The worst thing an entrepreneur can do is busy work. No wonder we like to stay productive at all times. Productivity can cover a wide number of things. Not just about managing time. To me, part of being productive is to shave off time everywhere I can. Even if it means seconds because they all add up.

The following are productivity apps for entrepreneurs I’ve found and use regularly.

Evernote

I know it is hard for some people to consider this a productivity app. The light bulb did not come on for me with Evernote either. That is until I have a shift in perspective. Don’t organize. Search.

For me, organization takes time. You have to hunt for the folder. Drill down the tree. By the time I find the folder, I’ve often forgotten what is it I want to note.

Evernote is to me a huge junk drawer where I throw in everything – “for later”. I also tag them whenever I can and tagging takes less time than organizing. When I want to find something I search.

Some people have told me they can’t find the stuff they put into Evernote. While I do come across that at times, it’s not often at all. If I can’t find it that means I probably saved it somewhere else. Also, I use the paid version of Evernote which searches a whole lot more and that is probably why my mileage goes farther. Tagging also helps tremendously.

Alfred

If you use a Mac, you MUST get Alfred. You don’t even have to get the paid PowerPack to get the most out of it. I used the free version for years and only recently upgraded. What can PowerPack do? The question is what can’t it do.

I primarily use it for snippets. I save commonly typed things like website URLs, email addresses, canned responses etc. I also use it to search everything on my computer, bookmarks and the Internet in one go. This goes along perfectly with my workflow and philosophy of not trying to remember but search instead. The best thing is, I barely scratched the surface of using Alfred.

Book Like A Boss (BLAB)

Ever tried making an appointment with a client or even a friend? The whole back and forth thing is a huge waste of time. Not to mention loads of unnecessary emails. I use BLAB to resolve this for both personal and business events.

Zapier

You can automate so many things with this one single tool it’s crazy. It may take you a while to figure out what to automate. So don’t think huge tasks. Think small tasks that Zapier can alleviate for you everyday. Then build upon that.

Echo and Alexa

Seriously. It’s so much easier for you to set reminders, alarms, create task lists, catch up with industry news and more by voice command. As a solo entrepreneur, I also don’t have the luxury of asking people stuff like what date is today, what’s the phone number for Holiday Inn in town etc. Alexa does that.

Finally…

A Good Old Fashioned Paper Planner

Yes I know it’s supposed to be apps, but paper planners and paper notebooks are invaluable. For the same reason I use Evernote above. Often times by the time I figure out which app to use, find the app and classify information, I would have forgotten what I’m supposed to be doing or capturing. Jot it down quickly on paper, then transfer later if you absolutely need a digital system. Better yet, use a combo like the RocketBook.