Posts

#Leadership : #ProductivePeople -The 25 Best New #ProductivityApps for 2019…Great/Fun REad!

You might think that by now, people would have productivity software all figured out. Yet every year, dozens of enterprising software makers–both large and small–find more clever ways to get things done, either with entirely new apps or major improvements to the classics.

Here are some of the most essential productivity apps we’ve found lately for phones, tablets, computers, and even your smartwatch.

Noto puts notes where you’re sure to see them—in your inbox.

TIME SAVERS

Email yourself. Sometimes there’s no better reminder system than your inbox. With Noto, you can quickly email yourself by jotting down a note and swiping, or by using iOS’s share sheet to send notes from third-party apps. It’s great for sending links, tweets, map locations, or anything else you might need to recall later. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][iOS]

Schedule faster. No one really likes the typical back-and-forth email ritual for scheduling calendar events. Woven can help you break the cycle by letting you suggest times that invitees can then choose from through a web link. It’s even better when all involved parties use Woven, as it can suggest times that work for everyone. And unlike some other scheduling tools, Woven has dedicated apps. [iOSMacWindowsweb]

With Google Keep for Apple Watch, the work of two tech giants combines into a sweet note-taking solution.

Notes from your wrist. Google Keep remains one of the simplest and best note-taking apps around. The recently launched Google Keep for Apple Watch takes the app’s efficiency a step further. Just Force Touch on your notes list to quickly add a note by voice or handwriting. [Apple Watch]

Communicate quicker. Speaking of the Apple Watch, using Apple’s Walkie Talkie app can be a great alternative to phone calls and text messages when you need to talk with a teammate. Just add contacts to your Walkie Talkie list through the app and make sure they approve the request, and you’ll be able to communicate with one tap. [Apple Watch]

Your phone, on your PC. For Windows users, Microsoft’s Your Phoneapp is a simple way to read or respond to text messages or grab photos from an Android phone. Later this year, you’ll be able to run Android apps from select phones within Windows as well. [Windows]

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network:   www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+:  https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

EMAIL ENHANCERS

Add chats to your emails. Readdle’s email app Spark has been around for years, but recently added a neat chat feature that helps teams collaborate on their emails. The app also added some new features such as templates, Siri Shortcuts, and dark mode. An Android version just arriving as well. [iOSMac]

Turn your emails into chats. If you need some motivation to answer your emails, Spike (not to be confused with Spark) can help by mimicking the breezy feel of a messaging app. Individual emails take on the look of chat bubbles, and you can easily add emoji and even include read receipts. Best of all, its Windows app feels lightweight compared to Gmail. [iOSAndroidMacWindowsweb]

Leave Me Alone helps you reclaim your inbox from marketing spam.

No more junk. Although it’s not the first service that promises to unsubscribe you from junk emails, Leave Me Alone doesn’t sell your email data to marketers as some other unsubscribe services do. Instead, it scans the past three days of emails for possible spam at no charge, and can scan back further for a one-time fee. Once it’s identified the junk, you can remove yourself from each mailing list with one click. [web]

Press pause on new emails. We all aspire to be that person who only checks email at certain times of the day. Boomerang can force that behavior with its Inbox Pause feature that keeps email out of your inbox for a block of time, while also allowing exceptions for certain senders, domains, or keywords. It’s one of many recently added features for the long-running email management service, which may explain why one of Boomerang’s earlier creations, The Email Game, had to die this year. [iOSweb]

With CircleUp, it’s easier to make sure that meetings turn into action.

Follow-ups for the scatterbrained. If you schedule lots of meetings but aren’t so good at follow-up, CircleUp can help you keep on top of them. The $5 per month service (not to be confused with the financial tech startup of the same name) scans your calendar for external meetings, then emails you afterward with a reminder. You can then send a canned or personal “thank-you” note with a couple clicks. [web]

If your Android phone is pelting you with too many notifications, you need Daywise.

