Results derive from productivity, and productivity in the modern workplace is directly linked to employee happiness. Bosses have tried to incorporate many different strategies to increase productivity, but in the end, if an employee is happy to be working, they will work at their optimum rate.

Several aspects will impact an employee’s happiness in their job, ranging from comfort to joint-rewards. While boosting employee productivity won’t simply happen overnight, by integrating a few new strategies, you should see some long term benefits.

Never Undervalue the Power of Comfort

Just because someone has a desk, a decent computer, and a chair doesn’t mean that they’re comfortable. An uncomfortable employee fidgets, is distracted by discomfort, is more inclined to vacate their workspace and will potentially distract others. Having the right tools and equipment is key, with ergonomics being the most important factor in selecting this equipment.

There are several aspects to consider to achieve a prime ergonomic workstation. Overall, it comes down to the chair, potential foot stand, the positioning of the keyboard and mouse, and the monitor height. To get started, if working from the ground up, the chair is the factor that can be changed with the most significant immediate impact. For example, the range of new-age ergonomic Steelcase chairs has been designed to consider the range of postures that modern workers find themselves in throughout the day.

Maintaining Social Order and a Professional Atmosphere

Employees won’t be happy in a hostile or toxic work environment: bosses need to encourage a healthy, respectable, and friendly atmosphere that promotes engagement as much as it does productivity. However, having a friendly work environment can go too far the other way, with employees being more focused on the social aspects than the work at hand. The trick to achieving this balance is to cultivate a social community within the office space.

Another great option for your employees is wellness and motivation workshops. If you go here for corporate wellness solutions, you can find various workshops that will help your employees maintain a healthy work-life balance and boost their productivity. These workshops can include stress management, time management, healthy eating habits, and physical activities.

As noted by Small Business, incorporating a social element into the organizational structure helps to reduce stress and tension in the workplace. As it is work, stress and tension will always arise at some point, but with a community in place, employees are more inclined to help shoulder the burden – strengthening the community feel further. If employees are encouraged to communicate with management and their employees, the threat of stress or tension derailing a project is limited.

Making Work More Enjoyable

Providing perks and specific time periods dedicated to promoting the happiness of your employees is often appreciated by your office workforce, provided that it doesn’t hinder important tasks – which can then cause stress and tension. A good way to achieve this, along with promoting a sense of community, is by setting up team entertainment-driven activities.

The choice that gives you the most options in a way that will appeal to the most people is through a TV or projector hooked up to a Kodi Media Player. With television shows, films, and live sports a tap away, you can bring the office together to enjoy some viewing. Of course, to fully utilize the streaming box, you’ll need to deploy the best VPN for Kodi, which grants you access to the whole spectrum of the platform.

During major sporting events, such as the World Cup or Olympic Games, your employees can come together to enjoy certain events. Or, week-to-week, you can introduce them all to a new show, giving them time to see more episodes periodically. This will bring them, and perhaps yourself, together in a joint interest, provided that no one has seen it before or is inclined to spoil the show.

There you have it: comfort, community, and entertainment can all help boost the happiness of your employees and, therefore, the productivity of your office.

It has not even been 150 years since Alexander Graham Bell made history with the very first telephone call on March 10, 1876, but how the times have changed! Can you imagine what the inventor of the telephone would think today if he suddenly found himself in a 21^st century call center? Most businesses no longer utilize hardwired phone systems, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has become the industry standard for commercial telecommunications. Even a decade ago it would be difficult to imagine just how far VoIP would advance and this is why it is so important to keep abreast of cutting edge trends when debating the benefits of VoIP over traditional telecommunications systems. Here are just three VoIP trends you cannot afford to ignore in 2020 going forward.

1. Rapid Decline in ‘Traditional’ Phone Systems

First, and foremost, you can safely assume that there will be a rapid decline in the number of companies using traditional, hard-wired telecommunications systems. With VoIP so much more cost effective than traditional phone lines, a greater number of businesses will be abandoning those archaic systems. Bear in mind that VoIP calls carry no long-distance charges so the cost of communications will have an immediate impact on profitability.

2. Greater Focus on In-App Integration

This is probably going to be the most popular of the VoIP trends you can’t ignore in 2020. How often have you become frustrated trying to flip back and forth between screens and apps while trying to carry on an intelligent conversation by referring to data or information needed in the moment? In 2020 and beyond you will see a greater number of developers integrating VoIP into their apps which will significantly reduce wasted time. However, it may be difficult to find the right VoIP software for your needs. A comparison of features like those found on the piesync.com website will be an invaluable resource. ‘RingCentral vs. Aircall: which VoIP phone software is best?’ is definitely worth a read.

3. Mobile Technology

Many of today’s businesses have a large mobile workforce. This has led to some amount of frustration when choosing the right VoIP platform. Some simply do not lend themselves well to mobile access. What about that worker who is out in the field on a call and in need of information stored on the company’s server? The right VoIP software can allow for seamless integration whether out in the field or in office. This is even going to be more prevalent as 5g networks continue to roll out. Not only can remote workers access all the same information they have at their disposal in the office, but they can do so with speed never before imagined.

