10 CEOs Reveal the Apps That Can Make You More Productive - TIME Business

10 CEOs Reveal the Apps That Can Make You More Productive

Posted: 03 Jul 2017 03:00 AM PDT

For many, modern-day work life means 24/7 connectivity, a constant barrage of emails and meetings, and the feeling you’re drowning in information. Luckily, there are numerous apps out on the market that can help you reclaim your sanity and help you be more productive. Below, 10 CEOs share their favorite apps to manage their to do lists, make sure they get their workout in, meditate, and of course, achieve inbox zero.

For To Do Lists

Workflowy
“I block off two ‘open door’ blocks every day so my team can come in and strategize about our business. Workflowy is my go-to, and I can keep track of the specific things I want to cover with each person. Other note-taking apps are overcomplicated and have unnecessary in-app purchases and upgrades. With Workflowy, I can make whatever list I want – long or short — and it’s organizing my brain seamlessly across all my devices.” — Scott Sanborn, CEO LendingClub

Trello
“My most important app to organize my daily life is Trello. I have tried every kind of to-do list app and finally went back to just using a book that I would constantly carry around. Then I found Trello. It’s nothing more than a typical post-it wall in an app format. So it requires a bit of a set-up time. I organized mine along the days of the week, I have a “to do this week” list, a “to do next week” list and so forth. Since I have Trello I never forget deadlines anymore and I have less weight to carry around.” — Lea von Bidder, CEO Ava

For Email Management

Boomerang
“My all-time favorite for staying on top of correspondence is Boomerang. I don’t know where I would be with following up, closing deals and making sure our craziest ice cream dreams happen without it. With Boomerang, I feel like I will never miss anything: I can mark it to send me reminders if responses I’m waiting for don’t happen, I can schedule follow-ups in advance, and I can ping emails that are not urgent to come back to my inbox whenever desired. It’s also good to use for east coast correspondence where I want an email to be received at a more strategic time if I’m getting to it late in the day Pacific time.” — Natasha Case CEO Coolhaus Ice Cream

For Meetings Management

Go to Meeting
“As a CEO of a growing fintech company operating with multiple partners around the world, the app that transformed my day and productivity is GoToMeeting. It makes it easy to set up and conduct conference calls with global participants instantly over wifi or data, which is critical when trying to get teams and partners in different locations to meet at short notice. The ability to communicate across borders at short notice has also saved us significant costs by reducing the need for travel.” —Edwin Hagan-Emmin, CEO Aztec Exchange.

For Goal Tracking:

Productive
“The app I recommend is, fittingly enough, called Productive. It has a nice, simple user interface, and is elegantly designed. I can build out custom goals that are specific to my life, or I can choose from some preselects. One of the best things about Productive is that it allows me to mix personal and professional goals, and as any busy person knows, the two wind up overlapping quite a bit.” — Jeremy Goldman, CEO Firebrand Group

For Mindfulness

Headspace
“I use the Headspace app once or twice a day to help me operate at my best. Yoga and meditation create important moments to regroup even when working against the clock. Meditation yields perspective, humor, and focuses the mind so you can not only save time – but use the time well.” —Marcela Sapone, CEO Hello Alfred
Simply Noise
“Simply Noise is a white, pink, and brown noise app that I plug into whenever I’m traveling, or working in a busy café on the road, or sleeping somewhere that’s noisy in an unfamiliar way. The wash of steady noise blocks out all ambient sounds and creates a continuity of mental soundscapes so that wherever I am, I feel like I’m at home in my head so that I can get work done.” — Sam Bodkin, CEO Groupmuse

For Exercise

Sworkit
Sworekit is indispensable in helping me stay on top of my game while keeping tension levels down. As an entrepreneur, busy mom, and cancer survivor, incorporating exercise into my daily routine, eating unprocessed foods and drinking plenty of water keeps me energized and healthy. When my busy schedule does not allow for time at the gym, or even to think about it, Sworkit is my coach. It not only provides exercise ideas and instructions, it sends helpful reminders throughout the day to do stretching exercises at my desk or a round of tension relieving breathing techniques en route to my next appointment. Having exercise plans at my fingertips leaves little room for excuses to not workout. That alone helps me stay calm and focused.” — Dale Noelle, CEO TRUE Model Management

For Media

Flipboard
“With all the moving pieces in my business and personal life, I look for apps that simplify my day. Flipboard curates news based on my interests and delivers it in real-time. It saves a lot of time that I would have spent combing through the news and ensures I don’t miss crucial articles. But more importantly, it delivers what I need, when I need it. It’s one of the most efficient ways to read the news that matters most to you.” — Bob D’Loren, CEO Xcel Brands
Audible
“I love to listen to books on the go, so Audible is great for helping me process information during my commute. I find that listening to books helps me become a better leader. I’ve been listening to Tribe by Sebastian Junger most recently, which has been incredibly eye-opening.” — Chris O’Neill, CEO Evernote

Donald Trump’s Washington is paralysed - Economist

JULY 4th ought to bring Americans together. It is a day to celebrate how 13 young colonies united against British rule to begin their great experiment in popular government. But this July 4th Americans are riven by mutual incomprehension: between Republicans and Democrats, yes, but also between factory workers and university students, country folk and city-dwellers. And then there is President Donald Trump, not only a symptom of America’s divisions but a cause of them, too.

