Feeding on a finite and precious resource, time monsters walk among us. They are cunning and employ nifty tactics to steal our time. Distraction, interruption and fragmented productivity are their main weapons. Naturally, I love to make the most of each day by seeing tasks scratched off my to-do list. I start the day revved up and ready to tackle the day’s work. But soon, a glance at my watch reminds me that the day is almost over, and I am not even halfway done with my list! Clearly, something has been stealing my time. The time monsters have struck!
Sooner or later, we find ourselves unwittingly falling for the time monster’s tricks. We check social media notifications while working on a report, or we pause from a task to check on our email. Such actions allow the time monster to steal from our cookie jar! What’s a productive person supposed to do?
10 Apps to Help Increase Your Productivity
It’s time to ward off our time monsters. Let’s make the most of each day with these 10 apps to increase focus and improve productivity.
1. Todoist
Todoist is an app that helps users make the most of each day. Users can create tasks, add reminders and due dates, and visualize the progress of projects via the Todoist Status Dashboard. The app also lets users manage tasks across all devices. The best part is that you can link Todoist with other apps, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, and WebEx.
2. RescueTime
RescueTime helps users track where their time goes. Some of its features include automatic time tracking, goals and alerts, distraction blocking, reporting, and monitoring of offline activities. With RescueTime, make the most of each day and know exactly where you spend most of your time.
3. GoogleKeep
GoogleKeep is Google’s note-taking service that was launched in 2013. The app’s strength lies in its simplicity and built-in integration with Google Services.
4. FocusList
FocusList is a daily planner and focus app based on the Pomodoro Technique. Breaking the workday into 25-minute chunks separated by 5-minute breaks, the app helps users increase productivity. Within the 25-minute task, users can focus, do more deep work, and make the most of each day.
5. Forest
Forest helps curb distraction caused by the constant checking of our smartphones. The app works by helping users stick to non-phone activities. When the user adheres to the set time, the app grows a seedling into a tree. Each completed session is one tree added to your forest.
6. Hours
Hours is an award-winning app designed by Apple. Since Hours is cloud-based, tasks are synced in real-time and can be accessed across various devices. This feature allows users to track their time with ease and in real-time. Creating tasks is a breeze, too. Just input the project name and assign a color code—then you are ready to track your time!
7. Noisli
Noisli is an excellent app for users working in open workspaces. It is a sound app that drowns out the noise around you and helps you focus on the task at hand. The app has 16 sounds that can be mixed and matched. Users can also configure the volume and set the timer of each combination.
8. Strides
Strides is a habit- and goal-tracking app for iPhone users. The app has four trackers—Habit, Target, Average and Project—which are easily customizable to suit user needs. Goal-setting is done in three easy steps. Plus, you can view all goals and habits in one dashboard.
9. Wunderlist
Wunderlist aims to help one make the most of each day by keeping all aspects of a user’s life in sync. Create a task and set a reminder so you won’t have to miss any deadlines. Wunderlist is free for iOS, Android, Windows and Kindle Fire users. You can also access the app from the web.
10. Toggl
Toggl is a cloud-based time tracking app that helps users sync tasks across devices. You can download it as a mobile app for iOS and Android or desktop app for Windows, Mac or Linux. Create your task and click the timer. Accuracy of tracking is ensured as users get reminders if they forget to start or stop the timer.
Make the Move & Make the Most of Each Day!
Identifying how we spend our time is the first step in making the most of each day. With awareness of how we spend our time, we can determine our focused moments as well as the times where we need help to be productive. Through these helpful apps, taking control of time becomes more straightforward and easier to do.
Ultimately, taking control of our time means taking control of our life—and that’s how you live a bold life!