There is no doubt that within a few short years there will be few hardwired phones in homes or commercial offices. Not only are VoIP communications cost effective, but they allow for greater integration with vital applications. The greatest concern would be finding the right VoIP software that includes all the features you require. This is also why it is important to do a product comparison before choosing a platform for your needs. Take the time to do a bit of comparison shopping and research and you will find the right call center software that meets your needs.

Online collaboration for projects is definitely not a new concept. However, it’s almost mandatory needs are surely new to most businesses. 

With that said, adapting to the changing circumstances is the key to surviving in this increasingly competitive business landscape. When this change requires your business to move its functions on the web, it is important to ensure you and your team have access to all the necessary tools they need to carry out their day-to-day tasks.

While your task of ensuring individual assignments are being completed on time may not have changed drastically, the part of your business that was dependent on effective collaboration currently requires serious attention.

The first step in ensuring your teams are able to efficiently collaborate on projects from the comfort of their homes is to provide them with all the right tools for the job.

Here’s a list of the type of collaboration tools you should be making available to your teams:

Video Conferencing Tools

This one is a no brainer, video conferencing tools are the most basic need for effective online collaboration. Thanks to multiple industries feeling their dire need, and the controversies regarding data integrity surrounding current players like Zoom, we now have a number of brilliant tools in the market for the same.

There are even web conferencing tools that are designed to serve specific functions of your business, like employee onboarding and training.

Virtual Whiteboards

Virtual whiteboards are exactly what their name sounds like. Designed to facilitate seamless flow of creative ideas, these tools come loaded with a plethora of collaboration features that can be customised to your unique needs.

While simply having a whiteboard that gets updates across multiple screens in real time is extremely convenient, features like interpretation of mathematical and chemical equations, presence of a chat feature, among many others, make these tools really handy for a number of scenarios.

Cloud File Sharing  

Cloud based file sharing has a number of advantages. Firstly, they allow your teams to bypass the file size restrictions present in email clients, enabling them to seamlessly share documents, videos, graphics, even software with each other.

Second, storing your data on the cloud ensures better data security and makes it available to everyone at a single place. Your data lives on the cloud, so it remains safe, not only from miscreants, but from the dangers of human error as well.

Online Shared Document

Online shared documents are one of the most convenient collaboration tools to ever exist. These documents automatically save any changes made to them, and update them for any user they are shared with.

Platforms like Google Docs work in a manner that is very close to the traditional document platforms like Microsoft Word. They even provide users with a feature that automatically saves the history of all the changes made to a document and offers the users the ability to revert to an older version at any point.

Messaging Tools

Messaging tools allow for instant exchange of short messages and files, that may not require the use of email or the cloud drive.

Moreover, when most of your team members are working from home, there is hardly any “coffee break conversations” happening. Having a messaging tool that connects them with their colleagues allows your employees to stay in touch with them and nurture the interpersonal relationships within your team.

Conclusion

Having the right tools in your arsenal is sure to boost the efficiency of your team’s collaboration projects. These were just some tools that we think are essential for effective collaboration. 

Did we miss out on your favorite tools? Tell us (and everyone else) about them in the comment section below!

Social media undoubtedly have a significant impact on every aspect of people’s lives in the present century. Among the various top order social media platforms, Instagram is the one showing the most promising growth in terms of popularity among general users as well as businesses. More and more brands are featuring their products and services on this trending photo-sharing platform.

The diversity of users and the versatile reach offered by Instagram make it the top priority social media platform by advertisement campaigners. The same reason explains the hype for getting more and more followers and likes. If you are also interested in increasing your follower count on Instagram, keep reading this post.

How to Boost Your Follower Count?

Various businesses resort to several formulae to increase the number of people following their personal or brand pages on Instagram. Since Instagram is composed of a mixed crowd with varying tastes and interests, there is no generalized thumb-rule method. Some of the companies try and increase their following manually. They opt for organic growth by studying their audience. This strategy, though effective, takes a lot of time and effort to bear fruits.

The most observed trend, followed by modern business houses is to buy followers on Instagram. This method is instantaneous and far easier compared to organic growth. You can pay for it and get a solid number of followers to count overnight. This way, the minimum milestone of 10,000 and even 1 Million becomes easier to achieve than ever before.

Get Real Followers on Instagram

There is a common question asked by social media influencers and businesses regarding the concept of buying Instagram followers. They are worried if these profiles are not authentic. If you have the same query, here is the answer. The best companies selling likes and followers on Instagram are aware of your anxieties and they have given a lot of thought and effort on the subject.

Top-order agencies providing followers and likes on Instagram can guarantee you that your follower base will be increased and that too with real profiles. You can buy real Instagram followers who would certainly increase not only your stats but also visibility and exposure.

How to Get Maximum Number of Followers?

You have to devote time and effort to establish a follower base worth advertising; there is no short cut to that. Even if you buy Instagram followers cheap from verified agencies, your work does not end there. You have to share content posted by related pages and accounts. Reposting is a great way to attract users. Moreover, you must study your existing followers, know their likes and interests, and produce quality content. You have to make your followers feel valued by responding to their comments. Follow these steps and see the difference by the bulging stats of your profile. Grow your follower count and make your brand well-known in the market.

