12 Useful Apps for Administrative Assistants

If you’re not a personal assistant—or even if you are—you could probably use one for yourself. It’s hard enough to function at your job and in your life without also struggling to keep your resolutions to be super organized this year. But what if you could have help? Did you know you can get a virtual assistant of your very own? Straight to your phone. They’re called SVPAs. You’ll still have to run your own errands, but you can get a little help with the other stuff—and you can yell at this assistant all you want. Here are some of the best.

1. Google Now

Called “the intelligent personal assistant,” Google Now is available for iOS, Android, and your desktop. It stays with you around the clock and organizes everything into customizable cards—weather, traffic, sports scores, favorite websites, etc. You’ll never see your life the same way again once you see it in all these neat packages.

2. 24Me

This one functions kind of like a second brain. Set yourself reminders for paying bills or other important deadlines and meetings. Sync all your to-do lists, notes, and calendar into one convenient app. It’s free, and currently one of the top 10 productivity apps on the App store.

3. Quip

The best endorsement for this one might be that Mark Zuckerberg himself uses it. It’s just like the virtual office Facebook, Quora, and Instagram use, and allows users to collaborate, create, upload, and share documents—even edit them—as a team.

4. Wunderlist

If you’re a list person, this app is right up your alley. Make all the lists you want, then lump them all together in one sleek package and enjoy. You can even share your lists with family members or pals when you need to plan vacation packing lists or bucket lists.

5. Speaktoit

If you’d rather speak to your SVPA, like you do to Siri, then this app is for you. Speaktoit is like Siri, only it's the the CEO version. You can make calls, search the internet for puppy photos, or find the closest dry cleaners. Just give it commands, and the app will remember your preferences for you. It can even answer questions about how best to sort your day.

6. Hootsuite

This one is free, too, with paid subscription options available. It’s a desktop/phone tool that helps you update all of your social media platforms from one place. One app, multiple posts. You can even tailor which posts go to which media as you prefer.

7. Evernote

Also free! This app ends up on most people’s favorites lists. Capture, manage, store, and remember everything you need to. Evernote is also good search and sync capabilities.

8. Call Please

HBO producer Gregg Feinberg created this free app to be able to streamline the call log process, making one list for all team members. Never let any calls slip between the cracks again. And your manager will always know exactly what’s going on—and what calls they most urgently need to make.

9. IFTTT

“If This Then That” lets you make customized recipes based on what you have—and better yet, keeps them simple. Never be stuck without an idea of what to make for dinner again with this free app.

10. TinyScan

Scan any document at any time anywhere and send it to your own email as a PDF. You'll never have to go to Staples again for your document management.

11. Dropbox

Often undersung, this cloud storage program syncs between your computer and your phone. Your documents are securely backed up and accessible no matter where you are. Never be at a loss again in an off-site meeting when asked the location of a specific document.

12. LogMeIn

This app lets you have full access to your work computer—remotely. Open documents, launch applications... basically, do anything you need to do.