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Top 5 Mobile Apps

Top 5 Mobile Apps by Tajia Anchora Brown


Who doesn’t love a little mobile technology to help you get through a busy workweek? I rely on my smartphone to guide me to my next meeting, remind me to run errands and connect with friends while on the run. With a little help from a few apps, my day is a lot easier to manage. Here are my top five favorite mobile applications that I rely on each weekday.

1. CardMunch: There’s nothing more tedious and time consuming than sitting down at your desk with a pile of business cards with information that needs to be added to your contacts. This app is a business card transcription service. I simply snap a picture of the business card and several hours later the information is transcribed and added to my contacts. The app also allows me to invite the contacts to my LinkedIn network. This app recently came in handy when I was at networking breakfast and the gentleman sitting beside me ran out of business cards. Instead of him having to choose to give his card to either me or the other person sitting beside him, I simply took a picture of the card with CardMunch and captured all of his information. Not only was I able to get his contact information, but by the time the event ended, he was added to my contacts and received a LinkedIn invitation to my network.

2. LinkedIn: In today’s world of career nomads and major industry changes (where my investment banking friends at?), LinkedIn is a must-have for every professional. The social media website has added great new features since its IPO. The mobile app helps you to keep track of your network, including your connections’ profile updates, career changes and more. Expand your network and stay in touch while you’re on the go.

3. Evernote: Stop writing notes to yourself on the back of receipts and get rid of that sticky pile of post-it notes. Use Evernote to keep track of all the messages that your write to yourself. With this app, you can create notes and include attachments, pictures and voice notes. You can also enable geo-tagging that allows you tag an area you’re near with a note, which is really helpful for those of us who never remember where we parked the car. All the notes are saved in a searchable database making it easier than ever to find the note you’re looking for.

4. MyFitnessPal: I recently participated in Leadership Boca where I spent the entire Wednesday every other week being shuffled from one event to another. Many of the sites we visited generously offered snacks and drinks as we toured their facility and learned more about their organization. It didn’t take long for me to realize the additional calories that were making their way onto my hips. I began using MyFitnessPal, which helped me to count my calories and keep an eye on the calories that I didn’t need to add to my daily intake. The app allows you to scan the barcodes of food items, as well as input menu items from various restaurants to help you track your daily calorie count. This app is perfect for those of you who have several Starbucks and lunch meetings throughout the week. You may not realize how quickly those coffees and soup-and-salad combos add up.

5. WhiteNoise: I use this app all the time. When I have some downtime between meetings at Starbucks and want to focus on writing, I drown out the noise and focus. I also use this app when I’m traveling and staying at a hotel in a busy city. I love the different selections from the simple White Noise to Beach Waves Crashing and Extreme Rain Pouring. It also has a nifty “sleep” feature that can be set before bed.