It is estimated that an average smartphone user has between 25 and 30 apps on their phones. It is also suggested that, while there are 2.5 million apps in existence, we tend to spend 70% of our phone time on the most popular 200 of these apps. Having so much choice from so many different aspects can be difficult – do we want game apps, entertainment apps, or useful apps to enhance our day-to-day lives? Here is a handy round-up for some of the apps you might not know about that can really enhance your Android experience.

Productivity Apps

Teachers loved telling us that we wouldn’t be able to carry a calculator in our pockets when we grew up so we needed to learn the quadratic formula, but it turns out they were wrong. As well as being able to sync to our desktop PC and laptop features, our phones can be incredibly useful themselves. They can enhance our productivity with time management apps. This can maximize how we use our Androids. First off is the Todoist app, which presents an easy to use task manager. Gaining rave reviews, the app helps us take a jumble of tasks and see them in a clear manner.

HourStack is a useful app that allows us to segment our tasks by time and see how long they are taking to complete. The overview option allows you to see what is consistently overrunning and what you are doing quickly. This information can help you manage your time better. For a more professional time-tracking app, try Hubstaff. The PomoDone App allows you to connect with other time management apps to use the Pomodoro Technique or frequent breaks to make you more productive.  

Emergency Apps

While we might not want to think of the worst happening, it’s always good to be prepared just in case it does. The police are suggesting that people download the What3Words app. The app has segmented the world into 3m squares and gives each 3m square a unique three-word combination.  This allows emergency services to pinpoint your exact location – or could be used with friends to find exact meeting points. Studies estimate that 5,761 phones are dropped and broken every hour. Sometimes, these physical accidents can lead to software accidents. Our phones might delete chunks of data, including media, app settings, and contact information.

There is a handy tool that lets you restore contacts on Android devices, as most online data leaves a shadow. This can give you peace of mind in case your phone does decide to try to wipe itself. You will be able to retrieve numbers of friends, but most importantly you will be able to get back any professional or business-related numbers. Friends can be tracked down on social media, but professional numbers might be harder to find again. It also allows you to use Easy Backup to ensure there is a saved copy of your data.

Entertainment Apps

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” so it’s important to have some apps that give us some reprieve. Of course, our go-to streaming services are key. With everything from Spotify to Netflix and Disney+ offering free trials before committing to an account, you are able to sample the streaming sites to find the one most suitable for you. There are also game apps that are specifically designed for smartphones. There are the classics based around Mario, which take the characters and themes of the franchise and update them for mobile play. There are also the AR games such as Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, which theme the game around your direct environment.

Square Enix ported many games from the consoles to be playable on Android phones, including Final Fantasy. There are also the more intensive games, including Blizzard’s Hearthstone and Fallout Shelter by Bethesda. Fortnite and Minecraft remain popular for Android phones, especially given how invested you can become with the games.

Finding the right combination of apps can give us a more enjoyable and productive experience with our phones. We might fill our homepage with apps that help us live more streamlined lives. Or, we may plan ahead and ensure we have the tools at our disposal for any number of emergencies. Or, we may simply want to max out on games and other activities that don’t make us any smarter but do give us a dose of much-needed fun.

There is some kind of mystery about handwritten letters. But in our digitized world, sitting down and writing a letter feels absolutely archaic. Maybe it’s because we are too busy to actually write or maybe it’s because we don’t even know where the envelopes are sold. However, writing letters is incredibly beautiful. It enhances creativity and connects us to others in the deepest ways. 

The majority of us send emails and text messages to communicate- both professionally and personally. Sending emails or text messages is easy and surely convenient. When you think of it, is there anything email can’t do these days? It can never replace the feelings attached to handwritten letters. 

So here are some reasons why handwritten letters will always have a special place in our hearts even in 2020. 

Make Your Special Occasions Extra Special

Imagine your friend has suffered a loss, and they are very sad. Now imagine you send them a quick WhatsApp text or an email to pass on your condolences instead of a handwritten note. Does it sit right with you? If you think about it, It doesn’t feel personal and truthful. 

We now even have e-cards, these e-card companies print on demand your words on cards for you. But in certain circumstances, you can not replace a handwritten note. It can be an absolute disappointment to receive an ecard or an email instead of a handwritten note or letter on special occasions.  

Receiving Letter In The Mail

Receiving a handwritten letter can be an instant mood booster. Going through those dreaded brown envelopes and finding one beautiful letter in the pile can put a smile on your face. 

Most of the post we get through our doors is either bills,  leaflets from the supermarket you will never visit. But a custom printed gift card envelope with a handwritten name can be a breath of fresh air and make you feel special. And the thought that someone stopped for a while, sat down and penned down a letter for you is truly magical.

Make It Personal With A Handwritten Letter

Writing a letter is not easy, you need to put some effort into it. It is also very time-consuming. It demands care from the writer and leaves the writer feeling vulnerable. It is more personal than an email or a text message on many levels. 

Use Your Brain And Pour It All Out

Typing out your feeling is convenient and easy. It is almost mindless. But writing a letter is more difficult.  Every word and every line is full of meaning and thought, writing is more permanent and long-lasting. It takes courage and can be overwhelming to write a letter. 

