Long workweeks and college schedules leave little time for professional development pursuits.
It can be hard to remember that everyone has the same number of hours in a day as overachievers such as Warren Buffet, Sundar Pichai and Umberto Eco.
Indeed, the great scholar Umberto Eco, who was a philosopher, university professor and bestselling novelist inspired great awe when he successfully juggled his passions and was often asked about his superior time management skills.
On his secret, he said, “Did you know what will happen if you eliminate the empty spaces from the universe, eliminate the empty spaces in all the atoms? The universe will become as big as my fist. Similarly, we have a lot of empty spaces in our lives. I call them interstices. Say you are coming over to my place. You are in an elevator and while you are coming up, I am waiting for you. This is an interstice, an empty space. I work in empty spaces. While waiting for your elevator to come up from the first to the third floor, I have already written an article.”
In the seemingly impossible quest to accomplish tasks and goals with intention and efficiency in limited time, technology can come to the rescue.
There are a variety of mobile resources available to deliver targeted skill development, but here are the top 9 free mobile apps to make the best use of the interstices such as commutes and breaks, and upskill daily.
App for better thinking- Elevate
Critical thinking, communication and analytical skills are highly valued by employers.
This cognitive training app daily delivers three brain challenges focused on specific brain function such as memory or math. And it is adaptive; the game-based challenges get harder over time based on good performance.
Available for Android and iOS.
App for volunteering experience- GiveGab
A Corporation for National and Community Service survey found that candidates with volunteering experience have a 27% better chance of finding a job. Volunteering provides a significant career boost, and this nifty little app is an excellent way to get updates on all volunteering opportunities in your neighborhood.
Available for iOS.
App for creative inspiration- Brainsparker
Creativity is highly valued by employers, especially for innovation and lateral thinking in business matters. However, creativity requires replenishment and practice.
Brainsparker now has an online program to boost creativity, but the free app continues to be an industry favorite. The app provides a daily creativity workout through prompt cards to unblock the mind, flex the creativity muscles and unleash new ideas. It comes with a starter pack of 200 words, questions and actions. There are also additional paid packs for writers, bloggers and managers.
Available for Android and iOS.
App for automated organization- IFTTT
In the age of information overload, with access to multiple platforms, which are in turn sources of numerous actionable insights, execution somehow becomes challenging. A weather app can never be regarded as a substitute for an umbrella, however, the alert informing about imminent rain and advising to pack an umbrella not only saves inconvenience, but also manages to make your day a little more productive along the way. IFTTT stands for the simple conditional statements ‘If this, then that’ which are called applets, and execute trigger actions on other web platforms. The possibilities are endless and can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, if a contact uses a specific hashtag on social media, IFTTT can be programmed to send a specific marketing email to them.
Available for Android and iOS.
App for effortless access- Pocket
Everyone comes across interesting articles, TED talks, infographics, and other content resources online. However, it may be impossible to pay instant attention to these in the middle of a workday, and accord them the time they deserve to be truly effective and useful. Pocket takes bookmarking a step further with a browser extension that helps save all these in one place; to be viewed in interstices of offline perusal on a phone.
Available for Android and iOS.
App for professional network expansion- Grip
This artificial intelligence powered networking app helps connect to potential professional contacts with a Tinder-style interface. However, unlike Tinder, Grip is limited neither by location nor network. There are a variety of professional communities available to join, and after swiping right, a ‘handshake’ with interested peers begins instant exploration of synergies and possible work collaborations. Remember, networking has many benefits and can be key to career success, especially as more hiring is done via referrals than any other avenues.
Available for Android and iOS.
App for professional network maintenance- Contactually
Now that you have an extensive professional network, the next step is maintaining these relationships. Contactually is an app that logs meetings, calls, text, interactions and notes to keep all outreach efforts integrated. It allows categorizing contacts and assigns follow-up cycles to each category, facilitating timely re-connecting and building better relationships.
Available for Android and iOS.
App to upgrade language skills- Duolingo
A study reported by the Guardian found 43% of employers feel proficiency in a foreign language strongly differentiates a candidate in the hiring process. This app is an extremely popular platform to learn a new language quickly in bite-sized chunks, with the commitment of only a few minutes a day. Using a ‘tree’ of skills, users can level up their language proficiency one challenge at a time. Duolingo also sends you daily reminders to put in the time committed, making it easy to maintain the learning streak.
Available for Android and iOS.
App for mindfulness- Headspace
An old Zen proverb advises meditating for 20 minutes each day, unless an individual is too busy to take out time. In that case, it goes on to say, the individual should instead sit and meditate for an hour. The benefits of meditation include lower stress, better cognitive function and improved creative thinking and productivity.
Headspace takes the stress out of scheduling time off and provides guided meditation sessions for mindfulness that take up only 10 minutes a day.
Available for Android and iOS.
Upskilling is easier than ever through the emergence of artificial intelligence platforms. Remember to regularly update your resume with newly acquired skills and competencies. Your updated resume can be optimized using artificial intelligence too!
A quick, 10-second resume check on VMock.com, a SMART career platform provides detailed feedback against 100+ parameters. It optimizes expression of key competencies such as communication, leadership, initiative and analytical skills that attract and sustain recruiter attention.
Very helpful, thanks for sharing. I use an app called calm for meditation which is also good.
Good article. Some of the apps like duolingo are really good
Greate post. Keep posting such kind of info on your page. Im really impressed by it.
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I really enjoy the article.Really looking forward to read more. Cool.