4 Tools You Need to Try for Better Productivity

But with this flexibility comes an enhanced need for us to manage our time as effectively as possible. Here are 4 web-based tools you probably haven’t heard of that can help you save time, and get more things done. 1. Unroll.me. Did you notice the steady stream of email newsletters you received over the holidays this year? So did I, which is why I decided to try Unroll.me. Now I’m hooked. Unroll.me first scans your entire inbox. It then lets you unsubscribe from newsletters you never want to receive again, with just a click. Next, you can “rollup” the newsletters you still want to receive—but here’s the catch—all of these will come to you just once a day.

Starting to miss all that inbox noise? In the rare care this is true, you can always remove an email subscription from your digest list. Then you’re back to normal delivery for that message. You wouldn’t want to use Unroll.me for anything but newsletters, since after all, any urgent message you wouldn’t see right away. If you have no interest in filtering and condensing your emails into one digest, the easy, one-click email unsubscribe feature alone is worth your time. 2. If This Then That (IFTTT). If you’re using an RSS reader, Google Alerts or stock alerts, then you’ll love IFTTT. Here’s a little secret: anytime I’m able to let the internet “do the work” for me, I let it. If This Then That is the ultimate way of automating tasks over the internet right now. It ends up saving me hours each month. The real benefit is I’m able to get a widespread amount of timely information all delivered to me. Pronounced like “gift” without the “g,” it works based on inputting specific conditions that will trigger an action to occur. The statements look like this: If [a certain thing happens], then [make this action occur]. Here’s an example of a few recipes that I have set up:

• If this hashtag is used on Instagram, then send me an email with it as an attachment and link
• If an article is saved for later in Feedly, then send it to my Evernote
• If there will be rain tomorrow, then send me an email
• If there is a new post to the Facebook page, then send me a text

You can use recipes that are already set up by other users by going to the browse section, or you can create conditional statements yourself. From automating the setup of your iOS reminders, to setting up specific stock alerts, to automatically saving files to your Dropbox, the time you can save using IFTTT really adds up. 3. Buffer App. Social media marketing is at its best with one-on-one, authentic conversations, but that doesn’t mean as marketers we can’t still use tools to enhance that process. Buffer for Business is one such tool that automates and optimizes your content timing. First, I should step back. Buffer’s magic starts with its integration with Feedly, enabling you to seamlessly take content you’ve found through Feedly and share that on Twitter (or LinkedIn or on Facebook). Buffer allows you to then schedule those posts so that they are at optimal times based on when your followers are online. No one can argue against the idea that timing is crucial in social media. What this means for me as a social media manager is that I’m not just blasting out a bunch of articles at once, which is unfavorable for my audience. Second, it’s a bit unreasonable to think we can monitor our Twitter feeds 24-7, and even if we wanted to, it wouldn’t be a good idea to blast out stacked Tweets, one after another (unless you’re Guy Kawasaki!). Buffer’s solution is that it lets you delay your re-tweets or replies as well, resulting in a steady, but distributed, “stream” of information. Again, this format is the most effective delivery for your typical follower. 4. eSign by Edoc. With eSign by Edoc, in the time it would take your office administrator to drive to your nearest FedEx, you could a lready have any given document approved and signed by all parties! That is no exaggeration: eSign by Edoc is the easiest way to quickly approve and then e-sign documents. And yes, it’s just as legally binding as your hard copy signature. What makes it even better is this: it automatically sends the notifications to any signers that they have a document waiting on them to sign. Once they sign in, they can review a document, type in their name and PIN, and the document is signed. For many businesses with heavy paperwork, the ability to bulk sign saves hours each month. eSign by Edoc automatically reminds signers if they have forgotten to sign a document, meaning I have one less email to send if this happens. These 4 web-based tools help bring the filtered information to us, instead of the other way around. They automate time-sucking tasks. They remove some of the friction that we have in marketing, sales, and in business administration today. If you’ve heard of some of these tools before and you’re still hesitating to use them, I suggest you to give them a try. Do you have any other lesser-known, web-based tools you’re using to increase your overall productivity? Let us know. [caption id="attachment_714" align="alignleft" width="150"] Kim Sykes[/caption] READ MORE: If you liked this post, you might like “Proven Strategies to be More Influential Through Email“ Kim Sykes is a marketer and content creator at Edoc Service, Inc., a total virtual company. ]]>