Tracking Your Goals with Apps

Written by Sonya Ramsey@mobilesonya9 years ago

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We’re into the second month of 2016, so this an excellent time to check to see if you’re on track with New Year’s goals, resolutions, and plans and ideas for taking your business and/or career to new heights.

Even if you’re still in the planning stage, there is still time to construct a plan of action to make this year more productive, profitable and fun!

I’ve put together a list of mobile apps that help you to organize and streamline your activities so you can track and meet your goals. They’re intuitive and fun to use, making it more likely you’ll stick to your plans.

There is an application for every budget, ranging from free to a nominal monthly or annual fee. All of these are suggested tools to help streamline your work and get you closer to your goals. I receive no endorsement fee from any the applications.

GOAL SETTING AND MONITORING

Goals on Track

Goals on Track is a SMART goal setting software. It’s a web-based tool with an accompanying mobile app. The cost is $68 per year, and offers a 30-day money day back guarantee if it doesn’t suit your needs. It forces you to create SMART goals so they are measurable and time-based. There are also sample goals templates and action plans to help you get started.

Way of Life Mobile App

Only available as a mobile app for iPhones, the interface is very simplistic yet powerful. It also provides easy to understand and in-depth explanations on how to use it to get the most benefit.

It’s based on a simple principle of entering yes or no on your goal performance for the day. The nice thing about this is that at the end of each month and end of the year, you can see your progress in the form of a chart.

Each goal is labeled as a journal; you can customize it based on your preferences, and add notes for further explanation. For example, if your goal is to exercise 5 days a week, but you’re sick on one of those days, you can skip a day, which grays it out, and you can then add an explanation in the notes section.

One of the coolest features is that your habits can be viewed in a graph format, over weeks, months and even years. You can download it for free, and the premium version is $4.99.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Trello

If you like to see a visualization of your plans and projects, then you’ll love Trello. It’s a web-based software that functions like a digital bulletin board. Great for individuals and teams, it’s used to organize your projects, resources, plans, links and more.

One awesome feature of the mobile app is that you can set up notifications for yourself and team members. If a team member makes a change or updates a project, you can set it up so that everyone will receive a notification. This helps to reduce lengthy emails sent amongst team members, and helps everyone stay on the same page.

The free version is excellent for individual use; the business version is great for teams or small businesses and is $8.33/month. Then there is the enterprise version for large corporations, and that is $20.83/month. All monthly fees are based on an annual payment.

Asana

Asana is an awesome project management application that removes the hassle of keeping up with multiple email threads. All of your team’s communication is in one place, and you can create projects, assign tasks, and set deadlines. It has an accompanying mobile app for Android and iPhone.

If your team is 15 or less, the application is free with unlimited tasks, projects and conversations. It goes up to a tiered plan of up to $8.33 per person for premium use.

TASK MANAGERS

Toodledo

The name may sound a little silly, but don’t let it fool you. This is a powerful web-based application that has an app for Android and iPhone. You can get as detailed as you like with listing your tasks, assigning a priority, and getting notifications on due dates.

There’s also the feature to monitor your habits, with various ways to capture information. For example, if you want to increase your knowledge by reading two book chapters a night, not only can you add it to your habit list to check off each night, but you can also enter the numbers of chapters you’ve read.

Simple and intuitive, it’s a great way to manage your daily to-do list, improve your daily habits, as well as set and monitor your long range goal. There is a free version, and the paid ones are priced at $14.99, $29.99 and $89.99 per year.

Remember the Milk

Remember the Milk is an easy-to-use task list system that can be shared with your spouse, roommate, business partner, etc. The free version is very basic and gets the job done, but for an annual fee of $25, you can upgrade to the pro version that syncs with Android, iPhone, iPad, and Blackberry. It also connects with 10 other apps such as Evernote, Microsoft Outlook and Google Mail.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Pocket

When using the internet for school, work and career, we come across tons of valuable information. Most of us struggle with how to manage and utilize the vast amount of information and resources that can help to improve our personal and business lives.

Pocket is an excellent tool to manage your reading and video lists that you’ll want to set aside and read later. When using Pocket to set aside reading and viewing materials, it allows you to create a systemized way of getting it done. There is a free version, and the paid version is $44.99 per year.

PODCASTS

Available for Android and iPhones, podcasts are radio programs on any imaginable subject. It’s an excellent way to increase productivity, because you can listen to them while doing other things such as driving, walking, using the treadmill, housecleaning, you name it.

Not sure what to listen to? I suggest picking an area of life you want to improve upon and perform a Google search on the top ten podcasts for that subject, then pick one. It gives you the ability to easily broaden your horizons in a cost and time effective manner. There are thousands of free podcasts, and you’re sure to find topics that suit your interests.

CLIENT AND SALES MANAGEMENT

Sidekick

When you’ve sent that all-important email to a potential customer with a sales proposal or contract attached, Sidekick will alleviate the mystery as to when it is viewed by the recipient. It’s an email management tool that ranges in price from free to $50/month.

Sidekick is a web-based application that is available for Android and iPhone. When a recipient opens your email, you’ll receive a quick notification. You can also view pop-ups on the bottom left of your screen, and it can be used with Android and iPhone. It also has a robust CRM system with the paid version, but if you don’t need the additional expense, the free version provides significant value.

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is another excellent tool that easily provides at-a-glance information about where you are in the sales process with prospects and clients. You get to see where your sales deals are visually, organize your contacts, follow up on leads, and keep tabs on your sales forecasting.

It’s a beautiful, intuitive and fun-to-use platform that you’ll love using. It provides plenty of incentives and opportunities to help meet your sales goals. There is a 30-day free trial, and after that it’s $12.00/month.

UPCOMING APP

There is an all-in-one client management tool that doesn’t have an app yet developed, but I understand is on the horizon. 17hats is a software tool that takes care of bookkeeping, virtual contract creation and signing, proposal management, CRM and much more.

One of the main benefits with 17hats is that you can create a systemized method for sending proposals, contracts, billing and welcome kits. This method of project management helps to move the sales process along quicker and increases client satisfaction.

They’re in the process of developing a mobile app to complement their software, and if they get it right, can be a great addition to your software tools that will streamline your work and help to increase your bottom line. The web-based version is $29.99/month.

Sonya Ramsey is the founder and owner of Modigital, LLC. Her company focuses on Mobile and On-Line Reputation Marketing.  She graduated from National University in San Diego and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business.   As a dedicated professional, Sonya understands the value of building relationships and serving others.  She served in the Marines for 4 years and currently is a Docent at the Columbus Museum of Art, where she has given 200+ Speaking Engagements through their Speakers Bureau and Docent in the Schools programs. She is strong believer that by using innovative mobile marketing strategies, small businesses can be competitive with larger companies using strategies that are manageable and effective. She provides non-traditional marketing solutions in a rational and approachable manner while giving customized support every step of the way. Sonya is happy to have a conversation about mobile marketing for your business. She can be reached at:  sonya@modigitale.com