Chances are if you have a smart phone or tablet, you use apps on a daily basis – whether it’s to check the weather or your social feed. There are millions of apps out there that can help with you with everything from making restaurant reservations to editing photos and finding inspiration for decorating your home. But what a lot of admins don’t know is that there are also numerous apps that can help you do your job better. So, which ones are worth downloading?
These are some of my top picks for apps that will help with productivity, travel planning, social media management, and more!
- Microsoft Office Suite Mobile Apps: Did you know that most of the Microsoft Office Suite applications you use on your laptop or desktop are also available for your mobile device? From OneNote to Outlook and even PowerPoint and Excel – you can download Office apps to view, edit and create documents all from your mobile devices.
- Note-Taking Apps: If you’re like me, you’re constantly taking notes – whether it’s adding something to a to-do list or jotting down an idea that randomly pops into my head. Note-taking apps, such as Evernote or OneNote, make it easy to organize, capture, and share anything. They also give you the freedom to work from anywhere on any device. I also like the DayOne Journal app for journaling on the go.
- Travel Planning Apps: When it comes to planning a trip – whether it’s for yourself or your executive – travel planning apps are an absolute must! From currency apps that help calculate exactly what something will cost in another country to time zone converter apps that show various time zones across the globe, I never leave for an international trip without them! Tripit is my favorite app for creating mobile itineraries, which you or your executive can access from any mobile device. All you have to do is forward your confirmation emails to the app (hotel, rental car, airline tickets, etc.), and Tripit organizes them all in one place. I also highly recommend SeatGuru, and the apps for hotel, airline, and ground transportation companies you use the most.
- Social Media Apps: Individual apps for social sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, are handy if you need to just access one account. However, I actually prefer to use one app that accesses all my social sites, such as HootSuite or TweetDeck. Once it’s setup, you just visit one app for monitoring, posting, and accessing all of your social accounts.
- Project Management Apps: Teamwork is, by far, my favorite project management app. It’s what I use to keep my own team on track. You can update statuses, track time and tasks, and get real-time updates on all your projects. Others you may want to research include Trello, Asana, and Basecamp.
- Cloud-Based File Storage Apps: Being able to access your work from any device at any time can seriously boost your productivity, and cloud-based file storing apps allow you to do just that. The Dropbox, Box, Amazon Cloud Drive, and OneDrive apps make it easy to access, update, backup, and share files from just about anywhere. No more flash drives or emailing files to yourself.
Getting your job done on the go is a lot easier when you have a mini mobile office in your pocket or bag! So, check out some of these apps and download the ones that will help you the most. Have a mobile app that you can’t live (or work) without that’s not on this list? Share it on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages.
© 2018 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Julie Perrine, CAP-OM, is the founder and CEO of All Things Admin, providing training, mentoring and resources for administrative professionals worldwide. Julie applies her administrative expertise and passion for lifelong learning to serving as an enthusiastic mentor, speaker and author who educates admins around the world on how to be more effective every day. Learn more about Julie’s books — The Innovative Admin: Unleash the Power of Innovation in Your Administrative Career and The Organized Admin: Leverage Your Unique Organizing Style to Create Systems, Reduce Overwhelm, and Increase Productivity, and Become a Procedures Pro: The Admin’s Guide to Developing Effective Office Systems and Procedures. And request your free copy of our special report “From Reactive to Proactive: Creating Your Strategic Administrative Career Plan” at www.AllThingsAdmin.com.