A Handwritten Letter Brings A Bunch Of Feelings With It 

Touching the words someone has written for you from across the world is bound to give you a swell of love and respect. With handwritten letters, you get to forever cherish the feelings of gratitude. 

Handwritten letters are indeed pleasant to send and receive. But do you even know where the stamps are sold? No, they don’t come with your amazon subscription. But relax, you don’t have to run to the post office to purchase them. You can now print stamps online at home with ease and enjoy writing letters. 

Small business owners have a lot to consider when looking for the right coverage for their needs in today’s modern world. The addition of technology into the small business world makes it even more complicated to keep your clients information safe and secure. This is where professional liability insurance can become an extremely beneficial resource.

Professional Liability insurance protects your small business from a lot of very complicated situations that you may find yourself in. Being a business owner is more complicated than ever, and it is worth a little money spent every month to have someone backing you up if you find yourself in a sticky situation.

This article is going to dive into how professional liability insurance against risks can protect you in the modern world of technology. Whether you like to believe it or not, many of these small business hacks can open you up to a world of trouble in the long run.

Small Business Productivity

Small business owners are busy people. Unlike people who have built corporations, they are doing most of the heavy lifting all by themselves. It is natural that small business owners would be on the lookout for loopholes and tools that will make their lives much easier.

This is where small business owners begin to turn to third party apps for their phone, websites on their computer, and even software that they can download to their laptop. While these services might boost their productivity, it is important for small business owners to make sure that these third party services do not open them up to trouble with their clients.

Phone Apps for Small Businesses

Using an app for a small business on your phone can be a great way to make things easier for you. You might need an app to keep up with ordering or to store customer information. Using a carrier like My Choice insurance Canada is beneficial to keep your liabilities covered.

In some instances, you may even decide to have an app created for your small business. In this instance, your app may be downloaded to customer’s phones. This is a common business plan for stores that use rewards for dollars spent in the store.

Either way, you need to make sure that your professional liability insurance policy will cover either of these instances. For example, if you have customer information stored in a third party app on your phone, will your insurance cover a data breach? Or will your insurance cover the cost of a new phone if your app causes a customer phone to die? These are legitimate questions that could be costly.

PC and Phone Security

Making sure that the computers and phones used inside of your business are secure is another crucial point for the small business owner. Breaches in these areas could be costly.

Final Thoughts

Liability is a serious concern for many small business owners. Technology has only created an even larger area for small business owners to consider when building their insurance policies. Whatever you do, make sure you are completely covered.

Every business needs a website these days. But if the site doesn’t employ UI design principles, it simply will not attract as much traffic and be able to convert those visitors into customers. The interface through which visitors interact needs to be as near to perfect as possible. By using the right UI design methods, that’s undoubtedly achievable.

Design Your interface with Your Target Audience in Mind

Before designing an interface, it’s vital you define how people will be using it. You can then tailor it to a specific demographic. Visitors to websites and apps interact in two different ways: directly and indirectly. The former includes tapping a button and swiping a card, while the latter involves things like pointing and clicking a mouse and typing into a form field. By understanding who your users are and what devices they are using, you can come up with informed decisions on how to design your interface. For instance, if your target audience is seniors who have limited dexterity, designing with a touchscreen in mind could be best. If your interface is primarily for people who interact with apps via a keyboard, you will want to support common keyboard shortcuts, so that time spent working with a mouse is minimized.

Compare Other Websites in Your Sector

The UI design principles you use to create your website should be based on your specific business sector, as some designs work better for some industries than others. You should take time to study other websites and apps of businesses operating in your industry so you can best see how users are interacting with content. It’s also always good to keep an eye on your competitors so you can provide better options than them. For example, if you are in the online video game business, you will want to check out other gaming platforms. It’s also recommended you look at how users in different countries interact with websites, so you can tailor yours to suit your target audience. For instance, look at how a Casumo NZ differs from a website in the US.

Give Acknowledgements When Actions Are Taken

UI design is all about making your website easy for visitors to use. So, the last thing you want is for your potential customers not to understand what’s going on. Therefore, it is best practice always to acknowledge when an action has been taken. For example, if a user clicks a button, you should provide an indication that the button has been clicked. You could do that by making the button turn another color once it has been pressed, or you could animate the button so that it appears to sink into the page after being clicked. And if it takes a while for content to load, ensure you include a loading icon so that people know their action is being processed. Whenever a visitor to your website takes an action, a small acknowledgment can make all the difference to the user’s experience.

Consistency Is Key

If you want to turn traffic to your website into actual customers, it’s essential your site is consistent throughout. That means using the same design principles for each page. For example, don’t place the menu on the top of one page and at the bottom of another. And don’t use one font type for one blog post and a different font type for another. If your UI design is not consistent, visitors to your website will find it difficult to navigate and access content. People should know exactly where everything is on your website and be able to navigate to different pages and forms within three clicks. By being inconsistent with your UI design, you will confuse visitors. Do that, and they will leave your website as quickly as they reached it. If you want to turn visitors into customers, website design consistency is crucial. You should also make sure your UI is correct for the platform. For instance, iOS apps can work differently to Android ones, and desktops have different needs than mobile sites.

