Apps That Keep You on Top of Work During Lockdown

Recent developments have granted a sigh of relief for those feeling claustrophobic during the lockdown, with the government granting businesses the freedom to open their doors again and offices able to welcome employees back. However, many workers across the country still find themselves closed up in their home offices, feeling the many stresses that work and life balances brings.

Recent studies have shown that 60% of UK workers are either working from home or stuck in schedules that mean they work longer hours than they want. These same studies have shown that 24% say it’s hard to relax when ‘off the clock’ and not think about work, which is exacerbated by the fact that many workers are stuck working in their own home. Even as the COVID-19 lockdown begins to lift, many will continue to work from home, whether it’s by necessity or choice.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that many are finding it harder than ever to stay focused and keep on top of work. Many of us will find ourselves gravitating towards our phones more and more, but luckily there are ways to utilise this procrastination for good; all in the form of helpful apps. Armstrong Appointments explores the best, most accessible apps to help keep you on top of work during the lockdown, whilst working from home, or just if you’re finding it hard to focus.

Headspace

Many will have heard how beneficial it is to approach a task with a clear, focused mind, yet it’s unlikely that many will look towards the likes of meditation before working. The experts at Headspace would argue that no matter what stresses life provides, whether it’s an overflowing work schedule or attempting to get out of ‘work mode’, meditation can be a great tool, which makes the Headspace app so valuable during these tough times.

Offering users easy-to-digest and simple-to-understand methods for meditation, Headspace makes use of audio cues, videos and animations to aid the meditation process. The entire process is made all the more charming by its intuitive and colourful user interface, the likes of which simply oozes positivity. Headspace helps with mental wellbeing, as well as providing the tools to help mentally compartmentalise your workload, create opportunities to designate specific times for either work or time off, and even assist with sleeping problems.

CloudCal

Much like Headspace, the developers of CloudCal knows how UI can make life easier. With this approach to design, it should come as no surprise that CloudCal’s innovative UI makes organising work schedules a breeze; making tasks a lot less likely to slip through your fingers. Whether it’s a daily plan, a weekly plan or for an entire month, CloudCal is simple to pick up and, from a glance, see what needs to be done on any given day.

CloudCal’s UI and design make sorting schedules simple, aided by the age-old method of colour coding. Once you’ve set up a schedule, you’ll be able to make use of CloudCall’s other key feature; time-keeping. CloudCal looks at any blank spaces in your schedule and calculates how much free time you have, making it a vital function for anyone managing a team or simply needing to keep track of any potential wiggle room with deadlines.

Mixmax

An excellent tool for many working office-based roles from home, Mixmax is an app that marries perfectly with Gmail. Designed to automate manual tasks, such as organising meetings with specific team members, create alarms & alerts when working on projects and even embed specific formats into emails, Mixmax proves itself as a particularly effective means of staying on top of work for those in marketing and PR.

Mixmax serves as an assistant for your emails, reminding you of essential tasks and keeping you on track for deadlines. After extensive testing and plenty of work put into it, Mixmax has a wealth of features that make office-based roles so much simpler, thanks in so small part to the likes of notifying anyone that you’ve designated as part of your team whenever you’re attempting to organise catch-ups or meetings. Whether it’s experimenting with A B testing for emails or you’re trying to make the most of your free time during work hours, Mixmax is an invaluable app.

Wunderlist

Remote working has made it harder for many to work in tandem with teammates as effectively as possible, which is exactly why apps like Wunderlust are so vital. The versatility of Wunderlist comes from being designed to be used for both professional and personal purposes. Designed to make sharing your schedules simple, Wunderlist focuses on synchronisation and real-time interaction across various platforms and users.

Regardless of whether users are working via a desktop, a Mac or even from their Android phone, Wunderlist can keep teammates connected in real-time, granting the possibility to keep on the same page about projects and continuously keep up supportive efforts. Wunderlist has also been designed with a clear vision in mind, that of transparency and ease-of-use for users. This is achieved with its clean UI, one that staying on top of your schedule simple, as well as keeping in the loop with the rest of your team.