CONCENTRATION BOOSTERS

A traffic cop for notifications. Too tempted to look at your phone’s notifications? Daywise, an Android app backed by Duke University, can bundle them up and deliver them at scheduled times so you won’t be bothered at work, during dinner, or before bed. You can also let certain apps and contacts through the filter, but choose wisely. [Android]

Limit your screen time. While Apple released a set of tools for managing screen time and limiting app use in iOS 12, Android’s comparable Digital Wellbeing feature remains in beta and is for Pixel phones only. For everyone else, there’s Action Dash, which provides a similar insights for a much broader range of Android devices. [Android]

MultiTimer offers a bevy of ways to keep track of time, including the Pomodoro Method (try it!).

Pomodoro Plus. For those who like to work against the clock, MultiTimer lets you set up a series of deeply customizable timers on a single screen. You can add timers that count up, timers that count down, Pomodoro Method timers with customizable break times, timers with counters, and more. A $6 Pro version adds even more features, such as multiple boards for different activities and custom commands that control multiple timers at once. [iOS]

IMAGE IMPROVERS

No trace but the face. You needn’t be a Photoshop whiz to remove the background from photos. Instead, you can use Remove.bg, which uses machine learning techniques to extract the foreground image automatically. It’s free for images with resolutions up to a quarter-megapixel–good enough for your Twitter or Facebook profile–and offers various pricing plans for high-definition edits. [Web]

Make big photos small. Google’s fancy image compression algorithms are now available to anyone, thanks to its free Squooshweb app. Select an image from your computer, then use the quality slider to decide how compressed you want to get. Squoosh tells you how much space the smaller image will save, and provides a helpful side-by-side comparison with the original. [web]

No more photo clutter. For iPhone users whose photo libraries are littered with near-duplicates, Gemini Photos can clean them up. The app identifies batches of similar photos, then suggests the best of the bunch so you can quickly eliminate the rest. It’s free to try for three days, and costs $3 per month, $12 per year, or $15 for life after that. If only Google Photos had something similar. [iOS]

Darkroom offers power tools for iOS photo mavens.

Don’t call it Lightroom. Speaking of iOS photos, Darkroom goes much deeper than Apple’s built-in image editor, with features like batch editing, custom filters, and frames that automatically match your images’ colors. Version 4.0 added iPad support (with keyboard shortcuts), new gestures (such as two-finger tap to undo), and integration with Moment, a popular pro camera app. [iOS]

Draw with confidence. Need to create some slick imagery from scratch? Sketches provides a variety of realistic brushes–with support for Apple’s Pencil–along with ruler tools for drawing lines, circles, arcs, and other shapes. The iOS app has been around for years, but version 20 adds a “zen mode” that removes UI elements so you can concentrate on drawing, plus several new drawing tools. The basic app is free, and the $6 Pro upgrade adds extra brushes and layer support. [iOS]

AUDIOVISUAL UPGRADES

Easier editing. For time-strapped podcasters, Descript transcribes speech to text, then lets you trim down the audio by deleting words and sentences. Version 2.0 added support for video editing, so YouTubers can get on board as well. [MacWindows]

No more noise. Screaming baby interrupting your work-from-home conference call? Krisp can remove the whines–and other types of background noise–in more than 150 calling apps, including Skype for Business, Zoom, WebEx, and Slack. Noise cancelling happens on your computer, rather than on some faraway server, and can apply to either the caller or the recipient. [Mac, Windows coming soon]

Skype’s new background blur lets you dial into video conferences without revealing that your home office is a pigpen.

