Email management

• Spark Mail is a tool where you can combine multiple email accounts into one app (you can view individual or all at once) and automatically categorise them for easy processing. The tool is free but not available for Windows.. 

• Thunderbird is a popular desktop-based email client helping you to keep your inboxes neat and organised. It works both Windows and Mac and is hence a good alternative to Spark for Windows. The application is free. 

• Superhuman is an email productivity tool that includes features such as split inbox, allowing you to customise the standard Gmail inbox tabs to suit specifically your messages, and keyboard shortcuts to help with email management. Superhuman does not offer a free version and comes at a cost of $30/month.

• Briskine is a browser extension that speeds up your email and message writing so that you can reply faster by inserting template and keyboard shortcuts in Gmail, Outlook.com, LinkedIn etc. Briskine offers a free version.

• Boomerang is a plugin for Firefox and Chrome that lets you schedule sending and receiving emails. The app also features email stats and reminds you to follow up on emails. Boomerang offers a basic version that is free.

Notetaking and knowledge management

• Notion is a notetaking and project management software used for note-taking, task management, project management and knowledge management. Notion is free to use.

• Evernote is another app designed for note taking, organising, task management, and archiving. The basic version of Evernote is free.

Project and work management

• Asana is a tool designed to help with coordinating plans, tracking projects and communicating on tasks across your organisation. The free version of Asana is available for teams of up to 15 people with a premium option for larger teams and more features.

• Trello is a project management and team collaboration tool allowing you to organise teams, projects, and workflows. Trello has a good Free plan but larger teams and businesses may need to consider Trello Standard  or Trello Premium.

• ClickUp is a newer collaboration and project management tool suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries. Clickup has a good free version best suited for personal use and other options for teams and businesses that comes at a cost. 

Communication and collaboration

• Slack is a messaging program designed for use in the workplace. It's available for desktop and mobile and can be used through the Slack website. Slack offers a free version with some limitations and premium versions to access more features. 

• Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard platform enabling distributed teams to work effectively together. Miro has a free plan but with limited number of editable whiteboards. 

• Mural is another online collaborative whiteboard platform enabling remote and hybrid teams to work together. Mural has a free plan but with a limited number of team members and whiteboards.  

Meeting management 

• Calendly is a free appointment scheduling software that helps you set up meetings with other people without the creation of back and forth emails. The tool integrates with calendars on both Google and Outlook and auto-detects your invitee's time zone and adjusts the display of your availability accordingly. 

• Doodle is another free online meeting scheduler and meeting organiser who takes care of scheduling conflicts by sending out a poll of availability. The tool integrates with calendars on both Google and Outlook and checks availability across time zones. 

Time management

• RescueTime is a time management tool that tells you exactly how you spend your time on your digital devices so that you can be more productive and spend more time on meaningful work. RescueTime has a Lite version that is free.

Contact Relationship Management 

• HubSpot is an “all in one” marketing software that can help with inbound marketing to attract visitors, convert leads and close customers. Hubspot offers a free version and enterprise software for more advanced CRM features.

• Pipedrive is another web-based Sales CRM tool that also works as an account-management tool with the ability to assist with marketing and the entire sales process. Pipedrive offers a free 14 days trial and thereafter comes at a monthly cost per user depending on tiers of service starting at £12.5/month.

• Salesforce is a web-based CRM application that enables users to forecast revenues and track leads, designed to help companies connect with customers, partners, and employees. Salesforce offers a free trial but thereafter comes at a monthly cost per user starting at £20/month.

Human Resources Management 

• BambooHR is an HR software that collects and organises all the information gathered throughout the employee life cycle and helps you take paperwork, spreadsheets, and data management out of the HR equation. BambooHR offers a 7 day free trial but thereafter comes at a cost per employee depending on plan.

• Zoho People is an HR software crafted to nurture employees and make HR management more agile and effective. Zoho People offers a 30 day free trial but thereafter comes at a cost per employee with different pricing depending on plan.

Other

• Typeform is a data collection software helping you to create online surveys. Typeform pricing starts with a free plan but that restricts the user to only 3 forms and 10 questions per form.

• Koan is a platform that helps with managing goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for businesses, departments or teams. Koan offers a free plan and Pro plan at a cost with additional features. 

• Otter.ai is a transcription tool that records meetings, interviews, lectures, and other important voice conversations and transcribes notes. Otter offers a free Basic plan with a limited number of transcriptions. 

• Flown is an online platform that helps you achieve “deep work” and offers live deep work sessions and on demand content around breathing, posture, motivation etc. Flown offers a free 30 day trial but comes at an annual cost of £180.

• Xero is an accounting software that can be used for invoicing and expense management. Xero offers a free 30 day trial and with a starter pricing plan for £12 / month.