We live in a world that often seems to be preoccupied with doing things faster and better. In other words, preoccupied with ever-increasing productivity.
Faster and better is good, but it can also take a toll. The digital age has brought with it a host of powerful productivity tools to help us manage our projects. However, it has also brought with it more to do, and less time to do it in.
How do we deal with this mixed blessing and curse? By being on the lookout for the best productivity tools out there. And, religiously following productivity tips that will help us in our work and in life in general.
We’ve done our research to find what we believe are the top productivity apps going into 2019. We’ve supplemented them with 5 tried-and-tested productivity tips. These are not only common sense but can easily become habit-forming.
We’ll start with:
Mason is a different kind of animal than you generally associate with productivity tools. It’s true that Mason makes managing certain tasks easier and enables you to do other tasks faster. What Mason doesn’t do is make some of the tasks you’re used to doing because you feel they’re imperative easier by managing them for you. Mason simply ignores them!
Mason helps teams work together to design, build, and deploy pixel-perfect features for post-deployed apps, and enables them to do so quickly and economically. What these teams do not have to do is rely on prototyping exercises, QA inspections, documentation, and coding.
Mason creates HTML/CSS on the spot, obviating the necessity for coding and freeing up developers to work on larger, more complex projects. Mason also eliminates having to wait for the next deployment cycle to deliver a app feature. Any authorized person with a Mason account can install a new feature in an application that’s already in a post-deployment mode.
There’s much to like about this somewhat out-of-the-ordinary productivity tool. We suggest a closer look.
Prototyping is often useful and at times essential, whether it is a small app feature, or a more complex software that is being designed.
Proto.io’s editor and beautifully crafted UI components can be used to design low-fidelity or high-fidelity prototypes from scratch, and Proto.io can prove to be indispensable for teams that subscribe to a rapid prototyping approach.
No coding or special design skills are required to use this productivity tool and the new Proto.io 6 is more intuitive and easier to use than ever. Features include a new Proto.io app for iOS and Android to assist you in previewing prototypes on mobile devices.
Proto.io consists of an Editor for building your prototypes, a Player that aids in user testing, and a Dashboard that allows you to overview your projects and team members.
monday.com enables teams to manage every detail of their work, from initial planning and estimating, to specific details of their daily tasks, to final billing.
This powerful team management tool isn’t just another tool that quietly goes about its business in the background. You can see for yourself how it helps to boost your team’s collective productivity by the way it encourages transparency and empowers its users by providing managers and employees alike with the same information.
When teams love the tools they are given to work with they find it much easier to make changes for the better in their work habits and processes. More than 50,000 paying teams working for startups and for Fortune 500 companies have shown this to be the case.
monday.com provides an effective team management solution for teams or freelancers working together to thousands of teams collaborating around the globe.
Nutcache is an all-in-one productivity tool both teams and freelancers can use to better collaborate with their clients, streamline their workflows, and complete their assigned tasks on time and within budget. Although this productivity app is designed with teams in mind, and especially those who subscribe to Agile principles and practices, freelancers can also use it to boost their productivity by working more efficiently.
ActiveCollab was designed for creative professionals in mind and it’s long been their weapon of choice when it comes to project management. The new and improved version comes with a redesigned and upgraded UI and a great deal of improvements all across the board, including an array of new themes and theme customization options. The highlight of the new ActiveCollab has to be its task dependencies and automatic rescheduling feature – child tasks are automatically rescheduled when a parent task is modified.
Poor presentations can be costly for any business. Lucidchart gives its users the tools to convey complex ideas and present them in a way that’s understandable to both technical and lay audiences alike. This is accomplished in part by Lucidchart’s library of special shapes that can be applied to any type of flowchart or diagram. Lucidchart also has an extensive number of templates; users can easily build on and/or completely customize visual processes or ideas.
Top 5 Productivity Tips to Achieve More and Create Peace of Mind
#1 – Write it down
Every task you’re given, and every commitment you make, should be put down in writing. This saves you the time that might otherwise be wasted trying to remember a task or recall a commitment. Write everything down.
#2 – Do the dreaded task now
You inevitably get tasks you wish would just go away. The tendency is to let them slide in hopes it just might happen. It never will of course, and the best way to tackle the situation is to do a dreaded task first. You’ll avoid added stress and worry and end up feeling better about yourself.
#3 – Take breaks during work
Taking periodic breaks keeps your mind fresh and consequently boosts your productivity. Experts suggest taking a 10-12 minute break every 45 minutes. But you may want to experiment to find out what works best for you.
#4 – Exercise
Without exercise, it’s hard to maintain a healthy body, and maintain a healthy mind as well. Healthy people tend to be more productive and quite naturally feel better. Make it a habit to exercise every day.
#5 – Stop Saying Yes to Everything and Everyone
Saying yes to every assignment or a client’s every wish will eventually wear you down. Your productivity will suffer. You’re also putting control of your life in the hands of others. Learn to say No, and when you do – mean it.
Conclusion
While it’s unlikely you would find use for all 6 of these productivity tools. One or two of them could prove to be a game changer in terms of your productivity. Especially when accompanied by our 5 productivity tips.
We recommend making all 5 tips habitual practices.
The post Best Apps to Improve Productivity For Design Teams in 2019 appeared first on Web Design Blog | Magazine for Designers.
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