There are also some apps that make staying engaged with work just a little easier. Let’s take, for example, the need to sign time-sensitive documents. The app HelloSign enables you to sign and send documents from your mobile device and directly from your email.

Manage and Track

We all could use additional help when it comes to managing our time, projects, and expenses. It is often challenging to stay on top of keeping timesheets up to date or submitting expense reports. There are many technology solutions available, and here are a couple that I have found to be useful. Concur, a leading travel and expense system, offers apps in both iOS and Android form. I can take snapshots of receipts with my phone and they show up a moment later to be added to an expense report. Say goodbye to piles of paper receipts stowing away in your suitcase. In a similar manner, Deltak Vision offers an app to accompany their comprehensive ERP solution for professional services firms, giving you one less excuse for not having filled out your timesheet.

Capture Notes and Ideas

One of the most significant challenges and correspondingly greatest benefits for me of smartphone and tablet apps is the ability to investigate resources before they are lost, or to capture ideas when they occur. This can be done a variety of ways with various apps, and here are a few favorites.

I regularly use Microsoft OneNote, essentially a digital notebook, as a work journal and repository for project notes, resources, and ideas. The app synchronizes with the application on my PC, making it easy to work on one platform or another. Furthermore, it is integrated with Microsoft Office, making it easy to share items amongst the various applications. I also mentioned Notability in the past as an excellent note-taking application. Many people are fans of Evernote as well, as a means for journaling and capturing every detail in business and life.

Stay Secure

With recent notorious security and data breaches in the news, many of us are concerned about security of our data, emails, messages, and conversations. A recent New York Times article, “Privacy Please, Tools to Shield Your Smartphone,” offers a variety of apps that encrypt data and/or voice, yielding secure exchanges on mobile devices. While not perfect, the apps listed below provide more secure communication options on your existing devices if you need them.

Final Notes

Since this is the last installment of this series, I would like to make some final notes on mobile device platforms. For much of this series, I made reference to iOS apps as the bulk of my experience was with Apple devices. However, I recently changed jobs, and with the new job came a brand new Android smart phone, a HTC One. After I got over the initial disorientation that comes with a new device that one relies heavily on, I have come to really appreciate it and the Android platform. Both iOS and Android devices do many of the same things; however, they do not do all of the same things as well as one another, with each having its inherent strengths and weaknesses. In any case, I am very much looking forward to exploring much of the same ground covered in this series, but from the Android perspective. It has been my pleasure sharing this series with you and I hope that it has been helpful, and that you will continue to explore applications of the latest tools and technology in making your work more productive and enjoyable.