The Best Time Management Apps for Business Owners

Many business owners wrestle with the feeling that they never have enough time to accomplish all their projects, but if you don’t solve the problem, your operations could get thrown off track — leaving you in a perpetual state of unproductiveness. Fortunately, there are time management apps to the rescue. Here are 7 of our favorites.

The Best Time Management Apps for Business:

1. OmniFocus

This is an iOS app that features to-do lists and project management options. It lets you look at your priorities for the day and works with Siri to let you add tasks on the fly.

Because OmniFocus syncs with your inbox and calendar, it’s easy to verify what you need to get done and when. (Cost: $49.99-99.99)

2. Front

Although it’s convenient, email can take up large chunks of time, especially if multiple people at your business have access to a company-wide inbox. Front is a multi-channel inbox that features email accounts, along with optional social media accounts, such as your company’s Twitter feed.

Front also makes it possible to access private and shared messages in the same place, saving you from having to look at multiple interfaces or log in at several sites. (Cost: $19-50; an Enterprise Plan is also available.)

3. Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is Microsoft’s digital note-taking app, so it prevents you from wasting time looking for scraps of paper with important details written on them. There are also numerous ways to use OneNote for work.

You can integrate it with Outlook for project management purposes, capture all your best ideas with it and even transcribe audio with OneNote by dragging audio clips directly into it and typing as you hear a recording.

OneNote also offers mobile apps and works in the cloud. That means wherever you go and whatever device you use, your notes are never far away. (Cost: Free)

4. Pocket

Like many business owners, you probably have a keen interest in staying abreast of new happenings in your industry and often spend time looking for the latest relevant content. But this can also turn into a time-waster, especially if you end up reading something for too long.

Pocket is a browser extension and tablet app that lets you immediately capture interesting content, making it easy to read later.

For example, by using the browser button, you can ask Pocket to send an article to you via email. Alternatively, view collected content on your smartphone or tablet to read at home.

Because Pocket doesn’t require internet access to let you view content, it’s excellent for making the most of your time in areas without Wi-Fi access. (Cost: Free)

5. Drag

You may have heard of a project management process called Kanban, which lets people visualize tasks and workflows on cards attached to boards. Many organizations depend on Kanban to help improve workflow efficiency. Teams work on accomplishing things together, and there are no deadlines, which allows for more flexibility.

Drag is an app that brings the Kanban concept to email. It works directly with your Gmail interface and lets you create lists with descriptive titles. You can make one for tasks you need to do, things you’ve done and more.

Also, it’s possible to use tags to designate whether a responsibility is work-related or purely personal. (Cost: Free version available. Paid versions are $8 – $12 per month, per user)

6. x.ai

Meetings are necessary but time-consuming to schedule. Ever wish there was someone to help? x.ai is an artificial intelligence-powered meeting scheduling app that lives in your email inbox. Use Amy or Andrew as your virtual assistant and CC one of them on initial emails related to meeting scheduling.

After you connect your calendar, the app takes care of the back-and-forth communications that often accompany confirming times and places to meet. (Cost: $8-59 per user, per month after a free trial)

7. Toggl

Perhaps you’ve wanted to try the Pomodoro Technique ever since a colleague told you about it. It involves working in short, timed sprints but also taking periodic breaks to keep your motivation high. The practice itself isn’t hard, but if you’d like some encouragement to get into the habit, try using the Toggl app.

The app has a built-in time tracking interface, which facilitates blocking off a certain amount of time for a task. There’s also an integrated Pomodoro timer that ensures you never spend too long or too little doing something and never have to estimate.

Toggl also has an advanced reporting feature that shows your most productive periods of the day across time. You can then use the insights to plan future workdays and boost the likelihood of making the most of every day. (Cost: Free version available. Premium plans range from $9-59 per month per user after a 30-day trial period.)

Thanks to these apps, time shortages don’t have to become permanent struggles. Whether you try one or several, expect to be amazed at how much a small change and targeted technology can help you reclaim precious minutes of your days.

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