Office mess begone. If you haven’t used Skype lately, the recent addition of background blur could make it worth picking for your next video call. Just click the camera button, then toggle “Blur my background” to obscure the messy office behind you. The feature is currently available for Skype’s desktop software. [WindowsMac]

EXTRA MOTIVATION

Learn to write. More than just a writing app, Blurt is a Swiss army knife of tools for more efficient and effective writing. The app includes timers and target word counts to get you on track, and can even blur what you’ve already written so you can focus on getting more thoughts on the page. Afterwards, Blurt provides a prose editor that calls out cliches, excess adverbs, and run-on sentences. It’s currently $5 per month with a 15-day trial. [web]

Paper planner replacement. Daily to-do apps abound in the iOS App Store, but Capsicum stands out as an intriguing throwback to physical planners. A compact agenda page lets you glance at calendar events and to-do list items, while also leaving space for your own freeform notes. There’s also a “loose leaf” section for tracking more ambitious goals. It’s free to try for 14 days, and costs $2 per month or $20 per year after that. [iOS]

Build some momentum. The venerable habit tracking app Streakshas added some significant new features in version 4.0, including an iPad version and support for Siri shortcuts. The latter means logging your daily work, fitness, and self-improvement goals is just a voice command away. [iOS]

Pressure by percentages. When other productivity tools won’t cut it, Progress Bar OSX lets you see what percentage of your current day, month, year, and (presumably estimated) life remains, all from your Mac’s menu bar. Because nothing motivates quite like a reminder of your finite time on earth. [Mac]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jared Newman covers apps and technology for Fast Company from his remote outpost in Cincinnati. He also writes for PCWorld and TechHive, and previously wrote for Time.com

 More

 

FastCompany.com | April 2, 2019

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

#Leadership : 12 Apps to Help Ease Anxiety Struggling with Anxiety? These Apps Can Help you Get Things Under Control.

Yes, there’s an app for that too. The 12 below help with stress management, sleep and more, easing anxiety and helping you live a healthier, happier life.

Free- Iphone with Gadgets

Pacifica: Track and rate your mood over time, learn muscle relaxation exercises and deep breathing techniques and set health goals for yourself. You can record your thoughts to develop positive thinking patterns and identify toxic ones. The app also helps users understand personal triggers.

Breathe2Relax: This app does exactly what it promises. Created by the National Center for Telehealth & Technology, it aids in diaphragmatic breathing that decreases the body’s natural “fight-or-flight” response — a big aspect of anxiety, anger and general mood instability.

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

HeadspaceStress, memory loss, focus, interpersonal relationships, creative blocks… this “personal trainer for the mind” app covers it all. 10-minute meditation lessons aim to strengthen health, performance and relationships. This app is on the pricier side though — subscriptions cost between $6.24 and $12.95 a month.

Positive Activity Jackpot: Another app from the National Center for Telehealth & Technology. This one uses a therapeutic method known as Pleasant Event Scheduling (PES), recommending activities based on the user’s location and interests. You can invite friends, save favorite spots and tag activities you participate in for future reference.

PTSD CoachCreated by the National Center for PTSD, this app helps veterans suffering or at risk of suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. With educational material and a self-assessment tool, it enables users to manage stress and find support.

Recovery Record: This highly rated app draws on cognitive behavioral therapy and self-monitoring methods to help manage eating disorders. Users can keep a food journal, make meal plans and learn coping methods. Questionnaires help track their progress and produce visual charts documenting their journey.

Worry Watch: This journaling tool has a simple user interface where users can log instances of worry, fear and anxiety. They can also add the outcome of each situation, which provides a comparison between expectation and reality that helps reduce anxiety over time.

I Can Be FreeThis app helps with anxiety, phobias, insomnia and low self-esteem, offering more than 50 audio hypnosis sessions by well known hypnotist Jacob Strachotta. The sessions help target a variety of common fears.

Relax MelodiesThis sleeping aid fights insomnia and stress with more than 50 fully customizable sounds and tunes. The blog also offers lifestyle tips to improve sleep.

Mindshift: Aimed at teens and young adults suffering from anxiety, this app allows users to log thoughts and feelings. It also offers exercises that encourage positive thinking.

Stress Doctor: This app takes you on a deep breathing exercise to promote calmness and can bring your heart rate down in five minutes. The app provides instant feedback with breath and pulse monitoring and tracks long-term progress.

