity issues to some extent if you follow them accordingly.
About the author:
Vidyarthi Ram is a Writer and Digital Marketer from India, specializing in SEO and Content Marketing. He loves to research hypothetical future technology in his free time, which could be included in his next upcoming book.
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