Slack. Microsoft Outlook. Dropbox. So many platforms designed to make your work life simpler, but do they? Or does a Slack notification ping ruin your Central Park reservoir stroll when you have to troubleshoot a work issue? Imagine if a work app, you know, actually worked for you.
Ahead, seven apps that will help you streamline your workload and make 2023 your most productive year yet.
Founded in 2021, Groove, which is free, bills itself as an accountability club “for dreamers, doers, movers and shakers.” The app gives users motivation and a sense of virtual companionship by connecting solo workers for 50-minute focus sessions.
“Groove has helped me learn about setting realistic expectations for a 50-minute time frame,” said Shaina Shagalow, a Ph.D. candidate at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. “I’ve managed to complete my dissertation proposal by dividing my work up into manageable sessions.”
Groove bills itself as an accountability club “for dreamers, doers, movers and shakers.” Groove
Groove connects solo workers for 50-minute focus sessions. Groove
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DocPro
DocPro provides more than 2,500 documents created by lawyers across 100 categories. We’re talking personal, legal and business documents that include different versions of templates to fit various needs. (Plus, if they don’t have a document you want, they’re open to requests for creating it.)
The winner of the Legal Elite Best Legal Platform Award 2022, this service is available for different common law countries such as the US, UK, Canada, India, Hong Kong and South Africa.
“Being in the international business industry (import/export), I have been searching for a while for high-quality legal/business documents platforms that can help us do it ourselves without paying thousands of dollars to law firms,” wrote one satisfied customer, Ezzi S.
DocPro costs $99 for an annual plan or $149 for lifetime access.
DocPro provides more than 2,500 documents created by lawyers. DocPro
Wysa
Supporting your mental health means supporting how you perform at your 9-to-5. And, um, who doesn’t want to talk with a penguin chatbot, as you do with Wysa?
This free, AI-driven app is backed by the principles of clinically validated cognitive behavioral therapy to help manage depression, anxiety and stress. Plus, it’s currently being used at top universities such as Yale and Columbia, so you know it’s got real chops, and has an average 4.9-star score among some 15,700 ratings in the Apple App Store.
It’s also anonymous, secure and lets you do a lot more than just meditate. Think along the lines of venting and reflecting on your day, managing anger with mindfulness practices, and using conversational coaching tools to deal with loss, worries and conflict.
A premium version has more tools and costs $29.99 per month.
“Moving to Hourly eliminated the confusion and manual process around calculating overtime and paying tax estimates,” echoed Adriana Preciado, the controller of Carrera Millwork.
Made for small and medium businesses with hourly workers, Hourly.io combines workers’ comp insurance, payroll, time and attendance on one platform, eliminating stressful guesswork and reducing audit surprises for business owners.
Plans start at $6 a month per person plus a $40 per month base fee.
Hourly.io combines workers’ comp insurance, payroll, time and attendance on one platform. Hourly.io
Hourly.io is perfect for small and medium businesses with hourly workers. Hourly.io
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isLucid
Great for teams, this online meeting information management tool transcribes meetings in real time with multilanguage support and allows users to create tasks, meeting minutes and share meeting summaries. This means less time writing recap emails and divvying up tasks.
“With isLucid I could be in a meeting, listen and emphasize details without typing anything,” reviewed one customer who particularly loved the voice commands when bookmarking parts of meetings. “This saved me time and I could participate in meetings while driving or walking.”
Or, use it to get the Reader’s Digest version of meetings you may have missed or need a refresher on. Plans start at $119 per month.
Insightful
Insightful is a time-tracking tool that utilizes computer activity monitoring. Insightful
Employers can use Insightful to increase productivity by identifying and addressing employee burnout, quiet quitting and operational efficiency. Insightful
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This time-tracking tool is used by some 130,000 people daily, translating millions of work data points into productivity metrics to track workplace trends and performance patterns.
The Insightful team says you can also increase productivity by identifying and addressing employee burnout, quiet quitting and operational efficiency. Insightful is also particularly beneficial if you’re looking to see how work-from-home versus in-office productivity stacks up.
“When we started using Insightful the productivity was at about 70% to 80%. Right now we’re at 92%!” wrote Brett Vance of Farmers Insurance.
Caveat: If your employees are not OK with automatically captured screenshots and computer activity monitoring, this tool may spark more than a raised eyebrow.
Cost is $6.40 per month per employee.
Sleep Reset
Sleep Reset users have access to a dedicated sleep coach, a personalized sleep plan and a library of cognitive exercises and meditations. Sleep Reset
Sleep Reset is a “digitized sleep clinic.” Sleep Reset
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If you’re looking to make 2023 your year for chasing career dreams and counting sheep, this innovative “digitized sleep clinic” is an excellent idea. Users have access to a dedicated sleep coach, a personalized sleep plan and a library of cognitive exercises and meditations said to be proven to enhance your sleep in 90 days or less.
