Lauren L.

Asana is a website that helps individuals hack project management and helps team members communicate effectively, while eliminating email.

I use Asana every day. I am so grateful that this service is free.

Pros:
1. Intuitive interface that is easy to navigate
2. Easily assign tasks to people creating more clarity
3. Eliminates email trail and unclogs your inbox
4. Calendar integrates with Google Apps
5. Email alerts and updates right to you inbox
6. Conversations connected directly to tasks, keeping a projects information in one place.

The Asana website support team is responsive and friendly. I have submitted feedback and comments numerous times with impressive response rates. The entire program is accessed from your browser; I've never experienced downtime or slow load times – Asana is seamless and beautiful to use.

This project was created by one of the initial founders of Facebook. Given their site improvement track record, I expect them to be around for a long time, continually blowing me away with new features. I recommend this website for small businesses, entrepreneurs, or anyone who cares about project managing like a boss.

I was initially drawn to this website because of the incredible control and flexibility these forms offer. They integrate perfectly with Aweber email marketing, allow user uploaded files, and are customizable.

Gravity forms was a bit expensive, but I purchased it anyway because I thought it was a far superior product to others in the market. After purchasing the three site license, I installed two of the licenses on my sites. I loved how easily they installed and integrated with my Wordpres site. However, my joy ended there.

Immediately I saw how difficult it was to customize and design the forms. You have to be a CSS wizard to make the forms looks presentable. Gravity Forms made it sound like they were "easily" customizable. That might be true for experienced web designers, but I found it not to be true for an average Wordpress user.

Even more disappointing was their policy for unused licenses. I was not aware at the time, but you only have one year to install all licenses. If you do not install a license in the same year for whatever reason (you might be saving it for a future site, like I was), you'll lose it. Essentially, I paid for three licenses, but was only able to use two.

I decided to contact Gravity Forms Support to see if they might help me. They told me rather coldly that they could only help me if I purchased another year at full price. Because I feel their policy is dishonest, and because they responded with indifference, I decided to stop using this site for my online forms.

Presenting information can be boring. Sometimes I struggle with knowing how to turn good copy into something visually interesting. With the Powtoons interface (right in your browser) you can bring your presentations to life with appealing animated videos.

How I used Powtoon as a business tool:
1. Create sales videos to close potential buyers.
2. Build explainer videos to showcase my product's features and benefits.

How I used Powtoon as an education tool:
1. Curated a step-by-step guide for teaching SEO to rookie students. It was a hit!

The big plus for me is that it's easy to use; I had no prior experience making animated short films. You can export your videos to YouTube easily without worrying about video hosting. If you get serious about your presentations, you can upgrade to an upgraded, ad free experience. The free version includes a small Powtoon's logo in the bottom right hand corner.

Con: This type of presentation takes much longer to create than a standard PowerPoint. My opinion is that the final product is quite stunning and well worth the extra effort.

If you're anything like me, you like your website images and Facebook images to look professionally designed. The only problem is we're not designers! For the design enthusiasts in the house, Canva is the perfect solution.

Canva is a new design tool for the lay person. That means that with little to no design skill you can create a masterpiece – and it's 100% online, accessible anywhere. What I love the most about this website is that it sets you up for success. It provides everything you need: layouts, image containers, images (free and paid), banners, trendy fonts, and the ability to upload your own images.

The only con, if there is one, is that the site is still in beta release. I've experienced improper loading and longer than normal "save" times. The benefit of beta is that Canva is very open to feedback. I have submitted feedback about including more user templates and not only did they respond quickly, they implemented my suggestions within days. Now, that's customer service!

Pros: Look like a pro with LITTLE effort, free (unless you use a paid image), easy to use templates, exports image directly to your computer.

Pros: Quick to sign up. Easy to get essential stats/reports. Free service (with an option to upgrade)

Cons: Limited service with free option. It requires you to download software to your computer.

I've been on a search for a system that analyzes my productivity, so I can eliminate time-sucking activities and improve my peak performance. There are other websites that help with this, but I've found them to be clunky and difficult to use.

Rescuetime feels smart. It's intuitive and fast to set up. I downloaded the program to my desktop and my cell phone (supports android and ios), categorized a few websites to track, and it was off and running.

It quietly works in the background, tracking the total time I spend on each website and program. I don't have to stop production to log time; no more taking time to track time. What a waste. The software works efficiently, in the background, so I can focus on my work – that was a revelation!

Rescuetime sends you weekly emails with clear stats and visualizes your progress. The website interface contains a dashboard for each user containing daily records, all in a nice visual package.
Let me address the "elephant in the room" question I know you must be wondering about: no, it will not track ALL of your internet searches. You can shut down the tracking or program it to ignore certain sites.

Lastly, the control you gain from the reports is a game changer. You can make workflow changes that positively affect your productivity. This is an essential tool for anyone who cares about optimal productivity.