Knowing that there are some great and innovative apps for Mac to help out with our respective workflows is one thing, but knowing which options are the best and where to find them is something else entirely. Whether you make use of simple project time tracking or have a whole suite of applications to use at every stage of your work process, you will quickly notice the impact that the right apps can have on your team. With the power of modern technology and innovation we can take our team productivity levels to new heights, reducing work clutter by using apps to organise, track, and at times even automate processes which can be time consuming and take up the resources of specialised workers who could be put to better use elsewhere. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the very best MacBook productivity apps there are to help boost your output in the workplace.

How can Apps Boost Your Productivity?

Improving workflows involves optimizing processes to make tasks more efficient, reduce errors, and enhance overall productivity. Here are some general ideas on how workflows can be improved:

Automation: Identify tasks that are repetitive and time-consuming, such as data entry, file organization, and email responses. Use automation tools to handle these tasks, freeing up time for more critical work. Automate scheduling tasks, reminders, and follow-ups to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.‍

Standardization: Develop clear, detailed SOPs for routine tasks. This ensures consistency and reduces the time needed to train new employees. Use templates for documents, emails, and reports to ensure consistency and save time. Checklists help ensure all steps are completed in complex processes.

Streamlining Communication: Use a single platform for team communication to avoid the confusion of multiple channels. This helps in keeping all discussions in one place and improves transparency. Encourage asynchronous communication where possible to allow team members to respond at their convenience, reducing interruptions and enhancing focus.

Task Management: Implement task prioritization techniques like the Eisenhower Matrix to focus on what’s important and urgent. Divide large projects into smaller, manageable tasks with clear deadlines to make them less overwhelming and more achievable.

Data Management: Keep data and files organized in a logical and easily accessible manner. Use a consistent naming convention and folder structure. Implement version control for documents and projects to avoid confusion and ensure that everyone is working on the latest version.

Collaboration and Delegation: Delegate tasks to the appropriate team members based on their skills and workload. Clear delegation helps in better task management and utilization of team strengths. Use collaborative tools to enable real-time collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, and projects, reducing delays caused by waiting for updates and feedback.

Process Optimization: Regularly review and analyze workflows to identify bottlenecks, redundancies, and inefficiencies. Encourage a culture of continuous improvement where team members are motivated to suggest and implement process improvements.

Time Management: Allocate specific time blocks for different types of tasks (e.g., meetings, focused work, administrative tasks) to ensure a balanced and productive schedule. Designate periods for focused, uninterrupted work. Minimize distractions during these times to enhance concentration and productivity.

Training and Development: Invest in training and development to enhance the skills of your team members. Well-trained employees can perform tasks more efficiently and accurately. Encourage knowledge sharing and cross-training within the team to ensure that multiple people can handle critical tasks.

Feedback and Monitoring: Provide regular feedback to team members on their performance and the workflow processes. Constructive feedback helps in making necessary adjustments and improvements. Use performance metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor progress and identify areas for improvement. Regularly review these metrics to ensure goals are being met.

Technology Integration: Ensure that all the tools and systems used in the workflow are well-integrated to facilitate seamless data flow and reduce manual data entry. Stay updated with the latest technologies and tools that can enhance productivity and efficiency in your workflows.

5 Best Types of Apps for Mac That Will Boost Your Productivity

1.      Time Management Apps

Effective time management is critical to operating a successful team. An effective time management app for Mac will allow you and your team to stay organised and on top of your workflow, even to the point of saving you time by providing you with reporting insight into where you might be making inefficient use of your time. A great time tracking tool is especially important in this case, as reporting on gathered time tracking data will allow you to make informed decisions about a resource which is both limited and incredibly valuable to your team.

Asana

Asana helps out with time management in the workplace by providing a useful tool for organising and pre-planning your time expenditure. Having a clear and well-defined plan for how you are going to spend your limited time resource is integral to creating an environment of strong time management within your team. A tool like Asana lets you identify the right priorities for your work and spend your time in the wisest way you can.

MinuteDock

Organisation is important, but in order to organise yourself in the best way possible you need reliable data on how you are spending your time now. Accurate time tracking for Mac will let you gather powerful reporting insights from your data and make well informed time management decisions. You will notice the impact that time tracking can have on your productivity as all the small inefficiencies in your workflow become clear to you. Furthermore, you will save yourself hassle when it comes to billing and payroll processing! Project time tracking is made easy with MinuteDock.

