Apps That Will Make Life Easier for Mom Entrepreneurs 2023

It is time for the annual update of the “best apps for entrepreneur moms post”, some of the original apps are still here, firm favourites, but some fell out of favour, no longer available or I found a better replacement.

There are a squillion and one apps out there claiming to help organize your life. Although I’m a bit of a tech junkie I’m quite zen-like when it comes to apps, I have a few absolute favourites and although I have dabbled with many, most never stay around for long.

That in itself is a great decluttering tip – any apps that don’t work for you, delete off your device. Just have the ones that you use and love, that will free up memory on your device too.

Right, let’s get into it, all the apps have a free version, and most of the time that is all you need. I recommend playing around with it before upgrading if you decide to do so.

I did that with Canva because I love the app and found I was using it all the time, so it made sense to get the premium version. Some of the links included are referral or affiliate links, which means I will get a payment or bonus if you decide to buy the premium version.

I’m not including things like social media apps or payment apps. Instead, they are apps to help you get more done, in less time.

Asana

For project management and generally keeping on top of everything, I love Asana. I love it so much that I was privileged enough to become one of the first Asana Certified Pro’s – go me! The app syncs with the desktop so I can update on the go.

That all sounds very swish but the reality is that the training is really for people in big organizations that use Asana as their management system, for small businesses the free version works great.

What to use Asana for:

Checklists for anything you do on a regular basis
Systems and processes for EVERYTHING you do to run your business
Promotion and launch planning
Goal setting and planning
Assigning jobs to a VA or assistant
We also used it with Leo’s homeschooling
Any kind of project work

There are similar apps out there, Trello, Monday etc but after dabbling I prefer Asana, because who doesn’t love being awarded a flying narwhal when you check off a task?

I also love that I can switch views from board to list etc. As a visual person boards work well for me.

Get Asana here (bottom of the page)…

Airtable

You must have heard me rave about Airtable before, it is a database system on steroids, you can seriously organize anything on there. Agaian it syncs across devices and the free version is enough for most people. You do get extra bells and whistles for the paid version but you pay per workspace so it can get quite expensive.

What to use Airtable for:

Keeping a list of go-to recipes which makes meal planning a breeze
Tracking membership members
Blog post site maps, planning, backlinks etc
Guest posts system, when the post was submitted, published etc
Funnels
Products with descriptions, links, artwork etc

Insight Timer

This is a meditation app. You might be wondering why I included this as it is not business/productivity related. Meditation has been a huge help for me, helping me sleep better and focus on work better. I prefer guided meditation because otherwise, I struggle to stay on task!

There are 27 thousand meditations for every possible need. I also like Buddhify but Insight Timer seems to have more variety. They also have music, courses and talks, some of which you need to pay but it’s inexpensive and a great way to dig deeper into a topic.

Meditation has been scientifically proven to help reduce stress, and using the app makes it easy to fit a 10-minute meditation in. And there is such a variety you are bound to find the perfect match for you.

It also has meditations for kids which I also highly recommend.

Download Insight Timer here…

Scribd

I use this for audiobooks but they also have ebooks, magazines, podcasts, papers and sheet music, for $9.99/month it is waaaay cheaper than Audible.

I have found that I am consuming far more books now. I’m often too tired to read at night which used to be my reading time but now I can just listen I have totally fallen in love with books again. Last year I got through 60+ books. I have found occasionally that I didn’t like the narrator but because it’s a subscription I don’t feel bad about not finishing it or feel like I have to return it.

If you sign up for Scribd with this link, you’ll get 2 months free.

Canva

The ultimate, all-in-one graphics tool. My love for Canva is endless, it just keeps getting better and better. You can access all your work between devices, that said, I do find it easier to use on the computer.

Out of all the apps I recommend, this is the one I suggest springing for the paid version. The amount of time the branding pack alone saves me makes it worth every penny. I have a more in-depth post about Canva here. That and the new Magic Write and Bulk Create tools mean I can literally knock out 20 social media posts in less than 2 minutes.

What to use Canva for:

Social media posts
Videos
Presentations
Making your freebie
PDFs
Posters
Anything that needs some kind of graphics

Please pay attention to the terms and conditions on Canva when it comes to making things that you plan to sell or give away.

LastPass

LastPass will take all your passwords, login URLs and usernames and keep them safe for you. You only have to remember one master password. This is a far safer system than say a google sheet or a notebook next to your computer!

Lastpass will also generate difficult passwords for you to use. If someone steals your phone, you are protected because to open the app it needs fingerprint recognition.

This is also worth upgrading to premium if you have a VA or outsource work where they might need access to your accounts, such as Pinterest or Twitter if you have a VA doing social media for you. You can give them access without them seeing your password and revoke access whenever you like.

Keep the Master Password somewhere safe, and have extra copies because… there is NO PASSWORD RESET! If you forget it, that is it, you are locked out forever!

Ask me how I know… yep!

But, luckily I was still logged in on another device and managed to get back in that way *phew*

I will not be doing that again. I now have the master password tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. 😉

Get the Lastpass App here…

Y.N.A.B.

Otherwise known as You Need A Budget. This is quite literally a life-changing app! Although I have always been quite good with money, working in 3 currencies does my nut in. Half the time I had no idea exactly how much money I had at any given time. YNAB changed that and has made my financial life much easier.

It’s not an accounting tool, it’s for budgeting and is different from many of the tools I have looked at. Every penny that comes in gets assigned to a budget, so you always know, to the penny, how much you have got. What is due to go out and what do you have coming up expenses-wise?

I have a more in-depth post about it here

Google Workspace

I am a big fan of Google products, I love that I can use it on any of my devices both online and offline. I use it for the majority of my work files and things like tracking and accountability with my mastermind group. Easy to use, clean, and easy to share, what’s not to love?

I moved to Google Workspace after wanting to separate my personal stuff from the business, I can easily switch between the two, it just keeps things better organized. And there are some features available that don’t exist with a free Google account.

Find out if Google Workspace fits your needs here

Google Photos

Terrified of losing all those photos on your phone?

Me too!

And since my phone is now my number one camera it is a serious worry. Although I do back things up I often forget to do it so automation is my friend.

I have an iPhone and Google Photos which I have set up to sync with the phone photos. That means that everything I take ends up in the cloud on Google Photos. Easy!

That also means I can access all my photos easily when I’m using Canva because the two apps sync!

TidyCal

I used to use Calendly for my scheduling tool but then AppSumo had a special lifetime deal when they launched TidyCal so I switched over.

Easy to use, and does everything I need it to, you can set up to charge for sessions so clients can’t book in until they have paid. And set up different types of appointments, so you can set one for discovery calls, one for client 1:1 calls, one for 2-hour sessions, whatever you need.

It takes a little time to get set up but once you are done that is it. It also syncs with your calendar!

Get TidyCal here (come with a 60 day money-back guarantee)

What 3 Words

Admittedly I don’t use this on a daily basis but it is one of those apps I think people should know about, so I’m including it here. It is also good to teach your kids about it.

This is a really clever yet extremely simple idea. The whole world is partitioned into 3m square blocks and each block is assigned 3 random words. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, if you add your location the app can pinpoint you.

It’s been proven helpful for saving people caught up in the middle of forest fires and giving those without an address an actual address that is usable and precise.

Have fun looking up where you are and try famous landmarks too! Watch the short TED talk to understand exactly how amazing this app is.

Get What 3 Words here…

Bonus – WTForecast

Really, this is just a mediocre weather app but… it is hysterical but if you are easily offended, it’s not for you. If you like an insulting weather report then you will love this!

Get it in the app store or in Google Play store…