There are numerous digital tools dedicated to optimizing workflow, communication and time management, helping business owners and freelancers realize their full potential. This can also apply to goal setting. Goals are closely connected to our daily habits. Whether you’re looking to start a new project, learn to use a new tool or launch a product, your habits will play a crucial role in moving things forward. This is why we have compiled a list of great productivity apps for architects and tools that will help you keep track of your work dynamic and make good habits while breaking bad ones.

10 Productivity Apps for Architects

#1 – Evernote

(Free / Web, Android, iOS)
Evernote is a popular note-taking and goal-tracking app that can be synced across your other devices. You can record your thoughts and notes, upload and save photos, audio files, bookmarks, and any type of reference materials all in one place. It also features an in-app chat box that lets you instant-message coworkers in real time.

#2 – Wunderlist

(Free / Web, Android, iOS)
Wunderlist is a to-do app that entrepreneurs love. It has a minimalist design and can also be accessed from all your devices. It’s great for both short-term and long-term lists and includes a lot of functionality even at the free level. Each task list contains to-do items, and each item can have a series of subtasks.

#3 – GoalsOnTrack

(subscription-based, 30-day free trial / Android, iOS)
Available for both Android and iOS, GoalsOnTrack helps you break down goals into smaller tasks which is great for minimizing procrastination. It tracks your progress in real time and allows you to partner with other apps. As a great productivity app, it documents your journey as you move toward achieving your goals, which can help boost motivation.

#4 – Strides

(subscription-based, 30-day free trial / Web, iOS)
Strides is a hybrid app for habit and goal tracking and organizing. It can be used to track goals like losing weight, marathon training as well as work-related projects. It color-codes your progress in green or red to keep you on track. Projects can be broken down into smaller steps and the Milestone Tracker helps to keep track of your overall pace.

#5 – Optimized

($3.99 / iOS)
Optimized splits all your activities into four categories: health, creativity, routine, and pleasure. You can set a timer for each activity and log the amount of time spent on it. Using the data, the app establishes correlations between activities and lets you know if you’re falling behind on any of them.

#6 – Habit List

($3.99 / iOS)
Habit List is a great productivity app for architects. It lets you track your habits through streaks, which show how many times in a row you’ve completed that habit. You can create flexible schedules, reorder your lists and mark different habits for different days. You can also toggle between the calendar and stats view.

#7 – Way of Life

($3.99 / iOS)
Way of Life can track everything from your eating habits to exercise and productivity, but it can also track when you don’t do things that are bad for you. If you log a habit that is marked red, it means that it’s not good for you. Green means the opposite. You can add notes when you log a habit, which can help you remember why you chose to skip it on specific days. Informative charts show the ratio of good vs. bad for each habit you select.

#8 – Irunurun

(Free for personal use / iOS)
Irunurun is a performance and accountability app that allows you to enter an action or habit and assign it a point value up to 100. You start at zero and with every completed action the number increases. You can share your experience with other users and build an accountability team that can encourage you. It can be used as a personal, team or enterprise app.

#9 – Momentum

(Free / iOS)
This app in calendar form allows you to complete habits and turns them from grey to green. Two tabs underneath the calendar allow you to set up and maintain habits. There’s also a Tips option in case you’re looking for suggestions for alternative ones. The free version allows you to track up to three habits, while the Premium version allows for an unlimited number. Momentum can be paired with an Apple watch.

#10 – HabitBull

(Free / Android, iOS)
HabitBull has a simple calendar layout to show progress on different goals color-coded to be easily identified. It tracks your success rate and also allows you to get support from other users. It recently expanded from Android only to include iOS. The free version lets you track up to five habits, and offers reminders, while the premium version allows up to 100 habits, cloud backup and other features.

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We all have bad habits that stipple our productivity and affect our overall mood. While these digital tools are no substitute for the hard work needed to increase efficiency and productivity, using one can be extremely helpful in turning things around.

The post Top 10 Productivity Apps for Architects to Help You Achieve Your Goals appeared first on Archipreneur.

Architects who diverge from the conventional career path and become archipreneurs face the challenge of how they can effectively combine creative work with business operations. This often means that they have to add an entirely new set of skills to their toolbox. With little knowledge on how to run an enterprise, architects-turned-archipreneurs need to establish an efficient work routine in order to lead and make decisions.

An architect’s income is often tied to the time spent on a job. As an archipreneur, smart time management is key to achieving efficiency – and can either make or break a startup. To help you stay focused, we have compiled our top 7 tips on how to better organize your day and increase productivity.

#1 – Use the 80–20 Rule

A good place to start is to apply the 80–20 rule to your daily work. This strategy evolved from the Pareto principle, developed by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. When applied to daily productivity, this principle translates to the idea that 20% of the input creates 80% of the output. The central concept is to prioritize when you don’t have the time to fulfill every task in your checklist. Pick the top 20% of the tasks that you think will create the most results and tend to those first. This is not a perfect mathematical equation so don’t get too caught up in numbers and percentages. The best way to make this method work for you is to put it into practice and tweak the metrics as you go.

#2 – Designate a Time for Emailing

With the huge number of devices available to keep us connected at all times, business owners are often presented with the challenge of responding to constant queries. Many are tempted to start their day by checking their emails the moment they arrive at the office. Disable email notifications on your phone completely, and resist the urge to open your inbox right after the first sip of your morning coffee. It’s much better to schedule one or two blocks of time in a day where you can get on with answering your most relevant emails.

#3 – Work in Blocks of Time

When working on a task that requires more dedicated attention, it is important to designate it a chunk of uninterrupted time away from any other distractions. Take short, planned breaks to avoid procrastination, and learn through practice in figuring out what the optimal length of a work session is for you. This will help reduce, if not eliminate, procrastination and keep you focused on the task at hand. Time blocking can also be applied to reactive work tasks to avoid going back and forth between projects.

#4 – Automate Tasks

As a business owner, you’re likely to spend most of your time on left-brain activities such as delegating, managing and networking. Keeping things organized can therefore make a world of difference when it comes to time management. Try to systematize your services through automating them so that you have more time to deal with the most important issues. Document standard operating procedures that your company uses and make them available to employees who can then update and optimize them over time. Project management and collaboration tools can also help free you up from spending hours creating and sending invoices, chasing overdue payments, and general office management.

#5 – Master Your Tools

The software you use should depend on the type of work you do. Instead of simply choosing the most popular software out there (the licenses for which can be rather costly), try to recognize the functions that you’ll be using most in your work. Our top tip: once you decide on a software package, learn all of its shortcuts; this can save you a lot of time. Keep up-to-date with its latest updates and features, and learn how to customize the software for your specific needs.

#6 – Create Assets

Instead of starting all over again with each new client, create assets through standardizing your approach that you can pull from your archive whenever needed. This tip is also related to the idea of productizing, as it enables architectural businesses to give their services a set price and scope through standardizing common procedures. In addition, you can also create additional sources of passive income that complement your main offer.

#7 – Learn to Stop and Relax

Being an archipreneur means it’s often hard to switch off. Working for yourself brings additional pressures that often lead to spending too many hours in the office and too few with your family. It can also cause you to become less productive and even suffer from burn out. Read a book, organize a barbecue, see a movie and spend time with your loved ones. Switching off is just as important as any other part of your business.

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How many of these strategies do you apply to your own work? Perhaps you have other tips on how to be more productive? Share them with our archipreneur community below.

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