“Work smarter, not more durable” has at all times been one among my favourite phrases. However now that I’ve entered my working-mom-of-a-toddler period, it’s taken on an entire new that means. I solely have so many hours in a day, and if I wish to have any semblance of free time, I have to take advantage of them.
Enter: these AI productiveness instruments, all of which assist me streamline, automate, and optimize as a lot as potential. A few of them assist me save hours of labor, others a couple of minutes, whereas some simply assist me keep my sanity — all of it counts. Each second I save goes towards that superb hour or two when my work is finished, my daughter is snuggled up in mattress, and I can cozy up with (learn: go out on) a very good e book.
In fact, productiveness instruments are nothing new — however with the addition of synthetic intelligence, they’ve develop into much more {powerful}. Not solely can these nifty AI apps and instruments enable you to enhance productiveness by organizing your time and duties higher, however they will additionally use machine studying to do a few of these time-consuming or repetitive duties for you.
As a self-proclaimed instruments nerd, I’ve examined out lots of the ever-growing checklist of AI productiveness instruments in the marketplace. These are those I hold coming again to.
1. Buffer
Use AI to brainstorm, write, and repurpose social media posts.
Among the best methods to make sure you develop your following on any social media platform is to submit constantly (the algorithms find it irresistible).
However whenever you’ve bought a full-time job alongside along with your social facet initiatives (to not point out a number of channels to take care of), content material creation can develop into actually overwhelming, actually quick — until you’re leaning on Buffer’s AI Assistant.
The AI software will help brainstorm, generate, and repurpose social media posts, it doesn’t matter what platform you’re utilizing. The assistant is social media good. In different phrases, it’s educated to know the nuances of every platform — for instance, that X/Twitter posts can’t exceed a sure variety of characters, LinkedIn posts are usually slightly extra skilled, Instagram posts lighthearted, and so forth — with out you having to immediate it.
Once I’m stumped on what to submit to assist me construct my private model on LinkedIn, I usually flip to Buffer’s Create House and click on the ‘Generate Concepts’ button to start out brainstorming.
To get a greater sense of what’s going to resonate along with your viewers, the assistant will ask:
- What’s your small business about?
- Who’s your audience?
From there, it’ll generate a stream of concepts so that you can axe or approve, one after the other.
It might probably enable you to workshop current content material, too, like taking a social media submit that carried out nicely on one platform and repurposing it for one more (my private favourite use case).
Buffer pricing: Buffer (and AI Assistant) is free to make use of for as much as three channels. Paid plans begin at $6 monthly per channel.
2. ChatGPT
Use AI to Take the admin jobs off your to-do checklist.
Whereas there are a number of super-powerful AI productiveness instruments in my tech toolbox proper now, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is by far probably the most versatile. I deal with ChatGPT like my AI digital assistant (thanks, pure language processing) and ask it to take time-consuming duties off my plate a number of occasions every week.
I take advantage of it for issues like discovering goal key phrases for search engine marketing, writing primary HTML to enhance my weblog posts (just like the useful desk of contents on the high of this checklist, for instance), and summarizing lengthy or difficult paperwork.
What’s actually useful about ChatGPT is that the chatbot performance means you don’t have to start out from scratch if what it generates isn’t what you’re searching for. You’re consistently constructing in your preliminary immediate. For instance, I can ask it to summarize an advanced article into ten bullet factors, and if that’s nonetheless too tough to digest rapidly, I can simply add, “Clarify the above like I’m a 10-year-old.” (One in every of my favourite prompts.)
ChatGPT pricing: Free for the fundamental model, with paid plans beginning at $10 monthly
3. Notion
Use AI to generate paperwork and search all of your paperwork for particular solutions.
Notion has lengthy been one among my favourite mission administration instruments — it’s additionally a giant a part of our workflow on Buffer’s Content material crew and Buffer’s firm documentation system — so I used to be buzzing after they made the {powerful} product even higher with AI.
Notion AI will help generate textual content and autofill databases, create a useful abstract of pages, and even assign motion gadgets based mostly on particular paperwork – all useful time-savers.
However my favourite Notion AI characteristic is the flexibility to ask the AI very particular questions on all the data you have got saved there. As we’ve talked about on our Open Weblog, we use Notion at Buffer to deal with most of our (very thorough) firm documentation. As complete as our documentation system is, it might probably take time to seek out a solution to an in-the-weeds query whenever you’re in a rush.
So, somewhat than scrolling by way of articles and databases, I can hit the search icon, then ‘Ask AI,’ and sort in my query (say, “How do I categorize web prices in my month-to-month expense report?” or “Which Buffer teammates are based mostly within the US?”)
From there, the AI will generate a response to my query and hyperlink to the pages it used to compile the solutions. It’s value noting that this characteristic continues to be in beta, however it’s at all times labored simply fantastic for me.
Notion pricing: AI options will price $10 per workspace monthly. (Notion is free to make use of for people, however plans begin at $10 month-to-month — this excludes the price of AI).
4. Otter.ai
Use AI to mechanically transcribe and summarize conferences.
I’ve been utilizing Otter.ai, an audio transcription software, since my journalism days (you haven’t any thought how a lot time audio transcriptions have saved me). Now, it’s nonetheless a go-to in my software stack as a marketer.
I nonetheless use it to transcribe interviews (for case research, skilled feedback, and the like), in addition to note-taking for normal conferences. When the assembly is over, I’ll drag and drop the audio recording of the decision into Otter’s net app. Inside minutes, I’ll have a full transcript and — extra importantly — an AI abstract of what was mentioned within the name.
