When you’re at your internship, your phone is probably buried in your bag since you’re a responsible, dedicated worker. You go, girl! However, you might not have realized that your smartphone can dramatically transform your work life. Her Campus has rounded up the apps and tools that will transform you from a great intern into a super one — like the digital equivalent of a superhero costume. So grab your phone and laptop, because you’ll want to download these ASAP.
1. Any.do
Free for iPhone, Android and desktop
We adore our paper planners, but this app does things of which your notebook only dreams. With Any.do, you create running to-do lists; for example, “Ask creative director to go on coffee date,” “Edit PowerPoint for sales meeting,” “Ask John to help me with Salesforce,” etc. Then, every day at the time of your choosing, Any.do reminds you to take a moment to plan. This lets you can decide which tasks you want to handle in the next 14 hours and which you want to save for tomorrow or later that week.
Reminders for each task can be set by date, time and location, so you can get a prompt to “finish X project” either at 9 a.m. or as soon as you step foot in the office, whichever you prefer. Although you may have your hands full juggling coffee, you can still add items to the list, since Any.do is voice-compatible. It also syncs with your other apps and your computer; you can text, email or schedule meetings within the app.
2. Cloze
Free for iPhone, Android and desktop
Your grandma might be the only thing more precious than Ryan Gosling’s face, but her constant forwarded emails about optical illusions and cute baby animals rank just a little below your supervisor’s emails in terms of importance. With Cloze, your inbox will reflect this hierarchy. It figures out your “Key People,” or the people with whom you have the most meaningful communication, and you can manually make someone one of your Key People as well. Once your contacts are ranked, Cloze puts their messages at the top so you’ll never miss an important email again. The app also gathers your contacts’ posts from every social media channel you want, putting Tweets, Facebook posts, life events, LinkedIn updates and more all in one place on your phone. You’ll always be current on what your network is up to—and what grandma doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
3. LinkedIn
Free for iPhone, Android and desktop
The desktop version of LinkedIn is incredibly useful, but the app takes it to the next level. You can use the “Pulse” tab to browse articles specific to your industry, so you’ll always be up-to-date on what’s happening, even if you’re spending your afternoons running around town doing errands. You can also upload pictures from your phone. Obviously this feature isn’t meant for you to show off selfies taken at your desk, but if you stick to pictures from conferences and professional events, it’s a great way of publicizing the company. Just make sure you ask your supervisor before you post anything!
4. theSkimm
Free (sent to your email account)
Ready to upgrade your water-cooler talk? Professionals are expected to be relatively current on the news, and even if you get a “freebie” pass for being an intern, don’t take it! If you can contribute to conversations in the office or at networking events about what’s going on in the world, you’ll stand out from your peers and impress your superiors. We suggest subscribing to theSkimm, a newsletter that arrives in your email inbox bright and early every morning that simplifies the headlines for you. Don’t worry if CNN makes you snore — theSkimm is written with a fresh and engaging voice, making even the driest topics interesting. You’ll never have to ask, “Wait, what’s going on in Iraq?” again.
5. MailTracker
Free for iPhone and desktop (MailTracker Pro is available for $4.99 per month or $44.99 per year)
Somewhere in his nine circles of hell, Dante definitely forgot to include the torture of waiting for someone to reply to your email but not knowing if he or she ever got it. MailTracker has the same principle as iPhone and Facebook Messenger read receipts, except for email. When someone looks at your email, you’ll get a notification on your computer or phone. You’ll be able to see when, where and on what device they opened it. Yes, it’s a bit stalker-ish, but you’ll be super grateful you downloaded it the next time you’re running late to the office and you want to know if your supervisor has seen your panicked message! MailTracker works with Gmail, Google Apps Business, iCloud, Yahoo! and Outlook.com/Hotmail. With the free version, you can add up to two accounts; upgrading to Pro gets you five.
6. HopStop
Free for iPhone and desktop
If you’re using public transit to get to your internship, you need this app on your phone. HopStop is like Google Maps on steroids. You can get directions for subway, train, bike, bus and walking for the over 300 cities — but it doesn’t end there. If you’re trying to strategically make it to a coffee shop on the way to work, you can use the Smart Route feature to view several ways to get to the same destination. And if you’re running late or simply feel like pampering yourself, HotSpot will estimate the travel time and cost of a taxi ride.
Have you heard the expression, “If you’re early, you’re on time; if you’re on time, you’re late”? Use HotSpot to be legitimately early every day and you’ll impress even the toughest boss.
7. Focus Time
Works for Apple devices. $4.99 for iPhone and iPad; $9.99 for Mac
There’s nothing worse than taking three times as long as you should to complete a boring task because you’re constantly interrupting your own progress by swiping through Facebook (or Twitter… or Tumblr). However, Focus Time, which uses the Pomodoro Technique, can solve all of your procrastinating woes. It breaks up your work time into 25-minute chunks; for less than the length of a New Girl episode, you can definitely stay focused! After each session is up, your phone buzzes so you can take a guilt-free social media break for five or so minutes and then dive back into your project. After you’ve used the app for a while, it will create weekly pie charts of how much time you spend productively so you can better understand your work habits and correct them if needed. Don’t be surprised if you start completing assignments way, way faster than you used to.
Forget everything you’ve heard about not using your phone on the job — these apps and tools are 100 percent necessary if you want to ramp up your productivity, stay organized and make your life easier. We told you we could make you a super intern! Sorry, cute cape and mask are not included.