5 Types of Business Apps to Maximize Your Time

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Free time is an elusive concept for many business owners. According to a survey, 68% of entrepreneurs reported they work 40 hours or more a week. One way you can build some leisure time into your schedule is to harness time-saving technology. Please review the five apps below to help you do just that.

1. Mobile Scanning

For business owners on the go, ZenBusiness recommends downloading a mobile scanning app, which can be a terrific time-saving tool. Instead of collecting paper documents to file or scan on desktop equipment, mobile scanning applications use the camera on your smartphone. The app guides you through the process, providing screen marks to help you line up your document. Optical character recognition translates your scan into text you can search and edit. With mobile scanning, you can send documents from your phone and keep your critical paperwork organized, no matter where you are.

2. Travel Planning

Whether you need to drive to a business convention, create a conference itinerary or plan your family vacation, you can find an appropriate travel-planning app. There are applications designed specifically for road trips and others that precisely track schedules and budgets. Others allow you to collaborate with family, friends, or colleagues to design your trip. You can also find travel apps that collect and organize your travel ideas and inspiration without the planning functionality.

3. Budgeting

As a business owner, you can’t be too careful with your finances. Tracking every dollar is essential to understanding what’s working for your company — and what isn’t.

You can sync budgeting apps with your bank and credit card companies. The applications track and categorize your income and spending. You can design a budget with custom categories and follow your monthly spending. Many budgeting apps can analyze trends and create forecasts.

4. Focus

It’s easy for entrepreneurs to find themselves knee-deep in several circumstances at once. When you have a situation that requires your full attention, though, you can use an app that helps you focus.

The Pomodoro Technique divides tasks into time intervals with built-in breaks. The idea is to focus completely on the task during the interval and avoid distraction until the timer goes off. Other apps track the amount of time you spend on tasks, allowing you to manage them and see when and where your productivity is the highest. In addition, focus-based applications can help you break down the tasks that weigh on your mind so that you can manage and complete them and remove their distraction.

5. Project Management

Large projects usually require multiple steps, deadlines, resources, and people. A project management application helps you keep track of what’s currently happening. You can assign tasks to team members, visualize steps on a timeline or calendar, track time, and schedule meetings. Project management apps can also store relevant external files such as spreadsheets, images, and other documents.

Using apps that boost productivity can help you manage your work time more efficiently, giving you more free time to enjoy personal pursuits or plan your next business strategy. Whatever your business goals are, you can find an application to help you accomplish them. 

​​Writer: Lucy Reed