2.      Writing Tools

Writing productivity apps will help you to be more efficient when it comes to organising your thoughts and measuring the different stages involved in whatever you may be writing, be it a lengthy report, a piece of marketing content, or any relevant document. Being able to keep documents in the cloud and share access across your team allows for greater flexibility and the opportunity to collaborate more easily with colleagues.

Google Docs

Simple, flexible, and free. Store your documents on the cloud, use handy auto save features to make sure you never lose work by accident, let your entire team contribute and provide feedback by sharing access to your documents to make sure that that every piece of work you produce is of the highest quality it can be.

Ulysses

To be frank, there are innumerable options for you writing tool software to choose from on the iOS platform, but Ulysses is certainly one of the best available. This great app provides you with an intuitive and easy to use writing tool which will give you a clear and distraction-free place to pump out all of the content you have on your plate.

3.      Organisation Apps

Organisational apps will work in tandem with your time management solution – you might even find a two for one option that caters to both needs! Managing your time is important, but the best organisation apps for Mac will also let you arrange all of your work data in a clear and easily digestible format, meaning your team will be able to understand at a glance where they are at in the project and what the steps that still have to be done are. Combined with a time management app, planning out your workflow will be a breeze!

Trello

The Kanban board style of organisation provided by Trello gives us a simple and clear tool for organising thoughts, plans, to-dos, and any other important information in a clear and quickly digestible format. Save plenty of wall space by forgoing a physical Kanban board and keep the office clear of clutter by using the digital version!

1password

It might seem a little counter-intuitive at first glance, but having a secure password vault to organise and keep track of your various online logins is both useful and incredibly important. 1password lets you store secure passwords that will keep your online information safe, while letting you remember a single complex password to access your vault. No more worrying about your online security or losing track of various online logins as 1password tracks potential data leaks and will tell you if you data security on a given platform might have been breached.

4.      Email Consolidation Apps

We all know how easy it can be to totally lose track of the deluge of emails we tend to receive over the course of a working week, so having a tool to keep things well organised in the inbox can make life easier and prevent us from missing any important communications. You can use email consolidation apps to help direct and track customer support tickets, to keep track of supplier communications and order details, and generally to separate and categorise emails in a way which can make it easier to find what you are looking for.

Help Scout

Help Scout is a useful customer support tool which lets you create a system whereby customer support email tickets are categorised and can be answered from a support email by any team member with a login to the Help Scout tool. You’ll be able to see which emails have been answered, keep track of email chains from the same customer as well as see what those customers have contacted support for previously, and perhaps most importantly you’ll be able to share the support load across your team.

Airmail

Airmail is an email tool which allows you to fully customise and organise your inbox. You can set up alerts for important contacts, attach multiple email accounts to consolidate emails across your email addresses and customise the way that your inbox is organised and displayed. You can even filter out distracting newsletters or other non-essential emails so that all the most important communications are clearly separated, and you can check out your newsletters when you have time to spare. Airmail is a great app which is exclusive to Mac/iOS.

5.      Note Taking Apps

Our best ideas and thoughts seem to come to us when we have no opportunity to act on them right away – but that doesn’t mean we need to miss out. The right note taking tool will allow you to jot down a quick idea on the go, let you take down important information during a meeting, and generally provide you with a way to keep your thoughts organised. You’ll be able to refresh yourself on important titbits from last week’s report on a given project and keep yourself mindful of the various things you need to remember to do during a given day.

Apple Notes

If you are looking for a solution which is simple, easy to use, and best of all free, then look no further. Apple Notes will let you take the notes you need in an intuitive and easy manner without giving you an overly frilly product with unnecessary features and without impacting you budget. There’s often no better app for a particular operating system than one which is made by the same company, so you’ll struggle to go wrong with an Apple app for your Mac.

Evernote

By contrast, Evernote is perhaps the most feature-rich option out there for those looking for an option with a little more oomph. With Evernote, you can make use of templates for organising notes, store notes in multiple notebook folders to keep ideas categorised, and even up set reminder notifications. Just be sure that the various features are suitable for your team, as you may find the extras could make the product a little to bloated for those who don’t intend to use them.