Mr Trump won power partly because he spoke for voters who feel that the system is working against them, as our special report this week sets out. He promised that, by dredging Washington of the elites and lobbyists too stupid or self-serving to act for the whole nation, he would fix America’s politics.

His approach is not working. Five months into his first term, Mr Trump presides over a political culture that is even more poisonous than when he took office. His core voters are remarkably loyal. Many businesspeople still believe that he will bring tax cuts and deregulation. But their optimism stands on ever-shakier ground. The Trump presidency has been plagued by poor judgment and missed opportunities. The federal government is already showing the strain. Sooner or later, the harm will spread beyond the beltway and into the economy.

From sea to shining sea

America’s loss of faith in politics did not start with Mr Trump. For decades, voters have complained about the gridlock in Washington and the growing influence of lobbyists, often those with the deepest pockets. Francis Fukuyama, a political theorist, blamed the decay on the “vetocracy”, a tangle of competing interests and responsibilities that can block almost any ambitious reform. When the world changes and the federal government cannot rise to the challenge, he argued, voters’ disillusion only grows.

Mr Trump has also fuelled the mistrust. He has correctly identified areas where America needs reform, but botched his response—partly because of his own incontinent ego. Take tax. No one doubts that America’s tax code is a mess, stuffed full of loopholes and complexity. But Mr Trump’s reform plans show every sign of turning into a cut for the rich that leaves the code as baffling as ever. So, too, health care. Instead of reforming Obamacare, Republicans are in knots over a bill that would leave millions of Mr Trump’s own voters sicker and poorer.

Institutions are vulnerable. The White House is right to complain about America’s overlapping and competing agencies, which spun too much red tape under President Barack Obama. Yet its attempt to reform this “administrative state” is wrecking the machinery the government needs to function. Mr Trump’s hostility has already undermined the courts, the intelligence services, the state department and America’s environmental watchdog. He wants deep budget cuts and has failed to fill presidential appointments. Of 562 key positions identified by the Washington Post, 390 remain without a nominee.

As harmful as what Mr Trump does is the way he does it. In the campaign he vowed to fight special interests. But his solution—to employ businesspeople too rich for lobbyists to buy—is no solution at all. Just look at Mr Trump himself: despite his half-hearted attempts to disentangle the presidency and the family business, nobody knows where one ends and the other begins. He promised to be a dealmaker, but his impulse to belittle his opponents and the miasma of scandal and leaks surrounding Russia’s role in the campaign have made the chances of cross-party co-operation even more remote. The lack of respect for expertise, such as the attacks on the Congressional Budget Office over its dismal scoring of health-care reform, only makes Washington more partisan. Most important, Mr Trump’s disregard for the truth cuts into what remains of the basis for cross-party agreement. If you cannot agree on the facts, all you have left is a benighted clash of rival tribes.

Til selfish gain no longer stain

Optimists say that America, with its immense diversity, wealth and reserves of human ingenuity and resilience can take all this in its stride. Mr Trump is hardly its first bad president. He may be around for only four years—if that. In a federal system, the states and big cities can be islands of competence amid the dysfunction. America’s economy is seemingly in rude health, with stockmarkets near their all-time highs. The country dominates global tech and finance, and its oil and gas producers have more clout than at any time since the 1970s.

Those are huge strengths. But they only mitigate the damage being done in Washington. Health-care reform affects a sixth of the economy. Suspicion and mistrust corrode all they touch. If the ablest Americans shun a career in public service, the bureaucracy will bear the scars. Besides, a bad president also imposes opportunity costs. The rising monopoly power of companies has gone unchallenged. Schools and training fall short even as automation and artificial intelligence are about to transform the nature of work. If Mr Trump serves a full eight years—which, despite attacks from his critics, is possible—the price of paralysis and incompetence could be huge.

The dangers are already clear in foreign policy. By pandering to the belief that Washington elites sell America short, Mr Trump is doing enduring harm to American leadership. The Trans-Pacific Partnership would have entrenched America’s concept of free markets in Asia and shored up its military alliances. He walked away from it. His rejection of the Paris climate accord showed that he sees the world not as a forum where countries work together to solve problems, but as an arena where they compete for advantage. His erratic decision-making and his chumminess with autocrats lead his allies to wonder if they can depend on him in a crisis.

July 4th is a time to remember that America has renewed itself in the past; think of Theodore Roosevelt’s creation of a modern, professional state, FDR’s New Deal, and the Reagan revolution. In principle it is not too late for Mr Trump to embrace bipartisanship and address the real issues. In practice, it is ever clearer that he is incapable of bringing about such a renaissance. That will fall to his successor.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "A divided country"

Economist

Donald Trump’s Washington is paralysed

And the man in the Oval Office is making a bad situation worse