4 Productivity Techniques Every Founder Should Know

As an entrepreneur, I am constantly on the search for productivity apps that work best for me. Whether I’m using an iPhone, Android, Mac or PC — it’s always a challenge to gain more precious time to get things done.

Do you sometimes feel that even after a 12h shift you are not doing enough for your company?

Do you even remember what you accomplished today?

I felt it pretty often, to be honest with you… So I started to invest more time in finding the right productivity apps to be more organized at work. Those helped me to:

• Get more things done,
• Don’t feel guilty and know my limits,
• Gain more free time to unwind!

Shall we start now?

#1 Write them down

Every day, before I go to bed I write down the most important tasks for the next day. This clears my head and defines the points to smoothly start next day. Beside immortal pen and paper I use these to-do apps:

• Wunderlist — A simple To-Do list that I share with my colleagues and even wife (shopping list). Available for each platform, Android and iOS alike.
• Trello — One of the most amazing project management tools I have ever used! Name your project, add the three magical columns — “To Do”, “In Progress” and “Done” — and share it with your employees. It’s way easier and way faster to use than other tools like Asana software (might take some time to properly setup and I find it suitable for bigger projects).
• Xmind (Mind Map) — Mind maps are the best way to capture your ideas quickly and to present them in a visually attractive way. Did you know that using the mind maps can increase your memory by up to 32%?

#2 Stay Focused with productivity apps

Focus should be the most important aspect of your day! To improve your concentration level, try:

• The Pomodoro Technique — A great technique for those who like the agile methodology. The idea is to chunk your tasks up into intervals/sprints (called pomodoros), usually 25 minutes long each and to take 5 minute breaks in-between. During the intervals, you focus on one task only while the timer is tracking time. (Online Pomodoro | iPhone App | Android App),
• Toggl — Do you know how much time you’re spending on tasks at work? Start tracking it with an app. It will make your day more organized and help you re-think how you prioritize your tasks.
• Nozbe — Task management system based on GTD (Getting Things Done) — The most popular time-management method for entrepreneurs. It’s all about getting rid of the task out of your head by recording them externally and then breaking them into small chunks.

#3 Clean it up!

Your workspace, desktop or chrome browser should be “clean”. Clean space is a clean mind! Try this:

• One Tab — Are you also suffering from the “Having A Million Tabs Open” syndrome? Well, this Chrome extension is the cure. It lets you convert all your tabs into a list so you can come back to them later and avoid browser clutter.
• Pocket — Save the stuff (links, videos, blogs, posts etc.) that you would like to “consume” later. You can do it on every device and read it offline.

#4 Delegate

It is NOT possible to get everything done by yourself. Become a guru of delegating tasks. Sometimes, you don’t even have to have any employees. Use these resources:

• Upwork — The biggest freelancers platform for every task that you can imagine and that can be done online. Find other entrepreneurs who can help you out with this productivity app.
• A mix of Slack and Convergely — With these messaging apps you can forget about your e-mail. Use Slack to communicate with your team and freelancers. At the same time, Convergely will help you to delegate and automate processes (See how: The Ultimate List of Slack Tricks and Integrations)

Keep productivity apps under control

Ready to increase your productivity?

A combination of great productivity apps and time-management techniques is a must-have for every entrepreneur who wants to improve his/her performance at work. The list above is intentionally short. I didn’t want you to waste your time digging through another endless list and not settling for any of the suggestions, so I limited myself to just 12 best productivity tools.

Remember that getting more things done is not always about productivity apps. You need a lot of discipline and self-motivation, too.

Start increasing your productivity today and familiarise yourself with at least one of the above right now. Experiment and have fun with these apps to find out what productivity tool setup works best for you!

Have a productive week! 🙂

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Originally published at brainhub.eu on January 20, 2016.