Every now and then, we experience some moments when we feel very lazy or we tend to procrastinate. It is normal after a hard week to experience laziness and a sleepy mood, but when we start to feel these things without even doing something, it means that we waste precious time just because we feel like we don’t want to do anything.
Learning to be productive can help you save time and sustain a higher level of performance at work. Most successful people become successful by learning how to get more done in a day or even an hour. Here are the best apps that will help boost your productivity and make the most out of your day.
So, we have prepared the best apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, or even in browsers that will help you stop procrastination and start working more efficiently.
Serene
Serene is your ideal app if you need to get into focused deep work faster and for longer, to reach your goal.
To do this, the app will block all websites and apps that distract your focus, schedule all your tasks for the current day as well as for future days, and like the best sleep apps (which you should try), have a library of sounds that will induce a state of focus to get you into deep work.
This app will be like a good friend, it will mute your phone, remind you to plan or start sessions and give you a weekly productivity report. It will also track your productivity and give you timed breaks so you work smart, not hard.
Unfortunately, the application is only available for macOS but the developers claim that soon there will be a version for Windows as well.
Fortunately, the app will cost you $4 per month billed annually, a modest amount for the features it delivers.
Cost: 4$/month, billed annually
Get Serene for Mac.
Wunderlist
Wunderlist -update
Wunderlist is a task management application created by 6wundeekindee in 2009 and signed up by Microsoft in 2015. Unfortunately, Microsoft announced two years after that, that they were going to discontinue the app at the expense of Microsoft To Do. Old users can still log into the app while new users can no longer register. Users can import all their data into Microsoft To-Do because in 2019 Microsoft announced that Wunderlist To Do will no longer sync.
Cost: No longer available.
Trello
It’s the perfect visual application tool for your team to help you manage projects and reach your full potential.
It will help you organize your projects with an easy-to-use layout, and smaller projects can be grouped into “cards” and “boards” that you can assign to groups, or individuals and give them a deadline.
This application comes in a free version but with some limitations. You can choose a subscription plan depending on your needs and the size of your team.
Cost: Free, $5/month, $10month, or $17.5/month
Get Trello for Windows, Mac, web, iOS, or Android.
Monday
Monday.com is a more powerful project management alternative and is better suited to large teams with complex projects.
Other users say that it meets the requirements better in one management application than others. You can view, plan, and manage your projects with a customizable dashboard. It’s easy to assign a task to a member and get notifications about the status and what your team is working on in real-time. You can use a variety of charts and receive reports about your team’s work and you can also connect to the app tools such as Zoom, Slack, Email, Spreadsheet, or Calendar to manage all your work in one place.
Cost: $0-Individual / $8-Basic / $10-Standard / $16-Pro or Enterprise (prices not available online)
Get Monday for Windows, Mac, web, iOS, or Android.
Airtable
The developers claim that the app is easy to use and indie filmmakers to cattle farmers and content creators use it to organize their way, their life. The platform is built around the spreadsheet format, so if you or your team are familiar with Excel, you will learn the application very quickly. You won’t need any functions or formulas, the application is designed to be easy to understand and use.
Airtable is a full-featured project management tool. With it, you can look at projects from multiple perspectives, team members can interact with projects, build roadmaps and organize both data and processes very well. Team members can add messages and tasks and prioritize workflows to run campaigns and track progress. From a finance point of view, your team members would be able to streamline requests, manage budgets and receive automated reports. Fortunately, Airtable is a cross-platform tool, available for web and both iOS and Android users.
Cost: $0-Free / $10-Plus / $20-Pro / Enterprise (prices not available online)
Get Airtable for Windows, Mac, web, iOS, or Android.
Asana
Asana is a web and mobile work management tool designed to help teams track, manage and organize their work.
The admin has access to a console with which they can manage members and teams, security settings but also billing info. You can track and view checkpoints and also measure and share project progress. With “Forms” you can give others the chance to ask for work very easily.
