Here at sterkly we are passionate about software. Good software enables us to do twice the amount of work in half the time. It enables us to perform tasks with the help of tools that make us wonder how we ever survived without them. Our passion for software is fun! Our office commonly shares software recommendations with one another to help increase our productivity and simplify tasks. It is always a great feeling to discover a new product that enhances your work flow, and I would love to share this feeling with you! Here are the apps I just can’t live without:

 

Jing

Not only is Jing an amazing screenshot and screencast tool, but its sharing settings make this impossible to live without. Being able to share screencasts with a quick and easy hosted link has changed the way I communicate. It is great to be able to demonstrate a process or share an experience with the simplicity of Jing conveniently located on my desktop.

 

Cirrus Insight

Cirrus Insight has spread around our office like wildfire as more and more of us are seeing how this product has helped each other. I remember the first time I saw a coworker using Cirrus, I literally walked straight back to my computer and downloaded the application. I have never felt the same love and passion for Salesforce that others in my office; In fact, I have had a hard time aligning Salesforce with my email and other task management tools. I now realize that I felt that way because I was constantly logging items into Salesforce after the fact. If I just had Cirrus from the start, I would have really felt the benefits of Salesforce as a key component to our account management and business development processes.

 

Evernote

It’s funny that Evernote’s logo is an elephant because ever since Evernote has come into my life, it’s like all of a sudden I have a great memory! This is a tool I use all day, every day. It syncs my notes, tasks, projects and ideas between my laptop and cell phone. It also has great search functionality, sharing settings, and a easy user interface.

 

Balsamiq

This product is a must have for wireframing! Balsamiq is a fun and easy tool to create professional, clean mockups in minutes. The UI library contains relevant and good looking features, making the completed mockup an accurate portrayal of my ideas. It is also very easy to share and modify your mockups with others.

 

Fiddler 

Fiddler is a web debugging proxy tool that tracks all incoming/outgoing browser-to-server communication. It is a super helpful tool to monitor traffic, identify errors, and gather statistics on the performance of any given application. Fiddler is a staple of troubleshooting software in our office.

 

Hide My Ass

HMA is one of the best VPN programs on the market. If you need to check webpages or offers in different geos it is a must. It has a very easy to use interface with 30,000+ IP addresses in 50+ countries. There are many VPN programs out there, but HMA is one of the easiest programs to use with the most secure VPN servers.

 

EasyInline

EasyInline saves me so much time searching for relevant information on a specific topic or keyword. It’s as easy as highlighting the word or phrase I want to look up and Easy Inline instantly offers me a convenient way to search for that word in a new tab on Google, Wikipedia, Youtube, or other popular resources.

 

Boomerang

If I could have the luxury of Boomerang installed on every facet of communication in my life, I absolutely would! This plugin allows me to schedule my emails to come back to me at a later time, send out at a specified time, or remind me to check in on a thread if no one has responded. Boomerang is a must have for those with constantly flooded inboxes as it allows you to prioritize your messages without leaving even the least important message overlooked.

 

F.lux

Everyone should know about this if they work at night! Headaches caused by spending hours working on a tingly eye-burning LCD are a thing of the past! F.lux adjusts your computer’s display to compliment the time of day. This is a great tool to lessen the strain on your eyes and thus enhance your time spent on the computer.