Developing a blog to grow your business is a very good idea, yet you need to know what tools and platforms to use in order to market your business well and meet the needs of your target audience. These days the demand for quality content is high; one can start an online business with a blog with minimum investments by incorporating effective marketing strategies to grow revenue. Blogging, in general, is so popular these days that the main goal of each business should be about standing out and being the best of the best. There are a lot of tools that can help you make your blog successful, here are the ones you need to take notice of first of all when planning and creating your content. 

Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner will help you drive more traffic to your website. If you want to have a popular blog these days, it is not enough to just create interesting content to steadily grow your business. It is also important to incorporate effective SEO strategies and use the keywords people type into their search engines, like Google, when looking for something. Keyword planner will help you find those keywords so that you could use them in your articles and get more people to visit your website and learn about your business. The tool will show you the search volume of each keyword and help you determine what keywords will make your content more popular. You can use this tool free of charge, but you will first be requested to start a Google Ads account.

Google Trends

Google Trends works perfectly when combined with the Keyword Planner. This tool will help you come up with popular article topics as you get to discover what is trending in the world. You can select a specific region based on the location of your target audience and see what interests people most of all in that area during a certain period of time. Thus, if you write an article or create content that follows the trending topics, you will get more blog visits and potential customers. This tool will also help you in drafting your content strategy and defining seasonal trends, discovering your target audience, and learning how to create content that works as effective unpaid marketing for your business promotion and popularization. You can use this tool free of charge as well, which means that you don’t need considerable financial investments to get your business up and running. 

Canva

Verbal content always works better when there are some visuals accompanying it. It’s easier for people to comprehend information when they can take short “visual breaks” and think about the information they received. That’s why it is important to maintain a visual-verbal balance on your blog, and Canva is an excellent tool for that. You can upload your own photos here or use the ones that are already provided on the platform. You can edit the photos, add some graphic and verbal elements on the pictures, layer in some text, add your logo, promotion, or some CTA (call-to-action). This platform is also free of charge, but you can upgrade your account to get access to more tools and advanced functionality. 

Buzzsumo

This tool will help you understand how your content performs on your blog and social media platforms. You can see how many people like, interact, and share your content, which basically defines the engagement rate. What makes Buzzsumo even better is that you can also analyze the content created by your competitors and learn from their success. Monitoring content performance is crucial when marketing your business since you need to always adapt in accordance with the needs and feedback you get from your target audience. All you need to do is enter the URL of the content you want to analyze, be it an article or a social media post, and the tool will show you how popular that content is across different platforms. You can use this tool for free, but it is better to upgrade your subscription to get more detailed reports on content performance.  

Hemingway App

If you are a student trying to create an A-level paper, it is best to reach out to an essayservice, but if you want to create a blog article on your own and are insecure about your writing, you should use the Hemingway app to polish it. 

The popularity of your blog and, in turn, your business depends on how easy it is to read and comprehend your content. Hemingway app will help you make your texts readable and easy to understand. It shows you when a sentence is too long or wordy. You will get a chance to get rid of unclear syntax structures, passive voice, vague phrasing, and other elements that complicate your writing. All you need to do is copy the text you need to have analyzed, and paste it into the app. It will give a grade to your content and provide feedback on the things you need to improve.

Although most of us spend considerably too much time using our smartphones, it doesn’t mean that it is impossible to use your phone to your advantage. We are used to various functions our smartphones are capable of, such as GPS, radio, or flashlight, but that’s not all. You can download apps that will help your business. In a second, you’ll learn more about apps that will make running a business much easier. Let’s go!

Google Translate

No matter what kind of a company you are running, most probably you’ll have to interact with clients from different countries. You don’t need to learn multiple languages – there are apps that can help you communicate with people from foreign countries! There are apps that will require a monthly fee, but with even as simple an app as Google Translate, you can achieve surprisingly much. If you install this app on your smartphone, you can use your camera to translate texts in real-time!

Rep

If you want to make sure that people know your brand, you should make use of modern methods. Rep allows you to connect with the influencers to make your brand and products more recognizable. You can also analyze the estimated impact every cooperation could bring. With the help of influencers, you could even organize competitions among their fans with various products with your logo as a reward. There are dozens of companies, such as TeeJunction, that allow you to customize different items.

LinkedIn

Making sure that you attract people who are the most suitable for the positions for which you are recruiting is essential if you want your business to grow. No matter how much of an excellent and wise leader you are, you won’t be able to develop your company on your own. You need others, and LinkedIn is a great tool to contact people that would help you thrive in this competitive world. That’s not all! You can also check what your competitors are doing. This way, you won’t unexpectedly find yourself behind the curve. The world is moving at an incredible pace, and it is crucial to monitor what your competition is doing, or you might risk losing your customers.

DejaOffice

If you think that there is a little bit too much chaos in your company, then this app could make your team more productive. You won’t have to worry about not knowing how different tasks are progressing ever again! It allows you to check whether your team has a long way to go before the project is finished, or if you are near the end. At the same time, the entire team will be aware of what needs to be done.

Evernote

It is likely that you communicate with other people across other platforms, which means that finding important files could be difficult. Do you have it saved on Google Drive, or perhaps you received it on Slack? Evernote is great if you often feel lost in the chaos. It allows you to save notes, pictures, or even record your own voice so that later on, you won’t have to search for the crucial information – you’ll have everything in one place. It makes managing large projects much easier, though you can use Evernote to save private notes too!

PayPal

It’s no surprise that PayPal is an online payment system that is extremely popular, especially among small businesses. Why? It is very easy to use, which means that even people who are not particularly internet-savvy won’t have a problem with setting up a PayPal account. If you own a small business, then you won’t have to worry about the monthly fees – that’s because there aren’t any! Depending on the volume of the sales, the payment fees for small businesses vary, the maximum is 3.4%. There are no hidden fees, which is why PayPal became such a dominant force.

Upward

If you think that LinkedIn is an excellent platform with which you can find employees, but you would like to broaden your choices a bit, then Upward is a great choice. You will save a lot of time, as this app allows you to post job offers on multiple platforms. You won’t have to go on each platform individually. Instead, it is possible to respond to the candidates from within the app. If you get an overwhelming amount of responses, then you can also quickly sort candidates.

The winds of change

A significant portion of your employees will spend too much time on their phones, checking Facebook and Twitter, but there are apps that could help you save some time, money, or make your employees more productive. Some of them might even affect the way things are done in your company, but if you don’t want to stay behind, you should learn that developing your own company requires implementing changes. All of the previously listed apps are easy to use, which is crucial, especially when it comes to industries where people are not IT-experts. Some of them have a free trial period, others are outright free, which means that you can try them out, without risking anything. If you notice that they have a positive impact on your company, you could consider choosing a premium option.

Running a small business is not easy, though the recent events have made this process significantly more difficult. Even with the financial support provided by the government, many businesses will go under. It means that in times like this, any way of saving money should not be ignored. In a second, you’ll learn about apps that could help you decrease the costs of running your business.

Connecteam

An easy way to save money is to get rid of the landline and use apps like Connecteam instead. This way, you won’t have to worry about the costs of the calls. It is especially important if your employees are located in multiple countries – the costs of everyday communication via phone would be exorbitant. Thankfully, with Connecteam, you can have live group conversations, each employee can “react” to new developments, and the entire internal communication becomes much smoother. The cheapest available plan is free for up to 200 employees. At the same time, although the app has a lot to offer, it is easy to use – you won’t get lost among all the cryptic features.

HyreCar

If you don’t want to purchase a car, but it is not rare that you need a vehicle, then you could download the HyreCar app. It doesn’t matter if you need a car to deliver some materials, or simply go from point A to point B – this app will make the process of renting a car extremely easy. Alternatively, if your company owns a car, but you don’t use it very often, then you could use this app to rent it to someone else, and at least make some money!

Rescuetime

If you think that you, and your co-workers, might have trouble avoiding distractions, then the Rescutime app could make focusing much easier. If you install the app, you’ll know how much time you spend on various apps, websites, and on your projects. It doesn’t require manual entry – the app will do that for you! You can block the websites that you frequently visit when you are procrastinating, which can improve your productivity. Being aware that your time is tracked can give your willpower a boost that could help you finish your projects quicker, which would save you some stress as well. You might be initially surprised by the amount of time that you normally waste, though you are not the only one. Once you have all the data, you can start creating a better plan for every day.

Paribus

If your company often purchases products online, then Paribus could help you decrease the costs. How? The app monitors the prices of the items that you’ve purchased. If there is a price change, Paribus will let you know, which means that you can get back the price difference. Some of it will go to the app owners, but you’ll get back the majority. This way, you won’t have to track the price changes yourself, which means that you’ll be able to focus on other, more essential tasks. If your company regularly orders products from the internet, the app could save you thousands of dollars a year.

Wave

If you cannot afford costly accounting software, then you could use Wave instead. It will take care of all the expenses and invoices – there is also an option of scanning the receipts. The easy-to-read interface makes it easy to see if your business is in an excellent financial condition, or whether the financial situation is dire. The Wave app is completely free, without any hidden fees for small businesses. Okay, so how does it make money? In the United States and in Canada, it also offers payroll services for a reasonable price. The option to allow your business to accept online payments costs up to 3.4% + 30¢ (bank payments have a 1% fee).

Abukai

If traveling a lot is one of the key features of your job, you should consider installing Abukai. Why? There’s nothing fun in looking for the receipts from the hotels and trains for expense reports. With Abukai, the entire process will become much easier. It allows you to scan invoices and receipts to generate reports with all the essential information automatically. 12 reports per year are free – if you need them more frequently, you might consider purchasing a premium plan.

Managing a company is not easy, though in recent times, staying floating became even much more challenging. It will take some time before things get back to normal, which means that for now, decreasing the costs of operating the business is a priority. Depending on your industry, apps could help you decrease some expenses. Most of the ones that you can find on this list are free or at least have free trial periods. Hopefully, they will help you survive this difficult time.

If you are looking for ways to improve your productivity, then you don’t necessarily need several ping-pong tables or to turn one of the conference rooms into a meditation room. There are other methods that could make you better at your job. In a second, you’ll learn about the apps that could make you more efficient. Let’s go!

