The Top 27 Productivity Tools For Small Businesses

Productivity Tools

Evernote

It’s a simple, easy-to-use app that helps you stay organized and get more work done. You can use it to capture, organize, and share your notes from virtually anywhere. 

It’s a simple app that ensures you’re able to write, record, and share your thoughts and that all your ideas are always in sync.  

• A central place for collecting your ideas and making them more accessible
• You can add attachments, audio recordings, and links
• You can scan and record information from business cards, without necessarily writing it manually

Productivity Tools

Asana

What’s more?

You can control who sees each task. You also get notified via email whenever there’s an upcoming deadline. 

Also, they recently updated their platform, thus making it even easier to navigate.

• Set goals: You can set strategic goals and track their progress from a central location
• Email notifications on approaching deadlines
• Set project permissions
• Comment on tasks
• Track tasks
• Add followers
• Set goals, priorities, and timeframes or due dates
• Multiple workspaces

Productivity Tools

Trello

In one glance, it tells you what your team is working on, who’s handling which part, and what progress has been made so far. 

Think of it as a whiteboard filled with multiple sticky notes, each representing a task that you and each member of your team is working on. 

• It comes with tools to minimise confusion around work assignments, organise different tasks, and track the progress made
• Can be integrated with an unlimited number of apps, including Evernote, Slack, Salesforce, Github, Toggl, and Google Hangouts
• You can attach up to 250 MBs of files
• Constant notifications on any device you’re on
• Allows you to export team data in one click

Productivity Tools

Slack

Well, not exactly– judging from the history of emails and the far they have come, it’s safe to say that they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

But their use will be significantly reduced as more and more people switch to Slack. 

Slack is an instant messaging app that makes communication between teams so much easier. It can be accessed from virtually anywhere, and with any device. It’s also well-organised, and fast on delivering messages. Not to mention its user-friendly interface. 

And not only that, it comes with a range of add-ons that allow you to make video calls, share documents, and integrate with an unlimited number of apps. 

• Chat and team messaging
• You can set up reminders
• You can highlight keywords to be notified whenever someone uses them in a conversation
• Can be integrated with ToDoist and Wunderlist to add and track tasks
• Easy note-taking

Productivity Tools

IFTTT

It’s a simple automation platform for connecting different apps, social media channels, and devices.

• You can automatically add your Android calls to Google spreadsheet. You can use the app to link your android phone and Google spreadsheet, and every time you make a call, it will be automatically added to Google spreadsheet. 
• You can link your Amazon’s Alexa to-dos with your iOS reminder app. That way, every new task you add to your Alexa to-dos will be automatically added to your IOS reminders app. 
• Get notified every time an international space station passes near you. 
• And so on.

Productivity Tools

Omni Focus

The app was first launched in 2008, as an advanced to-do list app designed around David Allen’s Book, Getting Things Done. 

It keeps you productive by updating you on the next task. It’s an incredibly simple tool to use, with easy controls that are a snap to learn.  

• Capture Your Tasks: Omnifocus allows you to capture tasks by writing down your ideas, tasks, projects, etc. 

• Clarify: You’re to then revisit everything you’ve written and determine if they’re really important, and what actions need to be taken. 

• Organise: This is where you organise everything, pulling similar tasks together, to get them all done at once. It’s also where you group different tasks and add them to your workflow to get all the steps in order.
• Reflect: Here, you’re to review your tasks and make sure they’re all important and that you didn’t forget anything important. 
• Engage: Now it’s time to get your hands dirty and get the tasks done.

The first option is where you buy the app by paying a one-time fee. 

The second option requires you to purchase a monthly subscription. They, however, offer a two-week free trial where you get to enjoy all the app features before deciding if it’s a worthwhile investment. 

Productivity Tools

Basecamp

It’s an excellent app for tracking your tasks, files, deadlines, discussions, and announcements. 

Think of it as a virtual hub for your organisation and teams. 

• Message boards for facilitating communication between different members of your team working on a specific project. 
• Campfire: a casual chatroom for the different members of a team involved in any particular project. 
• To-do Lists: You can create a to-do list and assign to different members of your team. 

Productivity Tools

17hats

It essentially eliminates the need for unnecessary paperwork.

• Client profile management
• Credit card payments
• Automated payment reminders
• Online contract signing
• Templates
• Scheduling
• Financial management

• The unlimited plan which goes for $39 per month
• The Lite plan goes for $25 per month
• Annual unlimited plan which goes for $25 per month, but billed annually ($299 per year

This plan has a 30-day free trial for new customers

17hats has no free plan. 

