Apps that Help Increase Productivity

APPS THAT HELP INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

Do you find yourself trying to stay focused on tasks at hand throughout the day?  Have you ever caught yourself looking at social media accounts at work, and wonder how long you’ve been sitting there wasting precious time catching up on friends?  Or wished setting an appointment in your calendar was as easy as speaking? If the answer is yes, then these apps can help you stay focused and stop wasting productivity hours.

Staying motivated and organized during the work week can be a daunting task in itself.  For those days, when you simply can’t seem to get your routine going, these six apps will help you stay on top of your game.

Take a peek at some of the apps below that can help you achieve greatness. Or at least make you look like you have it together. 

 

MailTime (iPhone & Android)

Emailing on the go using a smartphone has become a necessity in this day and age. How often do you find yourself scrolling to the bottom of an email to catch up on all of the details? MailTime converts emails into text messages, which allows you to follow the email easily and respond quickly.

Anything that can make scrolling through emails and responding is a must have in my book!

StayFocusd (Chrome)

StayFocusd is a free Chrome extension. It allows you to block websites that waist time such as Twitter, Facebook, Buzzfeed and other time sucking websites.  You can set an aggregate timer for all websites you want to stay away from, which is pretty awesome. Want to give yourself a maximum of one hour on Pinterest and Facebook combined? Not a problem. Once the hour is up, it won’t let you extend the time, it blocks the website, forcing you to get back to work so you can accomplish your tasks and look like a rock star.

StayFocusd also has a “Nuclear Option,” which blocks everything on your list and can’t be deactivated. Which can be a good thing if you don’t have the self-control to stay away from non-productivity sites.

 

RescueTime (Mac, Windows, Android, Linux)

RescueTime  is great if you want to block distracting websites. It runs in the background on both your computer and mobile devices, monitoring which websites and applications you visit most. After analyzing where you spend most of your time through the day, it provides a detailed report so you can know exactly, how you’ve spent your precious time. You may be surprised to find out how much time you are wasting during the day.

RescueTime emails you weekly summaries, and lets you set daily goals of how you want to spend your time.

Finally, RescueTime analyzes all your activities and generates a productivity score, which allows you to measure your levels of productivity in a given time period. If you’re looking for an everything solution, this is a good one.

 

Dragon Mobile Assistant (Andriod)

Everyone needs an assistant, but most cannot afford one. However, with Dragon Mobile Assistant you can have a free assistant always on your Android Phone.   The service is voice-directed dictation in which you speak to text, schedule appointments, make a call, update or search your social media accounts. And just like a real-life assistant, you can personalize this tool with a name that, when called (or yelled), wakes the dragon. But fear not, Game of Thrones fans, in this example, it’s a superb thing.

 

Agenda Calendar four (iPhone)

If the phone calendar simply isn’t cutting it, Agenda Calendar four can simply show all your appointments and activities, while not having to click an individual for its corresponding schedule. The app provides five different calendar views allowing for optimal planning, whether it is tomorrow or six months from now.

Forest (iPhone, Android, Chrome, Firefox)

Forest is specifically useful for the visual learner; this app is designed to help enhance your focus. Whenever you want to pay attention to a given task, move into the app, “plant a tree” and watch the seed develop. By accomplishing your tasks while the app is on, the virtual forest will grow, letting you see how much you are accomplishing during the day. Keep building your forest; every tree represents your focused time on individual tasks.

Whether you are looking for something to help keep you focused or just something to track your time, these apps are great tools you to have in your arsenal.

 

Until next time,

Karen Beth