Increase your productivity through these useful apps for work and life.
In this age of technology where people of every age are reliant on different online platforms and tools, all of us are prone to spend countless hours browsing the internet without noticing that we’ve wasted our whole day with unimportant tasks.
We all know that technology has its pros and cons, and procrastination is one of the disadvantages of having access to tons of activities and information at your fingertips. It is so easy to shift from one tab to another and ignore your work deadlines, school submissions or even personal errands while scrolling through Facebook, Instagram or even searching random stuff on Google.
What’s good is that technology also offers solutions to problems it has caused. For easily-distracted millennials like you and me, there are several mobile apps that are developed to keep us from wasting time and energy day in and day out, and make us more productive in our tasks. There are apps that help you automate certain tasks, keep you posted on your schedule, eliminate some challenging processes or even prioritize educational things over recreational ones. For example, instead of posting reviews and questions on Reddit about your favorite shows, you can spend your time looking for useful coupons online that will help you save money when buying work or school programs, workshops for new hobbies or creative apps such as MyFonts Coupons.
Below are some mobile apps that you can download to help maintain productivity:
- AppDetox. Have you ever monitored how much time you allot on Instagram or TikTok per day? You’ll be surprised that the majority of us spend an average of 5 hours (or even more) in a day just browsing and scrolling through photos and videos of other people we don’t even know personally! Through AppDetox, you will constantly be reminded (and shamed) of your heavy usage of certain apps. AppDetox shows you which of the apps on your phone you spend the most time on. Available for Android users, this app encourages people to be more mindful of their mobile phone usage and helps them become less dependent on their phones.
- RescueTime. Similar to AppDetox, RescueTime helps you track the hours you spend on different apps and websites. Once you log in, RescueTime will run in the background while tracking your daily online habits. The app provides a snapshot of how you spend your time online and can even categorize them based on how much time you spend on news, work, entertainment, and social media sites. iOs and Android users alike can use RescueTime for free and track their internet usage daily.
- Timewaste Timer. Looking for a more aggressive app to keep you from wasting time online? Then Timewaste Tracker is for you! This app punishes the user every time he or she uses Facebook for more than one hour per day. Through the app, you are charged 1 dollar (from an account that you fund) every time you go beyond one hour on Facebook.
- Freedom. If Facebook is not the only site that distracts you, then you can check our Freedom app. Freedom is an app that allows you to block websites that you find distracting. Through the app, you can create a set of websites that distract you constantly or even block the internet completely. Freedom lets users schedule distraction-free sessions every so often, especially during busy days at work or even just for internet-free days that you can spend with your friends and family. Freedom is free of charge for basic features with premium paid options and is available for iOs, Mac, PC, and Android users.
- Checky. Through Checky, you can keep track of how many times you check your phone per day. It might be a simple tool, but it is actually quite useful for almost everyone to limit the number of times they check their phones during meetings, personal errands or worse, during social interactions with co-workers, friends and loved-ones!
- Take a Five. Another useful tracking app is Take a Five. This app allows you to create a self-destructing browser tab to limit the time you spend procrastinating. What you need to do is to set the number of minutes you are allowed to surf and goof around online and stop once your time is up.
- Procraster. Instead of just keeping you from procrastination, Procraster app also allows you to start doing your tasks efficiently through a dashboard that lets you input all your to-do’s and projects, assign areas of responsibility, note deadlines and schedule when you need to start working on each of them. Through Procraster, you can constantly be nudged to beat deadlines and start early on what needs to be done!
- Pomodoro. Pomodoro.cc is an app that allows you to manage your time wisely by breaking your tasks into 25-minute increments. This app is based on the “pomodoro technique” that follows the same time framework. Through pomodoro.cc, you can also keep track of which projects or tasks take the most or the least of time and work on optimizing your skills accordingly.
- Plan. An elegant app with a beautiful interface, Plan helps you organize your deadlines wisely. Plan helps you manage your schedule and tasks by setting time frames on what needs to be done. Through Plan, you can easily adjust your schedule to prioritize more urgent tasks and also analyze trends in your work tasks to see when and where you are most productive.
- Dart. Dart is an app for desktop users that lets you send out pre-written responses to emails with just a click. With most of us working from home and relying on e-mail and other online platforms to work on everything, everyday, Dart eliminates the time you spend typing “Thank you for reaching out,” or “For any questions, you may contact me at...'' and allows you to spend your time on more important tasks.
- Feedly. For those of you who regularly read news and other informative articles, Feedly helps save time by gathering all articles published on different sites you constantly go to and arranging them into a clean space. With its neat interface and various content, Feedly is one of the most popular apps within its category. Available to both iOs and Android users, Feedly also allows users to look for related sites under different categories such as technology, fashion, global news, design, sports, and more.