Productivity Tools

Everhour

It’s also a great app for building all kinds of reports and sending your clients professional-looking invoices. 

Everhour integrates with a long list of other project management apps, including Asana, Trello, Github, Basecamp, Jira, and more. 

• Tracking project/tasks time
• Billable Time-rate management
• Invoice creation
• Project accounting
• Automated reminders

Productivity Tools

Time Doctor

You can use it to track their time, find out if they were really working or just idling around. 

• Screenshots recording
• Alerts to help you avoid distractions
• Monitors both web and app usage

All their paid plans come with a 30-day free trial for first-time users of the app. 

Productivity Tools

Toggl

Their free tier is generous enough to let you access all Toggl apps (Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Web, and browser extensions. The plan also includes all the core functionalities and features you’d expect to find in a time-tracking app. 

They have an intuitive dashboard that you should be able to figure out on first glance. 

• Real-time tracking
• The ability to manually edit the tracked time and add time blocks
• Advanced reporting features
• Offline tracking 
• Can create invoices and export data

Productivity Tools

Get Harvest

Not only that, after tracking the time, it will collate all the timesheet data and compile them into intuitive, visual reports that you can use to monitor your team’s work progress and make important business decisions. 

You can even use it to create an invoice for your client and email it to them to get paid.

• Intuitive and straightforward interface
• Allows you to create invoices and send them to clients
• Powerful reporting with great insight into your project
• Numerous integrations

They also offer a 30-day free trial on their paid version – no credit card is required for this.

Productivity Tools

Paymo

We’d like to classify it as mid-range time-tracking software. In other words, it’s a little beefier than a standard time-tracking app, but not quite on the same level as an enterprise-grade one capable of managing hundreds of projects and accommodating thousands of employees. 

It’s a reasonably simple app to use that packs lots of incredible features you’d want to check out. 

• Detailed project reports
• Accurate tracking time 
• You can categorise entries and automate them

Productivity Tools

Hubstaff

Employees can track their time, and even choose when to do it. 

Once the app starts running, you can monitor which application or websites your employees are viewing and the rest of their screen activities. 

It can gather all this data and even provide you with individual reports on each one of your employees. 

• Monitors the websites and applications your employees are visiting
• Screenshot monitoring
• Activity levels monitoring
• Work limit monitoring
• Employee location monitoring
• Project status monitoring
• Invoice management
• Payroll management

For their paid versions, they have three plans to choose from: Basic (at $5/user/month), Premium (at $10/user/month), and Enterprise (at $20/user/month). 

Productivity Tools

Monday.com

Some people might mistake it for a project management tool. But far from it – it’s more like a compilation of highly-customised spreadsheets where members of your team can log in to complete tasks. 

The tool is also designed to update them on their progress, work status, and other key information.  

• Highly customizable
• Modern UI
• Includes templates
• Offers in-app automations
• Encourages accountability and transparency
• You can invite clients over to see your progress 
• Have pulses for easy communication between members of your team

Their pricing varies depending on your number of users and the list of features you’ll be using. For instance, with their basic plan, five users will cost you $39 per month, whereas 100 users will get the amount to $799 per month.  

The three other plans include the standard plan, the pro plan, and the enterprise plan. 

Email Management Tools

Right Inbox

It’s a simple tool that works to ensure you never lose track of important emails.

You can even use it to track your emails to know which ones were opened and which ones weren’t.

Worth mentioning are the email templates that guide you through the process of writing and sending your emails. 

• Email archiving and retention
• Signature management
• Email monitoring and tracking
• Response management
• Canned responses
• Whitelisting and blacklisting

Their charges range from free to $7.95 per month. Their free account can only handle 10 messages per month, while their paid plan can handle an unlimited number of emails. 

Email Management Tools

 Checker Plus

You can use it to read, delete, and listen to emails, without necessarily opening your email account. You can also use it to identify and eliminate irrelevant emails from your Checker Plus dashboard. 

It’s a great app if you’re always on the road with little to no time to respond to your emails. 

Not only that, you’ll also be notified whenever you receive a new email. You can even assign different sound notifications to different email addresses or contacts to know who’s emailed you just from the sound of the notifications. 

• Send you a notification pop-up whenever you receive a new email
• Set a voice notification to read you the email loud when someone sends it
• Monitor your Gmail or any other custom label
• Support multiple Gmail accounts
• Fixes inbox zero

Email Management Tools

Sanebox

That way, you can only focus on what’s important.

Better, Sanebox is designed to work with your email service, so you don’t have to install any new app or beat yourself up trying to understand a new interface. 

