As a technology company, we are nerds for productivity tools! 

We figured we would share our top productivity apps that we know and love here at PopBookings. All of the below apps have free versions that give you major productivity boosts for your day-to-day at no additional cost.

The Free Messaging App that Replaces Email – Slack

Slack is a free messaging app. They claim to be a replacement for emails. In a lot of ways, this is a true statement, for us at least. We use Slack at PopBookings for all internal messaging. Got a question for your colleague? Slack them the question. Have an update for multiple of your colleagues? Slack them in their own group message. 

With Slack, you can create custom channels. For example, create a channel for each department of your company. Now anyone in the team that needs to communicate on that subject can post to the channel and anyone you want in that channel will be able to chime in. Below is an example of a channel mix you could create: 

 

#marketing – all things marketing can go here.

#finance – only co-owners/execs can discuss financial matters here.

#general – all general company announcements can go here. 

#feedback – any feedback you hear from staff or clients can go here for discussion.

#goals – all correspondence around setting and tracking goals can go here.
#socialmedia – discuss social media topics and posts here. 

#to-do – all convos go here to track and discuss all to-do items.

#ideas – got an idea? Let’s discuss it here. 

#events – got a question, comment, or concern about an event? Discuss here.

With their app directory with thousands of app integrations, you can make Slack your company’s hub of information. For example, connect your Google Drive to Slack. Get alerts whenever someone shares a document, comments on a document, etc. 

Or connect your PopBookings to Slack! Get notifications on Slack whenever someone messages you, checks into an event, or applies to your events.

Integrations like this can allow you to have running feeds of activity under certain categories much like email folders, but better.

If you aren’t sold yet…this last part might sell you. You can create custom emojis. Yes, anything you can Google can become an emoji you and your team can use in your chats. Make work fun!

Clockify – 100% Free Time Tracking App

Wondering where all of your time is going? We recommend using a time tracking app like Clockify. With this app, you can clock your time throughout the day according to certain categories that you set up custom. For example, before you start a task like writing a blog, you can clock in on the app under a category of “Marketing.” Answering client emails? Clock your time under “Client Emails.” At the end of the day, week, or month, you can see reports of how many hours you clocked under each category. 

 

Instagram Scheduling Tool – Planoly

A lot of us use Instagram as a tool to showcase our business in the best light. However, as with most social platforms, it is A LOT of work. Facebook has scheduling tools built to make post planning easier, but that is something Instagram does not include. This is where we utilize Planoly. 

It allows you to not only schedule posts to go out, but preview what your feed will look like before it’s posted. It’s a very handy tool! 

 

Free Sleep Tracker App for Better Sleep – Sleep Meister

Listen, if you aren’t sleeping well, that will affect your productivity for the next day. In fact, bad sleeping habits can hurt your productivity in the long run which can lead to burn out! Lack of sleep can effect your immune system function which could also lead to getting sick and losing even more time. We recommend using a sleep app to start paying close attention to how you are sleeping. 

With Sleep Meister, all you need is your phone in order to track how you slept. Put it somewhere on the mattress next to you before you doze off and it will track you from that moment on. In the morning, see a report of how you slept. (See example below.) 

It is also an alarm. You set it for a 30 minute period and it will go off during the most optimal point in your sleep cycle. For example, if you need to get up at 6:30am, then you can set your alarm for 6:00-6:30am and it will sound off somewhere in that window of time. Ever had your alarm go off and it “hurt” when you woke up? This alarm will help you avoid that. 

 

NOTE: Sleep Miester is an iPhone only app. However, there are other great apps like it on Android as well. Just search “Sleep Cycle App” in the Google Play store. 

 

Hubspot the #1 Free CRM

What is a CRM? CRM is short for “Customer Relationship Management.”

If you are new to CRM tools, we recommend utilizing the free tools offered by Hubspot. They have a “Free Forever” plan where you get the essential tools to get organized with your sales pipeline and ongoing relationships. In fact, the free version gives you a lot of great tools!

 

Included in the free version:

 

• Email Tracking – With their Gmail plugin, you will be able to see all emails sent to existing and prospective customers under their customer account in Hubspot. You will also see when they open the emails. 👀
• Meetings – Connect your calendar to Hubspot and get a custom meetings calendar where you can schedule all types of meetings. Need to schedule interviews? Send your calendar link. Need to schedule a call with a sales lead? Send your calendar link. If a sales lead or current client schedules a meeting with you, all of that automatically logs under their customer account in Hubspot. 
• Gmail Plugin – With the Gmail plugin, not only will you see when people open your emails, but you will also be able to do so much more without leaving your email inbox. Create a task for yourself to follow up after you email someone. Tired of typing the same email over and over again? Create “snippets” that are email templates that you can choose from and customize to send to the person you are emailing. Schedule emails to go out later if you don’t want it to be sent right away but are feeling inspired to write the email. 
• Lead Forms – put a Hubspot form into your website to capture leads automatically. When someone fills out this form on your website, it will automatically create a contact that you can start taking action on and be able to log all activity with that lead. Create tasks, log calls, see emails to the lead in one central spot.  

 

To get Hubspot’s free CRM tools, visit their website here: https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm

 

Hopefully this list of productivity apps makes your workday way more efficient!