DejaOffice

DejaOffice is an excellent app if you are looking for an intuitive CRM platform that will allow you to strengthen the relationships with your clients. It will have a positive impact on your sales, marketing, but also on the customer experience. What’s most important is that you can access all the vital data from your smartphone.

Faxburner

Sending faxes might be a bit troublesome, though there’s a way to make this entire process easier. You don’t need a fax machine – you can send and receive faxes with your smartphones or iPad. You can also archive old faxes or create new ones from multiple photos. It is especially great if you don’t need to send faxes often, and purchasing a fax machine is out of the question – with Faxburner App, you won’t have to pay a dime.

Expensify

If you need to travel a lot, then keeping track of all the travel expenses might be a bit challenging. Thankfully, Expensify can take care of this issue, making it much easier to not get lost in the chaos. If you give this app a try, you won’t have to worry about the lost receipts.

Trello

Trello is an excellent app if you want to track the workflow of your team. It allows you to make large projects considerably easier. You can create a transparent plan, where everyone has certain tasks assigned to them. This way, you will be able to tell right off the bat whether things are progressing nicely, or if your team needs more time to accomplish the goal.

Google Ads

Google Ads is a great tool if you want to be able to check the results and the current state of your ad campaigns anytime and everywhere. You don’t need a PC to see if there are any alerts, or to implement some changes – all of this can be done via your smartphone!

Asana

Asana is a project management software that allows you to track the progress of your team toward the goals. It is especially useful if you want all the processes that take place in your company to be as transparent as possible. In just a few seconds, you can check how your colleagues are faring when it comes to their projects, and it allows you to react more quickly if a need for any adjustments arises. It is also possible to check who is responsible for the projects that you are interested in, which makes the communication smoother. At the same time, you can comment on your colleague’s progress, without having to set up in-person meetings.

Skype

Although it has quite a lot of competitors, after all those years, Skype is still the number one app when it comes to video calls and voice calls. You don’t need to pay anything for your calls, which is especially useful if you often need to contact clients abroad. The video quality is superb, you can also send pictures, or just send messages!

Insightly

If you are looking for apps that will make it easier to manage your team while at the same time improving the customer experience, then you should consider checking out Insightly. This excellent CRM can help you when it comes to marketing, sales, but also with making sure that all the projects are delivered on time.

SignEasy

Signing all the necessary documents might not be that easy, especially if you often travel, without being able to access your PC. Thankfully, it is enough if you can access your smartphone to sign the documents legally. You won’t need to bother with faxing or scanning the documents – it is 2020 already, and there are quicker methods. This app can save you time that you’ll be able to spend in a more productive way.

Bonusly

If you want your colleagues to not only work hard but also to feel appreciated for their efforts, you should ensure that everyone in the company is aware of their accomplishments. Bonusly can raise the morale of your team by promoting exceptional performance.

Take a pick!

Even if you try to control yourself when it comes to the time that you spend on looking at your phone, you should consider using apps that could make your performance better. They won’t magically transform your career, but some of them could have a very noticeable impact on your productivity – why not try out some of them?

Making sure that you don’t skip any workouts can be a difficult task when you hear stories about coronavirus 24/7. Although it seems that we will have to deal with this situation for quite some time, it doesn’t mean that we can put our lives on hold. Even though you might feel less motivated than usual, physical activity, yoga, and meditation can help you feel better in those challenging times. In a second, you’ll learn about apps that will help you maintain your physical and mental health. Let’s go!

Headspace

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of bad news that seems to be coming from every direction, it is possible that your anxiety and stress levels are skyrocketing. With Headspace, you can try practicing mindfulness skills, which can help you anchor yourself in the present, without overly worrying about the things that could happen in the future.

The studies have shown that meditation can decrease the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol while boosting dopamine levels. There is also weaker evidence that it could boost your serotonin levels as well. You don’t need any equipment to start meditating. All that you need to do is to find a calm place to meditate and focus on breathing techniques.

If your country hasn’t introduced any restrictions barring people from entering parks and forests, you could try meditating outside. Just remember to check the weather forecast on the internet or at your home weather station. Otherwise, your meditation practice could be unpleasantly interrupted.

Down Dog

If you enjoy the relaxation that comes with meditation but would like to work on your body at the same time, then yoga might be more to your liking. If that’s the case, then you should check out Down Dog. This app allows you to select the muscles that you want to target, but also the time and music that will accompany you as you are trying to remain motionless in weird poses.

That’s not all – the app also offers HIIT workouts that don’t require any equipment but will leave you sweaty and panting. During the current coronavirus crisis, the app is free for all until May 1st, whereas students, teachers, and health professionals can access this app without paying anything until July 1st.

Zwift

If you have either a treadmill or a stationary bike, you can transform your workouts with Zwift. You don’t need to leave your room to experience the streets of New York or London. Even if the freedom of movement will be restricted for quite some time, you can feel like a cyclist taking part in the Tour de France! You can also compete with your friends, even if in the real world it would be better to keep the distance from each other. Sure, you might prefer to actually run in the Alps, rather than do it only virtually, but you can train now to be prepared for a real-life challenge later on!