Suffice it to say, it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to emails since email invention. 

• Great features to supercharge your emails
• Easy to use
• Great customization
• Super flexible

They do not offer a free plan, but they have a 14-day free trial where they allow you to try out all their features to see which plan works for you best. 

Sanebox Snack goes for $7 per month or $59 per year (which translates to 40% discount). 

Their lunch plan goes for $12 per month or $99 per year (again, after a 40% discount).

Lastly is their Dinner plan, which goes for $36 per month or $299 per year (after a 40% discount). 

Email Management Tools

Unroll Me

The goal is to help you get rid of the clutter in your email account and manage your emails efficiently. 

• You can read the emails at your own most convenient time. Unroll Me will organise your email in virtual roll up and let you read them at the time of your choosing.
• It’s secure and can be accessed from virtually anywhere
• Keeps your emails organised and clutter-free
• You can unsubscribe from irrelevant emails en masse
• Supports Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, Mail, Outlook, and more
• Good customisation
• Consolidates your email subscriptions and newsletters in a central place

Email Management Tools

Boomerang

You can even compose your emails and have them send to your list of recipients at a later specified time. 

The best part is that you’re allowed to enjoy all these features for free until a certain limit. 

• Gain full control over when to send and receive email responses
• Get rid of interruptions so you can focus on important tasks
• Temporarily block your emails to deeply focus on an important task
• Supports geo-fencing

Email Management Tools

Inbox

You’d be surprised by how much you can do with it.

• Well, you can take back an email you’ve sent by taking advantage of their “undo send” feature.
• There’s also an option for snoozing emails and reminders
• They also have hundreds of email templates to save you time
• And so on 

Email Management Tools

Airmail

Imagine being able to confirm if your email has been read. 

Airmail can make that happen and in style. 

First, Airmail’s interface blends perfectly with macOS. It’s a carefully-crafted application that works perfectly with a professional environment. 

Their design is simple and clear, with easy to decode labels and icons. Everything feels intuitive when you just look at them.  

• Modern, easy-to-use interface
• Easy access to your emails with no interruption
• It’s a highly customisable email app

Productivity Tools

While it’s impossible to completely wipe out distractions, you can minimise their impact by adopting a focusing app such as Freedom. 

First, you can use Focus App to shut off the internet for a specified amount of time so you can focus on the most important task at hand. 

• Limits your addiction to social media
• Balances your work life better
• Helps you focus on things that matter

Productivity Tools

Focus Booster

It’s a simple app whose main mission is to help you maintain focus while keeping distractions at bay.

Amid all this, it will be automatically recording your sessions in a timesheet just in case you’d want to know how you utilised your time.

• Instant Focus
• Better work habits
• Works on almost any device you’re on, your computer, mobile device, and the web

For their paid plans, they have two options to choose from: their individual plan, which goes for $2.99 per month and limits you to 200 pomodoros, whereas their professional plan goes for $4.99 per month without the limitations.

Their professional plan includes unlimited client tracking, data export functionality, and client tracking.

Productivity Tools

Forest

It was designed on the idea of trees, where each tree symbolises a task you have. You’re to plant a virtual tree every time you want to focus, and any attempt to leave the app automatically kills the tree. 

• Maintain focus in any scenario
• It has partnered with an actual tree-planting organisation

The app costs $1.99 on the app store, with a lot of in-app purchases you might be required to make

Productivity Tools

Hubspot Sales

First, it offers to help you minimise friction in your sales process.

It’s a powerful, easy-to-use sales CRM featuring sales engagement tools, robust sales analytics, and configure price quotes. 

It’s a CRM platform that brings together various sales tools, customer data, and your sales team for richer insights and warmer leads. 

• Launch landing pages
• Marketing automation
• Lead management

Productivity Tools

Litmus

It also empowers your marketing team to deliver maximum subscriber engagement. 

It bears mentioning that almost all the major brands you know use Litmus. 

• Easy to learn and get around
• You can collaborate with clients
• You can share analytics
• Tests your emails for a couple of things before sending

Their plans start at $99 per month, with a 30-day free trial that allows you to try out all the features before making any purchase decision. 

Productivity Tools

WebWork 

Moreover, WebWork provides automated reports on the data it tracks so you do not have to intervene. 

To improve productivity, it monitors the use of apps and websites and detects whenever the user is on a non-productive platform. In such cases, the tracker opens a pop-up reminding about it. 

Then it generates a productivity report based on platform usage, keyword strokes, and mouse clicks. 

• Real-time monitoring
• Productivity monitoring
• Task management
• App and website usage
• Chat and video calls
• Reports