Small business owners are often seen as never slowing down or stopping work, spending quite a bit of time in the office and at work-related events. With the growing popularity of smartphones, busy executives now have an easier time keeping up with business while physically outside the office. And with the emergence of more technology and applications designed specifically for business owners and managers, it is easier than ever to telecommute or work outside the office. Lets take a look at the best ways to evaluate which of your business tasks can be completed outside the office. 

Make a list of all the tasks you do in a given month and the programs you use to complete the work. Anything that takes time should go on the list, including sales meetings, industry research, and social media activities. Regardless of whether it is a 2-minute task or a 2-hour meeting, knowing where your time goes and in what increments will help you develop a strong mobile strategy.

Begin by finding applications that you already use in your office and research mobile and cloud programs that will allow you to work from anywhere. Pay close attention to applications that serve multiple purposes, such as accounting services that connect to files with email, or content aggregation sites you can organize by subject and then link to social media sites with scheduled releases.

If your job is to consistently share information via social media, there are dozens of applications that allow you to share posts to a variety of social platforms, all with the click of a button on your smartphone or tablet.

If you find yourself staying in the office to read industry blog posts or publications, consider downloading applications and e-readers that stream your blog feed to your mobile phone. This strategy assures you catch up on business reading, but you don’t necessarily have to sit at your office desk to do it. You may find yourself taking two minutes to read a blog post while waiting in line to pay for groceries.

The ability to work outside the office has never been easier. Once you know what mobile applications to use, start using them both in and out of the office. Take the time to learn all the capabilities of the product and test all features. You will quickly learn which applications work best for your business, and you can focus your attention on getting them set up to really work for you.