There is an ever-growing presence of mobile devices in our lives today. With approximately one in four adults owning a tablet, and one in two owning a smartphone, chances are you, or someone in your family, has an iPad, tablet PC, or smartphone. The ways that these devices help keep us connected to our families, friends, and careers is constantly evolving.

We go home and use our smartphone to check Facebook and Twitter, and we pick up our tablet to read a book or play a game. Many of us get company email sent straight to our phone and/or taking company calls while we're away from the office, but usually, that's about where the work ends.

We have lightweight, powerful devices at our disposal and we use them, predominantly, for entertainment. But why does it have to stop there?

Harnessing the Power of the Mobile Device

A few forward thinkers are starting to unleash the power of these amazing gadgets to make our work life easier and more efficient through a growing number of apps available for both Apple and Google mobile devices.

These apps go way beyond being able to mark up PDFs or edit a spreadsheet—providing venues for project management and coordination, site visits, punch lists, and working with sketches and 3D models.

Imagine being in a client meeting and sketching new ideas right over the top of the existing drawings, or providing real-time project discussions from designers and contractors. Imagine going to a job site, able to take pictures and make notes with a one-pound tablet instead of a behemoth drawing set.

Something to make you more productive? There's an app for that!