We pride ourselves on providing a top-notch HR service to our clients, but drill down a bit further and our biggest mission is to help others do their job better. In a world where time is money and money is tight, every second of your workday is precious. Here are some tools that I use everyday to work a bit more efficiently that may help you get some time back into your day.
Note: Some of these tools are specific to Apple’s OSX operating system – sorry Windows users!
Knock
Like most folks that spend their day in front of a computer, you probably enter your password to log in countless times each day. Knock is a nifty smartphone app that syncs with your computer to bypass this repetitive task. Simply walk up to your machine, knock twice on your smartphone, and Knock will unlock your computer for you using Bluetooth Low Energy. Simple, secure, and a huge time-saver. Find out more at knocktounlock.com.
Cloud App
With more and more interaction between coworkers happening digitally instead of physically, we’ve lost the ability to put something in front of people and say “Here, look at this”. CloudApp helps give that back with crazy-fast sharing of files, screenshots, screen captures, and just about anything else you can think of. It’s an indispensable tool for communicating complex ideas quickly – one we make good use of here at Kin, sending screenshots between designers and developers to discuss bugs and features. Head over to getcloudapp.com to see more.
Instapaper
Instapaper is a digital vault to collect, access, and archive all of the articles you read on a daily basis. As a reader – I love the ubiquitous, offline access to all of my reading list on all my devices. As a writer, I love the ability to quickly reference everything I’ve recently read. It integrates with just about everything and has a great user interface. Create an account at instapaper.com.
Alfred
Aptly named, think of Alfred as your personal, digital butler. With just a few keystrokes, you can instantly:
- Open Applications, Websites, Files and more
- Search Google, Wikipedia, or other custom sites
- Access the dictionary, calculator, contacts, and command line
- Execute system commands like shut down, sleep, eject, etc
- Get instant access to your entire clipboard history
It’s the easiest way to become a keyboard power-user. Apple has launched it’s own similar app with Yosemite, but the ability to create custom workflows will keep me an Alfred user for a long time still. Get started at alfredapp.com.
You Get Out What You Put In
It’s hard to learn a new system for getting things done – harder still when you need to take time out of a busy day to do it. But when leveraged correctly, the proper tool can save you from huge amounts of mindless busywork, whether it’s as simple as Knock or as intricate as Kin. I hope you can carve out the time to give these apps a try – they’ve been a huge help for my routine, and I have a hunch they’ll help you out too.