When it comes to career growth, technology can be both an enemy and a friend. Social media can be a total time sap, the temptation to check your company emails on the weekend makes it hard to switch off, and it’s so easy to compare yourself less favourably to others when they all seem to be acing it in the workplace.
But we’ve a lot to thank technology for too. If you’re a digital content writer like me, you wouldn’t have a job without it. Technology can connect us with new people and fresh opportunities, it keeps us informed and can help us stay organised and focused on the end goal.
Today, we’re talking about the friendly face of technology. Here are seven of the best apps to keep you organised, productive and on-track as you grow in your career.
For organisation: Notion
When I first started working at Progression three months ago I was a bit dubious about Notion. What could this new tool do for me that Google Docs, Sheets and Slides couldn’t? Boy, was I wrong.
Notion is the all-in-one workspace. Notes, guides, databases, reports, calendars — they can all live within Notion, and they all look great. If you’re stuck for ideas on how best to present your work, there’s an entire gallery of templates to choose from, with examples from well known brands like Netflix, Headspace and Buffer. And you get to assign an emoji to every page you create, which makes things infinitely more fun.
But how do pretty pages impact career growth? Well, being organised and planning in advance helps you be more productive and work smarter. And working smarter enables you to reach your career goals faster and more efficiently.
Next up, putting my entire life on my very own personal Notion account — yep, there’s a template for that too.
Get going on Notion with our free 1:1 meeting template >
For making career growth a habit: Progression
I might be biased, but if you really want to supercharge your career growth, you need Progression in your life.
Take a look through our extensive library of framework templates and skills to work out what your next step might be, and how you can actually get there. Then make career growth your priority with habit-building Check-ins, Wins, Focus Skills and Actions that enable you to evidence your progression and own your career.
Start owning your career today.
For easing stress: Headspace
79% of British adults commonly experience work-related stress. It can cause fatigue, headaches, tummy upsets and insomnia amongst other health issues. It might start at work, but can creep into your home life too, and impact your relationships with friends and family.
While there are things you can do to tackle the causes of stress within the workplace itself, like talking to your boss and finding coping techniques, there are healthy habits you can adopt outside of work to help too.
Headspace is a meditation and mindfulness app that’s been shown to help people stress less, focus more and sleep better. You’ll find series’ dedicated to managing stress, like ‘Reframe Stress and Relax’, ‘Mindfulness at Work’ and ‘For Challenging Times’, plus a great selection of Sleepcasts to help you drift off and music to help you focus. What’s not to love?
By learning to manage stress, or avoid it altogether, you can get on with focusing on hitting your career goals.
For mistake-free writing: Grammarly
Don’t let grammatical errors get in the way of your career progression. Grammarly is a free typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar and punctuation as well as the clarity of your writing.
So whether you’re sending an important email to your boss, or putting together a cover letter and CV for a new role, you can feel confident that your words are hitting the right mark.
For concentration: Forest app
Do you struggle to stay focused? Do you catch yourself doom scrolling through Instagram mid-afternoon? Forest is for you.
When you’re ready to concentrate, plant a seed in the app and leave your phone well alone. Slowly, that seed turns into a tree. Give into temptation though, and your tree dies. With regular bouts of concentration you can build a whole forest of trees — and the best part is, those digital trees you grow translate into real trees. Career growth for you, tree growth around the world.
For deciding your next move: Otta
If you’ve exhausted the career growth opportunities within your organisation, or have simply decided that it’s time for a change, get yourself over to Otta. Otta lists jobs from over 3,500 of the best tech companies and startups (including Progression).
It’s super simple to use — kind of like Tinder for jobs — and includes useful information on how quickly you can expect to hear back once you apply, the company’s mission, Otta’s own take on the company and funding.
For networking: LinkedIn
Love it or hate it, every professional needs a LinkedIn profile. Use it to build your personal brand, grow your network and find new opportunities.
But whatever you do, don’t use it like Facebook, I beg of you.
What apps have helped you grow in your own career? We’d love to know. Tweet us @ProgressionHQ.