OptimismHelping with depression and bipolar disorder, this app helps users track their moods and keep daily records of their symptoms, plus log triggers or things that help them stay positive. Graphs of this data give users a visual breakdown of their well being.

 

Entrepreneur.com | November 9, 2016 | Andrew Gazdecki

 

#Leadership : 18 Tools That Saved Time and Grew My Business…These Affordable Tools and Apps Helped this Entrepreneur See Marked Growth Throughout 2016.

We’re getting closer to the end of the year. It’s been a very exciting year for me achieving most of the goals that I’ve set so far. And of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of some tools that have provided great shortcuts.

Free- Biz Man on Cellphone

The tools shared in this post fall under three categories:

  1. Tools that helped me apply a simple productivity system.
  2. Tools that saved me time by paying less money.
  3. Tools that had an impact on my business growth.

Related: 7 Tools to Increase Productivity and Efficiency

Are you ready? Let’s tackle these:

Tools for my productivity system.

There is a system that I’ve been following for more than a year now that has had a great impact on my business. It’s composed of three simple steps:

  1. Plan the right way.
  2. Start the day right.
  3. Take action with focus.

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

You could check my previous post here to learn more about it, How This 20-Year-Old Built His Business While Studying Dentistry. And if you plan to implement it, check out this checklist.

Here are the tools:

  1. Google Docs: A great tool I use to do all the planning for the tasks I want to accomplish.
  2. Wunderlist: Helps me create to-do lists on the go and great for doing tomorrow’s to-do list.
  3. Accomplish: It helps me easily create my schedule for the day. This is my best calendar app that suits all my needs.
  4. Clear focus: Taking action with focus hasn’t been easier with the help of this great tool.
  5. 7 Min Workout app: Not only does this app have the normal seven minute exercise, but also it have many different variants with different durations
  6. Headspace: A gem tool that changed my focus throughout the day.
  7. Freedom Journal: One of the best journals. I like their app which reminds me to write in the journal in the morning and at the evening.

Tools that saved me time.

Usually, these are resources where I pay a few dollars to save me time or resources where I could save a few minutes by grouping tasks together.

  1. Upwork (formerly known as Odesk): This is not a tool but it is a great way to get low-value tasks done leaving me time to focus on higher value tasks.
  2. 99designs: I’m sure you know how time-consuming design work can be. When redesigning my logo, I spent a ton of time trying to communicate my vision to designers only to receive concepts I wasn’t happy with, which ate into other projects. Using 99designs, I was able to save a lot of time because of the great amount of designs I get. I pick the one I like, ask for reiterations till I like it and then pay.
  3. Thrive content builder: Having a great design that attracts the attention of new readers is very hard. I used to outsource this job, but with this tool, I don’t need to.
  4. Auto Text Expander chrome expansion: Great tool to share common sentences without typing them out completely.
  5. Buffer extension: Publish on all my social networks without entering them one by one.
  6. Pocket: Save important posts that come your way to read them on the weekends.

Related: 3 Productivity Tools to Rev Up Your Business Processes

Tools that helped my business grow.

There are a few tools which help you increase your business growth without much work on your end. These are the tools that helped me do just that this year:

  1. Thrive Leads: This tools helped collect more emails from my website without spending time messing with the code.
  2. SumoMe: It provides you with a great set of tools. I like to use the share, content analytics and heatmap tools. Did I mention it’s free? I’m doing just fine with the free version.
  3. Active Campaign: Creating automation with ease to convert new subscribers and customers has never been easier. Forget infusionsoft with its complexity and the hefty price you pay initially and monthly. You pay a fraction of that with Active Campaign.
  4. Optimizepress: Started using it lately after all the buzz I heard. It deserves every penny of the $97 I paid for it.
  5. Buzzsumo: Great tool to help me identify popular topics and posts in my “industry +” who are sharing it.

