It’s Not the Phone, It’s You: Apps and Productivity in the Office

Word around the office space nowadays is that apps primarily lead to distracted employees, not increased productivity.

What would you say, though, if we told you that wasn’t true? Employee productivity – or lack thereof – is based on a lot of things, including humanity’s ability to focus. The number of hours which a person is actually able to stay productive for might actually surprise you, as it’s much lower than the prescribed eight hours a day we’re supposed to be working.

Apps, then, can ensure that the hours a person does spend being productive are as streamlined as possible. How?

Let’s explore the various ways that integrating apps into daily office work makes your day more organised, productive, and manageable, especially as technology and the demands of a consumer audience grow in abundance.

Dispelling App Myths

Let’s talk about smartphones in the office for a minute, though.

Smartphones are associated with the millennial generation, which has an unearned reputation for being distractible. As more millennials enter into office spaces (most millennials are between the ages of 23 and 35, at this point, meaning that they’re more than likely your peers), the technology associated with them follows.

Apps, then, have accidentally picked up a millennial-esque reputation – they’re considered not serious enough to have a place in the modern workplace.

This is not the case. Some apps are designed to help a person limit the use of their phone over the course of a day. Many of the apps we will explore here also help a person stay connected to their work while on the go. These apps are meant to eliminate the need to multi-task. Even though you may feel on top of your work when you’re multi-tasking, you’re actually more likely to make work-related errors.

In light of all of this, don’t let apps’ unearned, bar reputation keep you from seeing their benefit. If you make the effort to integrate them into your workday, you may find that they’re more helpful than you could have imagined.

Apps and Time Management

Let’s start somewhere a little bit obvious: with apps and their ability to improve the way you schedule your day.

Time management apps allow you to access your daily schedule from your phone as well as your desktop. This means that if you’re trying to schedule a meeting while at a working lunch, you don’t have to rush back to your computer in order to put it in your calendar. This accessibility will help you keep from overbooking yourself and will ensure that you stay on top of your deadlines – or, that at least you’ll know when they’re approaching.

Use your smartphone to keep track of your responsibilities, and you may find that you’re more grateful for technology in the office than you previously realized.

Apps and Office Communication

Apps can do more than just keep you on track over the course of a day, though.

There are different apps aimed at communication that’ll make it simpler for you to reach out to your fellow employees and to your clients. Slack, for example, has taken the modern office by storm. This app and those like it are strictly professional spaces. They operate as instant messaging systems that can be monitored and controlled.

With these sort of apps, you can send messages to the whole of the office, if you like – say, if someone cooked fish in the communal microwave again. Alternatively, you can send them privately to coworkers you happen to be working on a project with. Either way, this specific space in which you can communicate with your peers will allow you to focus on your work while also staying in touch with the people you need to talk to.

No need to look at any personal messages you may have missed in your phone’s messaging app. Just go into the app your office uses to communicate, and you’ll be able to maintain your focus and productivity.

Apps and Clutter

Are you a desktop hoarder? Is your computer monitor cluttered?

There are a number of apps available that can help you improve your personal organization. Ditch paper hard copies in favor of a space in the cloud. Digital clouds are organizational hubs. They offer varying degrees of security and space in which you can store your work.

You can also share certain documents with certain people through the cloud. By getting rid of stacks of hard copies, you will remove unnecessary distractions from your office.

Fewer distractions mean more productivity. Your coworkers will also be able to stay up to date on your mutual projects without having to barge into your office. Talk about stress relief!

Apps in the office aren’t really so bad. When used the right way, they can improve your productivity, whereas other people would say that their only distractions. The key, then, to using apps appropriately is to think of them as tools rather than hindrances.

Change your mindset about apps, then, and embrace the changing technology set to make our lives easier.

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