Positive, many video name instruments will do that for you (it’s value trying out the Zoom AI Companion for those who use Zoom completely). Nevertheless, there are two causes I favor Otter.ai. For one factor, I need my transcription software to be separate from my assembly platform of alternative. I usually discover myself pulled into conferences in Zoom, Google Meet, and Riverside, relying on what my visitor prefers to make use of.
One other useful Otter.ai characteristic is the flexibility to click on on a bullet level inside the assembly abstract and be mechanically taken to that time within the recording. Right here, you possibly can play again that second with Otter’s transcription taking part in alongside it like captions.
Otter additionally integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Groups, so you possibly can transcribe in real-time, which streamlines your workflow. Nevertheless, this does imply OtterPilot will be part of your name as if it have been one other visitor (one thing most transcription instruments will do), which I discover jarring. Nonetheless, for those who’re aiming for full optimization, that is the best way to go.
Otter.ai pricing: Free for as much as 300 month-to-month transcription minutes. Paid plans begin at $18 monthly.
5. Todoist AI Assistant
Use AI to raised handle and break down your duties.
Todoist is one among my final productiveness instruments — I stay by the duty supervisor and productiveness app. Todoist’s AI Assistant, very like the app itself, is easy and useful. It might probably enable you to do three issues:
- Give ideas that will help you full a activity
- Make the duty extra actionable
- Break the duty down into smaller ones
I’m a giant fan of the GTD (getting issues accomplished) productiveness methodology, which begins with “capturing” your duties — actually only a mind dump of all of the issues it’s a must to get accomplished. The following step is to “make clear,” making the duty actionable, breaking it down into sub-tasks, and many others., which Todoist’s AI Assistant will help me do. (Learn extra concerning the GTD methodology in Francesco D’Alessio’s article on productiveness apps for social media entrepreneurs.)
Like lots of the different instruments on this checklist, the AI Assistant isn’t baked into Todoist — you’ll want to go over to integrations and activate it earlier than the choices you see within the screenshot above develop into obtainable.
Todoist pricing: Whereas Todoist has a free plan, the AI Assistant is just obtainable on their Professional plan and upwards, which prices
6. Reclaim AI
Use AI to schedule your day whereas defending your focus and private time.
Because the identify suggests, Reclaim AI will enable you to claw time again out of your jam-packed schedule. Somewhat than a calendar in and of itself, consider Reclaim as an AI-powered assistant in your calendar. (It syncs with Google Calendar proper now).
Based mostly in your priorities and position, it’ll enable you to block versatile day out in your calendar for all of the issues which can be necessary to you — like centered working time, figuring out, or a lunch break.
I take advantage of Reclaim to dam out time for all of these items, plus a bedtime routine blocker for my daughter. My focus time, lunch, and exercise occasions shift round day-after-day based mostly on what different conferences I’ve on my calendar, however my daughter’s bedtime is non-negotiable and stays the identical Monday by way of Friday.
That is removed from all Reclaim does, although: it additionally has a Calendly-like assembly scheduler, day by day planner, good scheduling for crew members in numerous time zones, plus a ‘buffer’ characteristic that mechanically schedules decompression time after each digital assembly and journey time earlier than and after each in-person occasion.
Reclaim AI pricing: Reclaim has a stable free plan that may enable you to do a lot of the issues above. Paid plans begin at $10 monthly.
7. Speechify
Use AI to learn any textual content aloud.
Gwyneth Paltrow helped me edit this text — due to Speechify.
Speechify is an AI software that reads any textual content again to you. It has over 130 voices (together with the likes of Gwyn, Snoop Canine, and Mr Beast) and over 30 languages. Due to AI, the readings sound fairly pure and never robotic.
For those who’re an auditory learner like me, Speechify will enable you to digest info quicker than you thought potential. You may as well pace up the studying tempo to spice up productiveness additional.
There are such a lot of use circumstances for this text-to-speech software, which has a Chrome extension and even a cell app, so you possibly can hear whilst you’re on the go. You may have it learn your emails whilst you wash the dishes, enable you to digest difficult paperwork, or flip any PDF into an audiobook.
However my favourite use case is having it learn my articles again to me earlier than I hit publish. It’s an excellent manner for writers to identify typos, grammar errors, or areas the place they may enhance readability.
There are some neat options, too, like the flexibility to create your personal AI Voice clone (I know) or translate and dub movies into different languages.
Speechify pricing: Speechify presents a restricted free plan. Premium plans begin at $69 monthly per consumer.
8. Sort
Use AI to draft content material in your distinctive type.
There are many AI writing instruments on the market (Jasper, Copy.ai, and Author are all nice choices), however Sort is likely one of the few that comes with no studying curve). Sort does precisely what it says on the tin: it makes use of generative AI that will help you write extra, higher.
Sort’s easy document-processor interface is uncluttered and straightforward to know. It additionally features a host of templates for creating all the pieces from weblog posts to onboarding emails — actually useful for those who’re not nice at developing with AI prompts.
You could be considering, “Wait, didn’t you simply inform me ChatGPT and Notion can do this?” and also you’d be proper! However what units Sort aside is that you could practice it to write such as you. With every immediate, you possibly can add, paste, or hyperlink to a format, tone, and magnificence instance, which the AI will mimic when it devises your draft for you.
The outcomes aren’t good — it’ll nonetheless require loads of tweaking to make it sound extra human than robotic — however it’s notably higher than a number of the different AI writing assistants I’ve tried.
Sort pricing: 14 days free, then $29.00 monthly.
Whereas I’ve examined as many AI instruments as I might get my arms on, I do know there are a plethora on the market that I’ve but to discover.
If there’s a software on the market that I’ve to place by way of its paces, I’d love to listen to about it! Please remark under or tag @buffer or @bufferapp on all main social channels, and I’ll put your favourite software to the take a look at.