Related: 6 Powerful Productivity Tools That Can Supercharge Every Solopreneur’s Workflow

There are many tools out there but these are the ones that had the most impact on my business and my life so far in 2016.

 

Entrepreneur.com | October 7, 2016 | Ahmed Safwan

 

 

#Leadership : Top 15 Apps To Make Your Life Easier Everyday…..2015 was a Year of Huge Advances in the World of Apps. They’ve Gone from a “Fun” addition to a Smartphone to Being a Useful, Necessary & even Revolutionary Way of doing Business, Among other Things.

According to Apple, at the start of 2015, there were 1.4 million apps available for download and the 100 billion download mark was surpassed. In addition, by May of 2015, there were 40,000 new apps that were submitted to be released. With the abundant uprise in development and use, it has become almost impossible to spend time figuring out which apps are worth it and which are just not up to par.

Free- Biz Man on Cellphone

I’ve broken it down and found some of the top business apps that will not only help you to be more organized, but could even change the way your business operates, saving you time and money.

ExpensifyThis app provides an easy to use interface that allows you to scan and categorize your receipts automatically. This app is clean and very intuitive.

Trello: If organization is your problem, Trello is your solution. This app allows you to keep up with ongoing projects without having to hop around to multiple places. You can even interact with others who are working on that project. According to Trello, “Trello is the free, flexible, and visual way to organize anything with anyone.”

GoToMeeting: This app was updated this year and it has made online meetings extremely efficient. It’s fast, reliable, and extremely simple to use, making it an ideal platform to hold meetings and conferences. If you’re always on the go or work with people in other cities, this is especially for you.

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 800K+ Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 10K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

Apple Pay: 2015 was the year it happened. We can now pay for goods and services with our iPhones. The security features are top-notch and since Apple partnered with Visa, Mastercard and American Express, it is widely accepted in a growing number of places.

WordswagNeed a nifty little graphic to post online? Enter Wordswag. Take any photo, slap a cool font on it, and you’ve got a professional looking image to post on all of your social media sites. This app allows you to instantly create word art and images with text using their cool font and style options.

Office MobileThe Microsoft Office suite is one of the most widely used bundles of software in the world. Now you can access it all on your phone, too! Microsoft released the mobile version of their Office Suite, allowing you to create and edit documents no matter where you are in the world.

IFTTTThis app hasn’t received the credit it deserves. It allows you to create your own personalized app by creating “recipes” that will alert you whenever you want. For example, if you want to be emailed every time the Lakers win a game, you could create that recipe. The options are endless and while it takes a little playing around with, it’s well worth it to have a completely customized alerting system.

AsanaThis team management app allows you to easily communicate with your employees, no e-mails required. You can assign tasks, keep track of everyday, update projects, and have discussions with your team with the touch of a button.

TripItTraveling as you know it has changed for good. Who wants to sift through emails to figure out what flight they’re on, the hotel they’re staying at, and where to get their rental car? This app organizes everything into one place so that you can easily access everything you need. It also allows you to share your itineraries with friends and family, alerts you when other flights that might serve you better come up, and my favorite: helps you snag the best seat on the plane!

RescueTimeThis is one of my favorite apps on this list. We are all guilty of spending too much time on social media, and it can be hard to resist. RescueTime holds you accountable by breaking down how you spend your time. It lets you set goals, shows you how much time you’re spending on social media, and even allows you to block certain sites if you’ve been on them for too long.

SquareThis is one of the easiest payment systems you can get that requires almost no equipment, can be done from your phone, and is set up completely online. When you sign up for Square, you’ll be sent a small card reader that plugs right into your smartphone. You can send receipts via email and text messages, allow customers to leave tips, and the charge fees are extremely reasonable. This is also a great tool for your employees to use if they’re on the go and making point of sale transactions while out of the office.

 

Forbes.com | January 20, 2016 |  Jennifer Cohen CONTRIBUTOR, I help executives & entrepreneurs boost productivity through wellness.