5 Productivity Tools We Can’t Live Without
Feb 12, 2016
Productivity doesn’t have to be an aspiration – if you have the right tools it can be a reality! Here at The Creation Lab office, we each have our own little methods of staying productive, such as the trusty list or going for a walk. But here are 5 tools that, collectively, we can’t live without!
Slack
Slack is like one of those rare Christmas gifts that become a part of everyday life – you wonder what you ever did without it. It’s a simple, yet oh-so-useful, messaging system that keeps all the office communication in one place, from the new website project on Monday to the post-work beer on Friday. Slack allows us to organise our conversations into channels, so nothing gets missed and we can each tune into the conversations that concern us.
Oh, and it also lets us post random gifs like this…
SmartSheet
If you love spreadsheets, you’ll love SmartSheet. It’s our Business Development Co-ordinator’s “favourite thing in the world” – and the rest of us quite like it too! We use SmartSheet to manage our client accounts and stay up to date with developments within our different departments. Because it’s an online tool, we can also invite partners and clients to view our updates when appropriate.
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo tracks the performance of all content on social media, from articles to videos, news stories to infographics. For our blog and social media team, this is a glorious thing. We use Buzzsumo to explore what’s trending for different topics, so we can learn what works best for the different industries we write for. We can also find out what is trending on social media in real-time – this gives us plenty of current material to share on the social media accounts we manage.
Trello
While we all love to tick off tasks on a handwritten list, Trello takes this online, so you can keep an eye on your daily tasks without the risk of someone spilling their drink over them. We all have those little jobs that take 5 minutes here and there, and Trello is the perfect way to make sure all these are completed on time. We can also invite members of the team to see different tasks, which is perfect for our collaborative working style here at The Creation Lab.
Tea
Tea is a magical thing. It’s the fuel of our meetings. It gives us a little oasis away from our computer screens, a boost for the rest of the day. Many a website has been completed with a trusty Creation Lab mug of tea by our side. Question is, does the milk go in first, or the water? One of life’s great myths, still yet to be resolved here in the office…
Is there anything you can’t live without in your place of work? We’d love to know!