Too Many Apps… Or Not Enough?

The 11th of December is National App Day. I just realized this would be a totally different conversation if I thought “apps” referred to “appetizers” as they do in a restaurant. I hate apps or any meals, really, with corn kernels in them. FIGHT ME.

But I think the day is really about software apps. And here’s the nuance: some apps for business can be extraordinarily helpful, some are neutral, and some don’t help at all. Both not having enough apps and having too many can be detrimental.

Really mind-blowing observation there! You’re probably thinking that everyone knows that.

However.

When I consult with business owners who haven’t run their operations through a consultant or ops professional, typically they either have way too many apps, or they don’t have enough. They’ve either got five different productivity applications or they’re using spreadsheets to figure out their inventory. 

You can’t improve productivity when there are too many menial tasks in your processes

As a business owner, you need to focus on the work that only you can do, and delegate out the rest. (Or automate it.) Which is sometimes tough for entrepreneurs to do, but that’s what will help you move your business forward the fastest.

You might hire a virtual assistant to take on a variety of tasks that don’t need too much supervision. Yet beyond that, unless you work in retail or hospitality and really just need warm bodies to throw at customer service, you probably need staff that can think and solve problems by themselves at least some of the time.

Which means, you don’t want your staff bogged down by too many menial tasks either.

Some business owners love spreadsheets, and they’re still wonderful for some activities. I loved spreadsheets back in the days before we had all these apps. 

But for many tasks, spreadsheets take too much time and pale in comparison to software applications. Take CRM (client relationship management) software, for example. Even primitive ones like Act or Goldmine (both of which I’ve used) still gave better results than a spreadsheet. 

Still, when I started my previous business as a divorce financial consultant, I started off logging my contacts in a spreadsheet. I had columns for where I had met them, and their contact details, and notes, and all the info.

But without additional spreadsheet programming, it was hard to spot people I hadn’t spoken to in a given period of time. Or know whose birthdays were coming each month, or how many contacts I had had with them. I had to put action items on a to-do list or send myself email reminders, and I couldn’t connect the spreadsheet notes with the emails I’d sent.

This got out of hand pretty quickly, and now I use a free software (Hubspot) that can easily run all the reports I need in a minute or so. When I look up a contact, I can also see our email correspondence. I can mark a convo or call with a follow-up and the reminder appears in my email. 

Of course, CRM is just an example. There are a number of business activities that are similar: posting to certain social media sites, bookkeeping, and so on. If you and/or your staff have repetitive tasks that really don’t need a lot of brainpower, software applications can help. You probably don’t even need AI (though that’s a convo for another day.)

You can’t improve productivity when you have too many apps

For a couple of years I used both a (paper) calendar planner that I liked and my work calendar for appointments and calls. It worked OK, but I definitely missed some appointments because I had it on my paper planner and not my Google one and vice versa. 

Last year I went with just an online calendar for appointments and that worked well. (I have a public calendar similar to Calendly for people to book calls with me, and it automatically ties into my Google one.) 

When you have more than one app for a task, like I did with appointments, it’s very easy to put something in one and forget to do it in another. Plus, all software has a learning curve. The more apps you have, the more time you have to spend learning them. 

Instead, just have one application for each task you want to automate. One project management app, not two or three. One CRM. One bookkeeping. One social media scheduler. Etc. 

Learn one app for an activity, but learn it well so you’re getting all the functionality you need out of it. In my experience, software engineers tend to cram software with stuff they think is cool, not necessarily stuff you’re going to use, so don’t worry if you don’t use all of it.

Being intentional about your apps will bring you the biggest productivity in the workplace improvement

App owners are constantly pushing their stuff in your face, so you might have clicked on something a few years ago and then clicked on something different that caught your eye last week. 

You don’t need to switch apps unless the one you’re using isn’t doing everything for you that it should. And you don’t need to spend a lot of time picking and choosing, either. Find one that fits your budget and pick one that doesn’t look intimidating and use it.

Be intentional about what apps you have on your phone and what you have on your computer. You might have some apps that are in both places. You’ve probably got some you don’t need at all, and some you might want to have on one device and not another.

I personally don’t think there is any reason whatsoever to have “social” media apps on your phone. If you use the platforms for business, you should have an automated way to bring someone off the platform and into your own ecosystem. Having those apps on your phone just means you’re more likely to waste time.

I have very few apps on my phone and I flatly refuse to give out my phone number just to get 10% off my first order. I have my email on my phone, but not on my home screen, so I have to go searching for it. That gives me time to think whether I really want to check email or whether I’m just mindlessly scrolling. Same for text messages. 

This is similar to my guidance to clients when I was a financial planner. I advised people to automate savings and make spending as difficult as possible. Take a chunk of your paycheck and stuff it in your savings before you even see it hit your bank account, and don’t link it to your debit card so you can’t spend from it. 

If you really need the money you can transfer it online, and that forces you to think again if you really need to spend that money. Sometimes you do, no judgement, but not if it’s just an impulse buy for something you don’t need.

I never save my credit card at checkout, which (hopefully) helps with theft when the site gets hacked, but also so I have to type the info in every time. That gives me plenty of time to decide whether I really want the thing. Friction can help you avoid bad habits.

If you want to start separating yourself from your phone, so you’re not reliant on it for every little thing in your life, make it harder to access those timewaster apps – if they’re on your phone at all. They don’t have to be! Introduce friction as much as you can for the stuff you really don’t need so you can focus on what you do need.

Take a nuanced approach to your apps. Deleting unnecessary apps completely, and removing timewasters, simplifies and supports your life. Instead of you trying to wade through 5 different project management apps to find what you’re looking for.

Recap (tl;dr)

Apps can help you be more productive and focus on important work, but you still need to be choosy and understand what you want from them.

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash