5 Digital Tools to Supercharge Your Management and Get Things Done

Be a more effective and efficient worker

Doing work in an online-driven era means incorporating efficiency, agility, systemization, automation, and cloud-based approach in your operations; otherwise, you might get caught off-guard in our highly dynamic digital culturescape. In fact, getting results is heavily based on productivity, which is a byproduct of efficiency, which is a byproduct of operations, which is a byproduct of tactics—the systems and tools that govern your activities. In short, these are all rooted under management. Gone are the days wherein you have to rely on memory, or buckle up with cumbersome and usually open-ended management methodologies. There’s so much to leverage in digital that can optimize your work activities and save you on loads of labor—and, of course, time. Start installing these apps/tools quite the deal with seasoned productivitists you should be using daily:

1. Todoist

Purpose: Task Management

This is my go-to app for inputting and organizing my tasks. What I like most is its ability to input recurring tasks (around 40% of my tasks are), wherein I’m regularly reminded with a notification across all my devices. Some other functions it carries are:

• Assigning priority to a task (distinguished with color-hueing)
• Assigning person to a task (by adding a member to your group and tagging that member)
• Inputting specific time and reminder to a task (precision as needed)
• Categorizing tasks with “projects” (personalized with color-coding)
• Subcategorizing tasks with “labels” (searchable with hashtag)
• Searching task thru filter (according to “assigned,” “priority,” “due date”)
• Smart rescheduling a backlog task (app decides through artificial intelligence suggested dates based on your habits/historical data)

2. Apple Calendar (Or any cloud-based calendar)

Purpose: Schedule and Meetings Management

You can choose from Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Microsoft Outlook—objectively, whichever is the native calendar for your preferred OS or the most suited for you. Unfortunately, I know so many workers who still don’t depend on a digital scheduler. Though there’s nothing generally wrong with that, most aren’t able to leverage the wonderful features of these calendars, especially with online backups—you won’t ever have to lose data again. Remember to choose a calendar that can synchronize data across all your devices. In fact, a “hit two birds with one stone” feature is synchronizing your tasks with your calendar, so you can see all your activities—tasks and meetings—in chronological order or scheduled view.

3. BeFocused

Purpose: Time Management

This native OS app (also available as mobile app) is based on the Pomodoro Technique time management philosophy, which I found very essential. The idea is you’ll work on a task for 25-minutes only (equivalent to 1 Pomodoro) and take 5-minute break in between intervals. The idea is you’ve to be focused on each task, and each distraction that comes into your mind must be jotted down and preferably dealt with during breaktime. In a given period, you must’ve an idea how many Pomodoros you had, which you can use to assess your performance. The practice instills, in a form of a timer, discipline that can be mastered through time. There are many variants of Pomodoro Technique apps per OS—usually just varies in design—and it’s up to you to figure out which you like best.

4. Grammarly

Purpose: Communication Management

If you’re very particular about grammar, then Grammarly is there everywhere you digitally go. The app is a web browser extension and a native app (for OSX devices) that proactively delineates any error relating to contextual spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and style of a typed data. The part where you have to revise is shown with a green highlight. It even suggests replacements accordingly. Some other functions it offer are:

• Cross-checking for plagiarism content
• Providing vocabulary enhancement

Whether you’re writing just a Facebook status, or an academic essay, you’re guided to make sure you communicate at best. No matter how good you think you are with grammar, you can never always be so sure, and Grammarly’s always there to assist you.

5. Google Sheets (Or any online spreadsheet)

Purpose: Project and Process Management

Perhaps the most common and used of them all, yet underutilized in terms of its functions and features. Google Sheets, or any other online spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel Online, could be used for managing quite anything under your work scope: financials, marketing, sales, operations, etc. Although we have better designed with more dynamic and visual user experience alternatives like Trello and Asana, I think spreadsheets in general allow customization and personalization that’s more tailorfit to your scope and its underlying systems. I mainly use Google Sheets for visualizing data and organizing them in a way that can provide me a systematic way to meet my objectives—especially with use of macros (tinkering with a formula on a row or set of rows to attain a certain function). If you know how “if this then that” statements work, Google Sheets is your playground you should experiment with to provide management with your goals and corresponding objectives.

About The Author: Josh L. Doman discovered his devotion to writing after serving as a journalist then managing editor for his college’s official school paper and publications. His father, an investor, engineer, and scholar who authored a book in theology and spirituality; inspired his writings to delve on the moralistic, ethical, and inspirational implications of living in the present times. Publications are reflection of anecdotal encounters in entrepreneurship, fitness, and the military; and accrued readings about behavioral economics, self-help, and spirituality.