Aaptiv

If you are looking for an app that will enhance your home workouts, then Aaptiv might be a perfect choice. It contains thousands of home workouts – some of them require equipment, though in the case of others, you will only need some flat surface. Okay, but aren’t there hundreds of different home workout apps? It is true, but the main advantage of Aaptiv over its competitors is that you won’t have to look at the screen between the poses or exercises. Instead, it makes use of audio.

You will hear all the instructions about the exercises, which means that you won’t have to interrupt your training every few minutes. You can create weekly or monthly programs to achieve your long-term goals. If burning as many calories as humanly possible is your priority, then you can try high-intensity interval training. If you prefer to work out outdoors, without being able to access the wi-fi, then no worries! You can download all the workouts to access them later offline.

If you have been experiencing low motivation levels lately, then believe me – you are not the only one. Everything seems a bit surreal and convincing yourself that you would feel better after a particularly intense workout can be difficult. Still, no matter how hard it is, in times like this, you should make extra effort to not forget about the routine activities – like meditation and exercise, that will improve your mood.

If you are experiencing high levels of anxiety, then you might be better off contacting a specialist – although both meditation and physical activity will have a positive effect on the neurotransmitters in your brain, it might not be enough. Still, if you think that your condition is not as severe, you could check out those apps to make yourself at least a bit less stressed.

Not many people think about the security of their data. It’s just not something that’s drilled into our heads like the lesson of not talking to strangers on the Internet (thanks, social media). Data security is very important because, if compromised, it can affect your reputation and possibly your future opportunities.  Fortunately, there are several ways to ensure the security of your data. In this article, I want to share with you 5 ways in which you can ensure the security of your data.

Use Tor

Tor, short for “The Onion Router”, possesses several layers of encryption (like an onion) to ensure the user’s security. Created by the United States Navy, the primary use of Tor revolves around keeping the user anonymous and erasing any “fingerprints” they may leave on the Internet. 

Downloading and using Tor is as easy as using a regular browser. However, keep in mind that Tor will not replace your other browsers. See, the one disadvantage holding Tor back is its speed—it’s really slow. The speed (or lack of) is because of Tor using only a handful of loaned servers located around the world, meaning loads of traffic can bring the service to its knees. You can’t even stream video on Tor, to give you a picture of how slow it is.

So why use Tor? Whatever you do in the Tor browser will be private and secure because Tor bundles your data into encrypted packets before they enter the network. Plus, any information that could be used to identify you and/or your location is deleted. Tor then encrypts the rest of the information before finally sending encrypted data to various random servers or relays so that it cannot be traced.  But Tor is not perfect for privacy. One issue holds back Tor in the security realm: nodes. Despite the long, arduous process the browser goes through to encrypt your data, entry and exit nodes are still able to see certain aspects of your browsing data.

Use A VPN Service

Virtual private networks (VPNs) encrypt all data coming to-and-from your device. And while the VPN industry has experienced a surge in popularity throughout the last decade, there are still many people who don’t know what a VPN is or why you’d use one. 

I’ll give you a couple of reasons why you would use one. With a VPN, you can access geo-blocked content. With one, you can also protect your online data from hackers and government surveillance since VPNs encrypt your traffic and hide your IP address from others. 

 For maximum security, it is recommended to use, a combination of Tor and VPN because, believe it or not, they are not the same thing. A Tor VPN, however, works wonders for your security and would ensure the entry and exit nodes would be unable to see any of your data.

Ensure Offline Security

I’ve met many cybersecurity-conscious people throughout my life, and one mistake I see many of them make is never taking proper care of their physical media. Many people, including those cyber-security conscious people I mentioned, don’t realize how important physical security is.

You need to make sure all your physical documents are safe. This can be done by locking your wallet in a safe and keeping any personal information away from anyone that’s not you or a close relative (still be careful about them, however).  And when you leave the house, only bring things you really need. Debit card, credit card, money, proof of information (license, ID): Bring the essentials.

Always be Suspicious

If you’re suspicious of the heading, good. Don’t always be suspicious, of course, but don’t trust everyone as easily as you do a family member. If a random person on the Internet asks you a personal question, don’t share the answer. And of course, never tell your email password, your social security number, or any personally identifiable information to anyone except when absolutely needed (an emergency).

Data sheet management can be accessed by anyone, which means that you need to be very careful to whom you give your personal information. The less people know about it, the better. With a reliable online msds management tool, you can easily manage and protect your data sheets. Plus, you can also grant access to only authorized personnel, ensuring the security of your data.

Be Aware of the Pitfalls of Public Wi-Fi

I’m willing to bet your home wi-fi is secured with a password and uses—at minimum—WPA security. That’s great and all, but many people use public networks, and the security of the public is…abysmal most of the time. 
If you need to connect to a public wi-fi network, make sure you don’t log in anything important, else someone else on the network may be able to intercept your information. However, a VPN does wonders on a public wi-fi network due to the encryption.

Conclusion

Each method I mentioned throughout this article are effective, useful ways to protect your data. In a world where data is the new gold, you’ll want to be careful at all times. A sad reality, yes, but it’s the one we currently live in. Fortunately, most of these methods take no more than an hour to set up.