Being Productive is a Cinch with These 5 (Free) Apps.
Being Productive is a Cinch with These 5 (Free) Apps.
“Lost time is never found again.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Being productive can do lots to how well you do your work and the quality in which you do it. Being productive means that you can work efficiently through the set task, and have minimal procrastination/distractions. We think that these 5 apps are the best apps that will ensure this.
1. Notion
I never cared about being productive — or being organised, for that matter. However, the first app that I came across that made my life way easier to plan — was Notion.
I can now project plan, manage my tasks, note-take in class, all making it easier to focus on the things that matter most. Notion allows me to customise the layout, so everything is neat and orderly, and it has a neat calendar feature (and to-do list) that make things so much easier! Just don’t spend too much time procrastinating on customising your layout (like I did!) 😂
Also, you have an “export as PDF” feature which is super handy if you want to print out your notes
Price: Starts free, then $5/month and up to $8/month.
Website: https://notion.so
Pros: Helps with organisation, planning your life, and in the end — helps you be more productive. You can also collaborate, which is awesome for group projects
Cons: It’s a bit hard to get used to, and the functionalities seem weird (although they’re all useful) — but, once you get used to the UI, you’ll love it!
Overall, Notion is a great app to jump onto the journey of being productive.
2. Toggl “Track”
Toggl is a great time-tracking software, which will give you an analysis of how you spend your time (which will help you get to the crux of whether you’re procrastinating or not!)
Basically, you can input your own time entries, like “Using Snapchat” or “Watching YouTube” or “Finishing Test Prep”. At the end of the day, you can check the reports section of the app, and you’ll see how well you spent your day! I spend most of my time outside, according to my analysis 😍
What I love about Toggl is the flexibility and the intuitive UI of the app. You will get used to the app in a mere few seconds!
Price: Free, $10/month, $20/month
Website: https://toggl.com/track
Pros:
- A generous free version of the app
- Multiple apps for accessibility — chrome-extension, desktop app, mobile app!
- An idle message, if you’ve not been productive enough 👻
- Remembers previous time entries, so easy to re-input them.
There are a few downsides too:
Cons:
- The report only categories by project, and not tags
- Limited integrations with some apps.
- Only a count “up” feature, no countdown.
Toggl is a great app for time tracking with handy “reports” feature, but it only counts up, which is not as useful for me 😦
3. Microsoft/Office 365
Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365) is a huge bundle of productivity apps, like Word (being the most well-known), Excel, Powerpoint, and more! It is a great collaboration medium, and works seamlessly through all your devices.
However, you do have to pay for individual devices, or you can get a bundle. There is no free version (well there is, but there’s no f*cking use in it because most features are disabled) 😜
Before you say I clickbaited you, 365 is most definitely free. If you think the features of 365 is limited, you can have Google’s range of products — like Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It’s just that Google’s product is not native to Microsoft.
Word is a great tool for writing documents, with a “draw” and other features too! Excel is awesome for displaying data, and recently found a new feature for sending mass emails + personalising them which is so damn useful 😍 Check it out here! As for powerpoint, it’s just a software so you can present work to your friends and colleagues with nifty little features.
Price: There are tons of different plans and packages, check the pricing page here
Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365
Pros: Cross-platform with easy sharing (making for a good collaboration space), security features which reduces security risks.
Cons: (I couldn’t think up of any but…) It’s a bit of an unmodern style of software, and (because 365 works by uploading to a cloud) you need to be online to access the files.
Microsoft 365 is an all-in-one collaboration and feature packed software, that will definitely give your productivity game a boost.
4. Taskade
Taskade is a combination of Notion and messaging. You can call others, chat in real time, and collaborate on projects together. I am quite new to Taskade, so I can’t comment much on it. I’ve used it for a while, and I must say, it’s quite nice! You can create tasks, and you can communicate each other…
Price: Free, $5/month, Custom
Website: https://www.taskade.com/
Pros: User friendly, easy note-taking
Cons: Better functionalities in regards to migrating content over to Taskade and add a few more features that’ll help become more productive 😄
Taskade is great for note-taking and quick collaboration.
5. Airtable
Airtable is the holy grail of Excel or Google Sheets. It’s way more visually enticing. It’s a mix of a spreadsheet and a database. It can store info that looks good to the eyes. You can manage tasks, and plan projects, and collaborate (plus more!)
You can import spreadsheets, use ready-made templates, or start from scratch!
Price: Free, $10/month, $20/month, Custom
Website: https://airtable.com/
Pros: Easy use, great UI and UX, numerous templates, track projects.
Cons: Harder to get used to, Excel has more mathematical capabilities (like formulas and equations — Airtable doesn’t have this)
Airtable is more user friendly than Excel, but lacks more of the internal features that Excel has.
Conclusion
With the right technology and software, being productive is super easy. Don’t fail yourself in reaching your goal. You can do it ❤️
Thanks for reading this article, it definitely took a while longer to write 😫 So, I would appreciate if you could clap and comment for more ideas to keep me going!
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