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Productivity

5 Time Management Apps that will Boost your Productivity

Hilda Munjuri|Jul 13, 2020

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Every day your attention is constantly being diverted from productive tasks. Social media sites, streaming services, video games, and many other digital distractions are sidetracking you from being productive. This means you may be getting less done in your day to day activities.

However, all is not lost. There are productivity apps that can help you stay focused and achieve the most out of your day.

Here is a list of 5 time management apps that you can use to start increasing your productivity.

1. Serene

Serene is a macOS app that helps you focus and boost your productivity. It helps with planning your day, blocking distractions, and giving you focuses enhancers.

Once you download the app, you’ll select the websites and desktop apps you want to block. From there on, use the daily session planner, this prompts you to have a goal that you want to achieve.

When you are ready to work, click on “Go Serene”, and start a focus session, which lasts between 20-60 minutes before you are prompted to take a break.

In case you get sidetracked and visit a blocked website or app during your focus session, Serene replaces the distracting website with a Serene screen reminder nudging you to go back to work.

Also, if you stray into websites that you have not blocked, there will be a prompt on whether to add them to your block list.

When you finish your focus session, Serene will ask you whether you have completed your task and if you ran into any distractions.

In the end, the app allows you to prioritize on achieving the most important goal of the day and get it done.

It has a free 10 hours (600 minutes) trial, after which you will be billed $4 monthly with unlimited usage.

2. Focus Booster

If you find yourself not being able to do the things you are supposed to do, put yourself under a regiment where you tell yourself you have to get things done.

For example, you can allocate yourself 25 minutes to get a task done, and then after that, give yourself a 5-minute break, maybe make a phone call, and then come back and put in another 25 minutes and so on until the task is done.

This regiment has a name and is called the Pomodoro technique. It a time management system that transforms time from being an enemy to an ally in achieving your goals.

The Focus Booster app is a digital Pomodoro timer that helps you overcome distractions, maintain focus, and complete your work on time.

It has a free 30-day trial, after which you pay $2.99 a month for the individual package.

3. Tide

Studies have shown that music boosts focus and increases productivity. When you download the Tide app, this is what you get.

The app comes with a focus time (default 20 minutes) which you set to focus and do your work, but it can be customized to your need, for example, you can set a focus time of 40 minutes and then take a short break of 10 minutes, just like the Pomodoro technique.

What makes Tide different is that it has focus scenes (ambient sounds) that you can play in the background while working.

Some of the sounds include café noises, library sounds, rain, and forest sounds. If you get tired of the default sounds, which come free with the app, you can buy new sounds.

When you finish a focus session, you get focus points which are arbitrary but help you track your progress.

Other than focus, Tide has features that can help you with sleep, relaxation, and meditation.

The app is free and is available on Android and iOS, but has some premium in-app products which you have to buy.

4. Toggl

Are you maximizing your 24 hours every day? Yes, no, maybe, you can explain? Whatever your answer, you can use a time tracking app like Toggl to see how well you spend your 24 hours. The caveat is don’t cheat.

With Toggl, you will see if how you spend your time aligns with your priorities.

To get started, download the app and sign in. From there, click the green start button, and start tracking your time. You can do this either automatically, or manually. However, it is best to do it automatically.

Enter the name of your activity, and press save, and the timer will start running. Once you finish the task, you press the red button to stop.

Then enter the next activity you will be doing. Do this throughout the day with all your activities. To be successful, with the app, you have to document everything to know how you spend your time. Even when lazing in bed, you have to make an entry for that time.

At the end of the day or week, you can generate a report and see how you spent your time. This will crystallize to you how you spend your time and adjust accordingly to have your time spent in line with your priorities.

5. Focus Mode

If you have an Android 9 or 10 devices, you have an inbuilt app called Focus mode on your phone. The app lets you pause distracting apps and allow you to focus.

To use it, go to Settings, and scroll to Digital Wellbeing. Scroll down, and you are going to see Focus mode as one of the options, and you will see Work Time.

Create a new Work Time by pressing the + sign, and name it as you wish.

Then click on add at the bottom, and select the apps you want to have access to when working on Focus mode. This can be your calculator and calendar, and then the rest of the apps will be grayed out.

So, if you click on a grayed app while working, it will nudge you to stay focused and return to work.

While on Focus mode, you can take a 5, 15, or 30 minutes break without disabling Focus mode. Also, you can choose to have the screen on or off during Focus mode.

Once you are done, disable Focus Mode, and your apps will come back on.

To get the most out of your Focus mode, combine it with a to-do-list.

Take away

It is seemingly becoming more difficult to be productive these days. There are constant digital distractions which are robbing people of their time and income.

However, with the above apps, you can start managing your time better and boost your productivity.

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WRITTEN BYHilda Munjuri

Hilda is a freelance writer, and enjoys finding new tips, and hacks to save time and make work easier.

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