Building on last week’s post on how to increase your productivity, here are some great tools that can help you make these tips a reality in your daily life:
- 1Password — password management
- Available on iOS (free trial), Android (free trial), Mac ($50), Windows ($50)
- The problem: Do you always re-use the same password, use a date of birth, scribble your passwords down on stickies?
- What 1Password offers: A password (and other important information like credit card and bank account details) managing app which syncs across your devices. It helps you create new, more secure passwords and stores them safely and securely. Also has great features of letting you insert your data into your browser quickly and conveniently.
- Acompli — mobile email management
- Available for iOS and Android (both free)
- The problem: Do you dread having to do your emails on your phone or iPad? Do you find it inconvenient to switch between apps to answer simple questions like “when are you free”?
- What Acompli offers: Calendar-integrated email system which makes it so easy to keep track of what’s important, keep an overview of files, contacts and appointments (and we do love calendar-integration here at SkedGo!).
- Alfred — advanced search and hotkeys
- Available for Mac (free)
- The problem: Has the inconvenience of changing to mouse or mousepad to find a specific app or file, to open websites, write new emails etc. been bothering you?
- What Alfred offers: Vastly improved searches on your Mac (and online); plus use hotkeys, keywords and file actions. It’s basically a super version of your Mac’s spotlight feature. You’ll likely only realise how much time and effort it saves you once you’ve used it for a while.
- Dropbox — online document storage
- Available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux and more (all free for up to 2GB storage)
- The problem: Accessing and sharing documents, photos and more across your devices isn’t always easy.
- What Dropbox offers: Provides online storage for your digital “stuff” that you can access from any of your devices and easily share with friends or colleagues.
- Evernote — note taking and management
- Available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows & online (free for the basic version)
- The problem: You struggle with notes on piles of paper or would love all your notes (and more) in one handy location.
- What Evernote offers: Take notes in a variety of forms, add websites, handwritten notes, pictures and more, and find everything easily with a powerful search. It also syncs across your devices.
- Lift — personal goal management
- Available for iOS & Android (both free)
- The problem: You want to achieve some things, big or small, or even change a lifelong bad habit, but are lacking motivation and therefore struggling getting closer to your goals?
- What Lift offers: Lift allows you to set goals and track your progress, form new life-changing habits. It employs coaching, community support and data to keep you motivated and on track.
- Mint — budget management
- Available online and as Android, iOS & Windows Phone apps (all free)
- The problem: If you have several bank accounts, credit cards and/or loans (or even just one), and are struggling to keep an overview over your budget, you might want to consider a financial management tool.
- What Mint offers: Mint lets you keep track of your personal finance and budget your money. It automatically categorises your expenses based on data from your bank accounts (if you let it), and helps you set goals. It also alerts you if your balance becomes low.
- Noisli — background noise & color generator
- Available online (free), iOS ($1.99)
- The problem: Random noises, music or maybe even quietness distract you and don’t let you focus on work properly
- What Noisli offers: Improve focus and boost your productivity with background sounds (and colours). You can mix different sounds to suit your taste, or use pre-mixes.
- OmniFocus2 — complex task management
- Available for Mac (free 14 day trial, then $40), iPad ($30), iPhone ($20)
- The problem: You have lots of things to do every day, and often it gets a bit overwhelming.
- What OmniFocus2 offers: Very powerful task management tool that lets you capture your thoughts, ideas and tasks and store, manage and process them into actionable to-do items.
- SelfControl — helps you avoid distracting websites
Available for Mac (free) [try SelfRestraint for Windows (free)] - The problem: Do you find yourself getting distracted at work or study by checking websites (like Facebook) that you really shouldn’t be on?
- What SelfControl offers: Helps you focus on your work by blocking certain websites for a specified period of time. You define which websites you want to block (or more radical: the ones you allow yourself), and you will not be able to access the blocked sites until the time you set is up (not even by re-starting your Mac or deleting the app).
- TurboScan — document scanner on your smartphone
- Available for iOS & Android (both $2.99)
- The problem: Do you sometimes find yourself taking a photo of documents, only to discover later that the quality is far from ideal?
- What TurboScan offers: Uses your iPhone’s camera to “scan” high-quality multipage documents into pdf or jpeg, including business cards, receipts or brochures. The app uses algorithms to enhance the quality of the “scanned” picture.
- Wunderlist — task manager and other lists (NB: Wunderlist was discontinued in 2020)
- Available online, for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Mac and more (all free)
- The problem: Keeping lists on pieces of paper gets inconvenient, and it’s not easy to add more detail or share them with others.
- What Wunderlist offers: Wunderlist lets you create all kinds of lists, from shopping lists to to-do lists and more, and share them with others easily. It allows you to add detailed notes, subtasks, reminders and assign responsibilities.
Did we forget YOUR favourite productivity app? Let us know in the comments below!
Sources
Title picture: Blogging, Blogger, Office, Business — Free image on Pixabay — 336376 by Unsplash
Noisli screenshot from noisli.com; Alfred, Dropbox & SelfControl screenshots from my Mac; remaining screenshots from AppStore
Originally published at SkedGo.
