Five Tools in the Workplace to Help You Get Home on Time Daily

Working more than 8 hours in a physical office is a thing of the past with these five online tools to help you manage your time and commitments between work and life. The word “office” has evolved to mean anywhere where you can do work, and no longer necessarily means being confined in the crevices of four office walls.

1. Outlook Mobile email or Google Mail: Access both your personal AND work emails from your phone. For some, having their work emails popping up in their phone is a source of stress, but the plus side of this is being able to move about more freely without missing important updates and requests. Outlook mobile or Gmail mobile make it easy and less clunky for you to do work while typing from your phone keypad. As well, large screened mobile phones may seem clunky but help in both reading and typing away your emails from the comfort of your mobile phone while plopped up in a comfy couch.

2. Notepad / Evernote: Notepad apps such as Evernote help you manage your to do lists in a fancy but simple way, complete with being able to prioritize and categorize lists across the many roles you play. 

3. Pocket: Allows you to read saved articles even while offline help in maximizing commutes in either updating your to do lists or reading important articles that you would not otherwise have time to do offline

4. Calendar app: There are apps nowadays that help with organizing meetings and schedules across your co-workers, customers, and favorite people. These take away the guess work and ping pong back and forth of finding a schedule to match in order to meet

5. Viber or Whatsapp:  Calls and instant messages can now be made any time anywhere to anyone, free of charge as long as you have a wifi signal, making it easier for you to take a work-related video call from home and still have quality time with your loved ones before they go to sleep

6. Google Drive and Microsoft One Drive: These allow you to access your files from anywhere and also enables you to share spreadsheets to collaborate with anyone in a secure way, making it easier to plan with people without getting stuck in traffic and without getting lost in translation or lost in detail. 

7. Google Sheets: If you need to make quick edits to a file or spreadsheet on your commute home, Google Sheets is here to save you from opening your laptop before you lose that train of thought.  

8. Canva: Spending hours using photo design software is a thing of the past with Canva, where you can choose templates, customize them and edit them to your own liking

9. Zoom or Google Meet: Everyone’s pandemic favorite will surely stay post pandemic. Have seemingly real life conversations with this video conferencing app to help see eye to eye with your colleagues

10. Clubhouse: If you to gather opinions or get a forum of like minded people to discuss or brainstorm a certain topic, then Clubhouse’ high quality sound will help to make sure everyone’s voice is heard

11. Mibo: This is a great app for having an office social party while at home with a creative interface that’s sure to help with breaking advice 

12. Apps for Personal Errands: There are so many apps that allow you to work on your errands from office without getting stuck in traffic. Grab Mart takes care of your groceries, Gifted.PH takes care of buying gifts for you. There are apps for laundry, food service, paying bills, booking the best rates. It would be a shame not to use them to make your life easier.  

The best thing about these tools is that they come free of charge and are readily downloadable and accessible via any mobile phone. If you don’t already have them, time to download or browse through and discover world of difference with these handy apps.