The Best Executive Apps to Download

The days of delegating administrative tasks to your assistant or admin are dwindling. In fact, the number of executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants is expected to drop by 9% over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So if your job used to come with a helpful assistant, there's a good chance you're flying solo these days.

That means managing your calendar, travel schedule, expenses, and other administrative tasks likely fall on you. Make it easy on yourself by downloading these seven mobile apps and a must-have desktop application (because the basic calendar app can only take you so far).

Expensify

As an exec, you know how quickly business expenses can rack up—and what a pain they are to itemize. Expensify can help you stay on top of it.

It tracks all of your spending and creates an expense report for your accounts payable department. Once you take a picture of your receipt, the app (available for Android and iOS) will automatically record and submit your expenses.

Toggl

One of the biggest challenges all execs face is lack of time. Here's a tip: track how you spend your hours using Toggl as a way to try do a self-imposed "time audit" and find what can be eliminated from your schedule.

The old adage "time is money" is true. Think of your time like it’s an investment. Toggl lets you see where your time is going.

The app, which syncs with a desktop version of the program, allows you to track time by project or by client. After just a week of consistent logging, you'll likely come away with useful insights. It'll help you focus on doing the tasks that are going to lead to the results that you want. And if you aren't, it could be time to reprioritize.

Calendly

Calendly allows people to schedule appointments right into your calendar without having to go back and forth via email a dozen times.

It's got the usual calendar features—color-coded events and the option to make a meeting recurring—plus a few extras, like a limit to the number of meetings people can put on your calendar each day and time zone detection so everyone's on the same page about when the meeting begins.

OmniFocus

Making a to-do list every morning may not cut it when you join the executive ranks. There are the tasks you need to finish today, but then there are the long-term projects you need to work toward over time. As a manager, you're never just focused on one goal or one task. You've got to have an eagle eye on everything, big and small.

OmniFocus can help you manage it all so nothing falls through the cracks. The app stores your to-dos and allows you to defer projects or put them on hold, which can come in handy for things like year-long goals that aren't tied to a specific deadline.

CamScanner

Although you can set up your office anywhere that has a Wi-Fi connection, there will no doubt come a time when you need to scan something but don't have access to a scanner. That's when CamScanner comes in handy.

CamScanner allows you to use your camera phone to take pictures of documents and create password-protected PDFs for extra security. It has a collaboration feature, which allows multiple people to mark up and comment on the same document.

TripIt

For executives with busy travel schedules, TripIt allows you to forward your travel plans to your TripIt email—or set up auto-import—and it generates a comprehensive itinerary.

Flights, hotels, and restaurant reservations from different booking sites will all be stored in one spot. TripIt also makes it easy to share your travel plans, which can come in handy when you're traveling with colleagues.

Monster

We couldn't very well recommend the best apps without putting in a plug for our own, could we? It's not just shameless advertising that compels us to include it. The Monster job search app is a must-have for anyone with career ambitions because it allows you to not just actively search for jobs, but to put yourself into passive search mode and be ready to respond when the right opportunity becomes available—wherever you are.

Sign up for job alerts, and we'll let you know when a good fit appears. With dating-app-like functionality, simply swipe left or right to indicate whether you're interested and if so, you can apply on the spot, ensuring you don't miss an opportunity. Download the Monster app and start swiping today.