A couple years ago, I spent a surprisingly fun Sunday evening with one of my teammates thinking through what we wanted out of our jobs in the year ahead. Our planning session made me feel empowered and on top of my career, except I was suddenly faced with a new challenge—how to actually reach my shiny new goals.
But then I remembered I wasn’t alone—I had a phone full of apps that I could lean on to make my dreams achievable. So if you’re wondering right now how you’ll conquer your own career goals, read on: These are some of my favorite apps that you can use to do great things at work this year.
1. Organize Just About Every Task With WorkFlowy
WorkFlowy might seem like a basic note-taking app at first glance, but it can handle everything from a company retreat checklist to bullet journaling to project management—all with a simple and easy-to-use design.
In WorkFlowy, you can tag and filter items on your to-do list, expand and collapse lists, search for text, and share lists with others. Could this be the way you finally get rid of all those sticky notes cluttering your desk?
Download the Android app and iOS app for free
2. Travel More for Less With Hopper
Hopper will get you to your next industry conference or much-deserved vacation for less by analyzing billions of flights and predicting the best time for you to travel and buy your tickets. You can even get notifications when prices are at their lowest and purchase your flights right in the app.
Hopper also gives recommendations for places you might want to visit based on your travel history and budget, and it’s thankfully ad-free. Spend more time seeing the world and less time (and money) getting there.
Download the Android app and iOS app for free
3. Accomplish More Heads-Down Work With TickTick
TickTick is a task manager that incorporates the Pomodoro method as a way to divide your day into periods of focused work separated by refreshing breaks. It lets you quickly record anything you need to do, plan your schedule, and be reminded of due dates. And with the paid subscription ($2.99/month or $27.99/year), you can also track your work, review your progress over time, and play white noise during your focus time to really get into the zone.
I started using the Pomodoro technique (and TickTick) recently and finally finished some projects that had lingered on my to-do list for months. TickTick might help you do the same so you can be the master of getting things done.
Download the Android app and iOS app for free
4. Communicate Better Online With Grammarly
Grammarly is a Chrome extension and app that acts as a spell checker and grammar editor for anything you write online. It finds spelling or grammar mistakes on any website where you enter text—whether you’re writing a Facebook status, sending an email, or editing a Google doc—and gives you custom tips to improve your communication.
The Grammarly premium plan ($29.95/month or $139.95/year) can take you a step further by offering suggestions to boost your vocabulary and writing style. With Grammarly, you can make writing your strongest skill yet.
Download the Chrome extension, Android app, and iOS app for free
5. Keep Your Data Safe With Encrypt.me
Encrypt.me automatically secures your online connection at your favorite cafe, at the airport, or anywhere else you use a public Wi-Fi network. It both encrypts the data from your device and acts as a VPN, a.k.a. a layer of protection between your devices and the internet to prevent hackers from accessing your private information.
Encrypt.me works on all your devices with just one account. So by logging in once, you’re protected everywhere. And while yes, you do have to pay for the service, Encrypt.me offers both a subscription plan and weekly, monthly, and annual passes so that you can choose coverage that will keep you safe whenever you need it, making it the perfect app if you’ll be travelling for work or internationally.
Download the Android app and iOS app for free and get a subscription for $9.99 a month
6. Grow and Nurture Your Network With Cloze
Cloze is like having your own personal networking manager. It collects information about the people you know from each of your apps to make it a one-stop location for keeping in touch.
Using Cloze, you can easily find the contact information and posts of just about any contact you have online, whether through social media, email, or other places. You can see when and where you talked with each person, and, with the subscription version of the app, you can get reminders to stay in touch at the right time (based on Cloze’s algorithms) so you’ll be building the connections you need and want for your career.
Download the Android app and iOS app for free
7. Spend Your Time More Wisely With Hours
Hours takes a simple approach to keeping track of your time, which can be essential if you’re a freelancer or bill your work by the hour as well as a huge help for you and your team to understand how you spend your days. Instead of trying to remember everything you did at the end of the day, you just set up a timer for each project once and click whenever you return to it.
Hours is also available on the Apple watch and the web so you can record your work wherever you do it. The app makes changing entries fast with a drag-and-drop timeline and has powerful tools for analyzing your work patterns so you can learn to make the most of your time.
Download the iOS app for free
8. Start (and Stick to) Good Habits With Way of Life
Way of Life supports you whether you want to stop a bad habit like procrastinating on that weekly sales report or start a good one like sticking with the latest online course you signed up for.
You enter what you want to achieve into the Way of Life app and tell it when and how you want to be reminded. Way of Life then helps you track your progress and see connections between your behavior and accomplishments so you can achieve your goals more quickly and easily. With its customizable notifications and notes section for reflections on your progress, Way of Life will help you change your habits for the better.
Download the Android app and iOS app for free
9. Manage Your Budget Better With EveryDollar
EveryDollar simplifies your financial life with customizable templates and easy expense tracking. You can create a budget in minutes and see at a glance what you’ve spent and what you have left for the month.
The paid version also lets you automatically import transactions from your bank so you can better follow how you’re using your money and stick to your budget without needing to manually enter your day-to-day spending.
Download the Android app and iOS app for free
10. Read More With Libby
Libby gives you access to thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for free, since they’re actually from your local library. You can find and read (or listen to) a world’s worth of knowledge right from your phone—or from your Kindle if that’s your reader of choice.
You can sample any book before you borrow it and access it offline, just like with library books IRL! The Libby app is made by the same company that brought you Overdrive, but Libby makes finding and searching easier and lets you manage multiple libraries and library cards from one account. You can also reserve books you’d like to read later, tag ones you’ve read for future reference, and see your reading history any time. No more excuses for not having read the latest business bestseller or knowing about the newest trends in your industry.
Download the Android app and iOS app for free