You have access to reports and advanced searches based on certain criteria and then save them and see work across projects, assigns, and more. With the timeline, you can manage independent, unscheduled, and overlapping tasks easily with the help of a Gantt chart. These features are available with the Premium subscription, and for more features like goals, approvals, forms branching, portfolio or workload you need to upgrade to the Business plan.
Fortunately, Asana is a cross-platform tool, available for web and both Android and iOS users.
Cost: $0 Basic / $10.99 Premium / $24.99 Business (billed annually)
Get Asana for Windows, Mac, web, iOS, or Android.
Todoist
Very similar to Trello, Todoist’s features will help you track, prioritize and manage your tasks, project your goals, and receive special reports about your projects.
The app is free, but it comes with 2 paid plans, one of which is designed for teams, with admin and team functions at $8 per month per seat. The other plan will help you manage up to 300 projects, 25 collaborators per project, reminders, unlimited activity history, themes and auto backups, and many other useful features. This app gives you the possibility to track your tasks even from your wrist by using a smartwatch.
Cost: $0-Free / $5-Plus / $8-Pro (cheaper if paid annually)
Get Todoist for Windows, Mac, web, iOS, or Android.
Forest
If you want to combine the useful with the pleasant this app is for you. It’s awesome because it works like a phone game, but compared to conventional games, it gives you extra time to achieve your goals. Many users claim that their procrastination habit has disappeared since they started using the app.
The app encourages you to use your phone as little as possible to focus more on the things that matter most in life. Every time you start a task, a tree will be planted but if you exit the app, it will dry up. Every time you complete a task, you will receive credits with which you can plant a real tree, which is the purpose of the app.
Cost: Android – Free or Pro upgrade / iOS – $3.99
Get Forest for iOS or Android.
Focus Keeper
If you struggle to separate break time from work time, this app is perfect for you. Focus Keeper is a mobile app that helps you boost your productivity with a Pomodoro timer and track your focus time and task progress.
The Pomodoro technique is a simple method of balancing focus with deliberate breaks, 25 minutes of focused work with a 5-minute break, and after 4 sessions, a 25-minute break.
The app is free, but to see daily and weekly reports, you need a monthly subscription for $1.99. With this, you get unlimited charts plus 10 ticking sounds.
Cost: $1.99 / month
Get Focus Keeper for iOS or Android.
Freedom
Freedom is available on mobile, Windows, Mac, and even Chrome OS.
This app will block distracting websites, apps, and even the whole internet to keep you focused or to enjoy a break. Freedom app gives you the chance to see your session history and provides ambient music for concentration.
Cost: $3.33 / monthly or $79.99 / Forever
Get Freedom for Windows, Mac, web, iOS, or Android.
Best apps for personal usage:
My personal recommendation for the best app to use every day for personal purposes is Forest.
While you help the environment by planting trees using the app, Forest is the perfect app to improve your habits and reduce phone distractions.
Best apps for managing tasks and schedules:
Trello or Todoist
Trello is suitable for teams who want to collaborate in the most efficient way, but also to work on long-term and complex projects.
Todoist is suitable for task management and project scheduling
How to choose the ideal productivity app for your workflow?
| Tool | Windows | Mac | Mobile | Browser extension | Smartwatch | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serene | ✓ | 4$/month | ||||
| Trello | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Free, $5, $10, or $17.5 | ||
| Monday | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $0 / $8 / $10/ $16 | |
| Airtable | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $0/ $10 / $20 / Enterprise | |
| Asana | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $0 / $10.99 / $24.99 Business | |
| Todoist | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $0 / $5 / $8 |
| Forest | ✓ | Android - Free / iOS - $3.99 | ||||
| Focus Keeper | ✓ | ✓ | $1.99 | |||
| Freedom | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $3.33 / monthly or $79.99 / Forever |
If we set a goal and try to accomplish it daily, we tend to be more productive. Also, how we start our day and how we manage to do everything we planned can be a challenge sometimes and that’s why we need a little bit of extra help.
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