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Top Apps for Productivity

By Business Class, Entrepreneur, fSpace, Press

CompTimeApp

fSpace is a hub for workers in the creative industries, eager to avoid the procrastination traps one might face working from home.Our desks tend to attract people seeking a better atmosphere to achieve higher levels productivity and greater time management throughout their businesses. To any entrepreneur or small business owner, efficiency, productivity and time management are factors you just can’t afford to ignore.

So here at fSpace, we’ve compiled a list of time saving, productivity boosting and idea sorting apps to help you take over the world.

Best of all, they’re free!

Dropbox

With over 400 million people around the world  on Dropbox and over 100,000 businesses on Dropbox Business, there is no better or more secure online storage option that is available for free. Developed by Arash Ferdowsi and Drew Houston in 2007, Dropbox became established as a fantastic online storage system to place and arrange files that can be accessed anywhere at anytime online via cloud technology. The app also lets you share files to multiple people and work on files simultaneously so its great for those tasks everyone in the office needs access to.

30/30

Developed in 2012, 30/30 is a fantastic time management app which creates small customised to-do lists which require the input of a time limit timer in 5-30 min intervals. This app stems from the theory that the human brain is best focused for 30 minutes increments with short breaks in between and is designed to encourage this work style. Known as the Pomodoro technique, this style of work has been used by students and workers to efficiently complete tasks since it’s development in the 1980’s. Students particularly favour both this technique and app as it is also helpful for retaining information during study. Of course for all you micro-managers, no one is stop you planning out your whole day on the timer.

Evernote

Evernote is a highly recommended note system organiser which can store everything from pictures, sticky notes, audio notes, web pages, PDFs and more. Founded by Stephan Pachikov, the Evernote web service launched on June 24, 2008 and reached 11 million users by 2011. Like Dropbox, it’s storage system is via the cloud so can be accessed anywhere, from all your devices, but the best thing about this app is its handy tag system which lets you search your notes so you never lose information. It can even scan your pictures or notes to read and transcribe your handwriting.

Ifttt

If This Then That (IfTTT), is an app, for easier use of all your other apps. Created in December 14, 2010 by Linden Tibbets, Ifttt is like a digital personal assistant that can be programmed to respond to certain requests. For example, if an article appears matching your Google search, you are able to preset Ifttt to then save it to Evernote. This app allows you to create simple connections between your platforms, which can be voice controlled, location based and will help you finally gain control over all those out of time consuming apps and organise your work or business with ease.

Trello

Last but not least is the staff here at fSpace’s favourite app. Trello is  used to show a wide variety of different projects and tasks and allows multiple user interactivity for project collaborations and working abroad. You and a selected team of work colleagues can all access the same trello-board where projects are displayed effectively and aesthetically through an interactive board system with attachable cards. Developed in 2014, Trello brings together all the advantages of a social media with your peers at work in a network with the efficiency of a work\activities calendar you all share.

What apps do you use to help with your businesses?

Social Media for Small Business

By Entrepreneur, Event, fSpace, Press
Heath Werrett

fSpace’s Sabine was invited to guest lecture to business students last week at Notre Dame’s Fremantle campus about her experiences operating a local small business and how social media has effected her career.

Approximately 25 young students huddled around computers and desks were eager to examine Sabine’s portfolio of inspiring published images and to hear first hand what it was like running two small businesses in today’s digital media landscape.

Talking about her time spent studying photographic design in the Netherlands and traveling the world as a professional photographer before arriving in Sydney, Sabine recalled coming to Australia 11 years ago with no plan, contacts, connections or social media.

She was able to successfully develop her client base in Sydney over three years primarily through face to face meetings and other traditional methods before again moving to Western Australia in 2009 to start all over again, for a second time.

Sabine pointed out the stark difference in business environments between eastern states’ cities such as Melbourne or Sydney to Perth and it’s remote markets which inevitably forced her to rely more heavily on social media as a way to source new clients in WA.

It was actually that sense of isolation which created fSpace,” 

Sabine explained how heavily she initially relied upon social media in the creation of fSpace which was set up in Fremantle’s town centre.

However, she was also quick to point out focusing too much on social media could be challenging.

“Social media is fun to do, but it can be risky., if it’s not done right, it can hurt your business.  I have never had anyone come into fSpace and sign up, saying they heard of us from Facebook.

She said techniques such as word of mouth and referral were still the primary way people found out about fSpace.

To conclude the talk, Sabine raised an important question for students to consider regarding whether it was either more beneficial to invest time and money into learning new social media technologies and producing new content, or to use these resources and invest them into traditional marketing techniques which are proven to be effective.

Ultimately, chatting with Sabine gave students a fantastic opportunity to see how the social media skills they are currently studying translate to the real business world for a local small business owner.

Word & Image by Heath Werrett – fSpace Media