As you might need guessed from the title of this text, I’ve one thing of an… obsession? with productiveness instruments.
I’ve ADHD (shout out to all the oldsters who had been identified as adults!) and I lean closely on techniques to assist me focus and keep productive. However — doubtless additionally due to the ADHD — I love attempting new issues.
Which suggests I’ve by no means met a brand new instrument I didn’t join in about 2.5 seconds.
I discover that the freshness of recent instruments helps inspire me to remain on process, too. Hey, a system is a system, proper?
So, confession: over the previous yr or so, I’ve tried a minimum of 57 productiveness instruments. (I tracked all of it in Notion, naturally — pop me a message if you wish to see the receipts).
And but, there are a number of apps that I preserve coming again to, or have caught with completely, on my tooling travels.
Earlier than we get into it, I wish to acknowledge that ‘productiveness instrument’ is a very broad time period. As of late, you’ll discover it utilized to every little thing from electronic mail add-ons to AI writing instruments and ChatGPT.
Whereas these different apps and instruments can undoubtedly assist enhance effectivity, on this article, I’m zeroing in on productiveness instruments within the extra conventional sense — those who assist me keep organized, plan my day, and keep targeted.
If that sounds prefer it is likely to be up your alley, let’s get into it.
Todoist
Greatest free productiveness instrument for managing your duties
Todoist — irrespective of what number of instruments I attempt, I by some means all the time discover my means again to you.
It simply… works.
Todoist is a planning instrument that can make sense for most individuals’s working kinds — it has lists, kanbans, and a time-blocking calendar view (on the paid plan).
Whereas there are some options I’d like to see added (the power to color-code time blocks is excessive up on my wishlist), Todoist is an excellent second mind for duties and tasks.
Whereas it is vitally customizable, it doesn’t require a lot configuration to get began. It additionally has nice templates based mostly on well-known productiveness techniques, like Getting Issues Completed, The Eisenhower Matrix, and extra.
Todoist performs very well with a bunch of different instruments, too — you’ll be able to simply add Slack messages as duties, for instance.
In case you’re seeking to apply it to a bigger scale, it really works very well for groups, each company and in any other case. My husband and I’ve a number of tasks we collab on — and I do reasonably get pleasure from assigning duties to him.
Most of those options can be found on their free plan, however their paid plan is fairly inexpensive, too.
My favourite options:
- Complete free plan
- Lovely internet, desktop, and app variations
- Pure language processing, so you’ll be able to kind ‘E-mail Hailley tomorrow’ and the duty might be added to your checklist for the following day.
- ‘Karma’ — a easy gamification system that provides you karma as you full duties
Price: Free, with paid plans beginning at $5 per thirty days.
Akiflow
Greatest productiveness instrument for consolidating duties from in every single place
Akiflow is just about the top of notification overwhelm.
It goes past process supervisor — Akiflow is a process consolidator. It integrates together with your electronic mail, Slack, Notion, Todoist, Asana, Trello, and a bunch of different instruments and pulls them right into a single inbox as duties.
From there, you’ll be able to set up these duties into each folders and tasks after which map them out in your calendar. So, for instance, if I save a message in Slack, it’s going to present up as a process in my inbox in Akiflow. From there, I can schedule it for a selected day,
One other function I really like (and that most of the productiveness instruments are lacking) is analytics. Each process that’s assigned a length or time-blocked in your calendar — and accomplished — is tracked. From there, you will get an enormous image take a look at how lengthy you spent on sure tasks, duties, or in conferences.
I discover it tremendous motivating to see how a lot work I managed to get by means of in sooner or later. It’s additionally actually helpful, if, like me, you’re engaged on a number of tasks exterior your 9-5. With Akiflow, I can observe what number of hours I spend on freelance work or my private social media content material.
It additionally has day by day planning and shutdown rituals, actually strong productiveness analytics, plus a calendar reserving function like Calendly.
Now, Akiflow is costly however they provide a great deal of actually strong reductions for those who subscribe to their emails or do their 7-day trial, which is what has made it inexpensive for me.
My favourite options:
- Quick and frequent updates and new options
- Day by day ‘rituals’ that can assist you get began and evaluate your day’s work
- AI assistant, ‘Aki,’ which will help you set up your day
- An enormous checklist of integrations with different instruments
- Easy analytics that can assist you get a way of how a lot time you’re spending in particular areas
Price: $34 month-to-month or $19 month-to-month paid yearly. Preserve an eye fixed out for normal promos.
Routine
Greatest productiveness instrument with a targeted day by day view
In case your endless to-do checklist tends to get too overwhelming when captured in a system, I hear you. Generally the limitless stream of containers to verify can get somewhat an excessive amount of, prompting me to shut the app, and hit YouTube as a substitute.
That’s the place a instrument like Routine is available in. It’s a actually superbly designed app that integrates together with your calendar to drag in your occasions and even Notion to drag in duties.
It’s fantastic for time blocking, which performs properly with my favourite function, the targeted immediately view. It solely exhibits you objects you may have deliberate for that day, which is nice for serving to scale back overwhelm.
It’s somewhat totally different from most process managers in you could set up your duties inside pages reasonably than folders, the place you’ll be able to create notes as properly, which is attention-grabbing.
The one draw back for my unicorn mind with this app is that there’s no simple strategy to color-code your duties in your calendar. Routine has a very thrilling roadmap, so I’m positively maintaining a tally of all of the options they’ve deliberate for this yr.
Better part — Routine has a complete free plan. It should value you nothing.
My favourite options:
- Centered ‘As we speak’ view to cut back overwhelm
- Minimalist, clear interface
- Strong checklist of integrations to consolidate duties from elsewhere
Price: Free, with paid plans beginning at $10 per thirty days.
Toggl Observe
Greatest productiveness instrument for time monitoring
In case you’ve ever completed a workday and puzzled, “What did I even do immediately?” — it’s me, hello — then it’s time to discover Toggl Observe.
It’s one of many easiest time monitoring instruments I’ve ever used, and it helps me keep trustworthy about the place my time is definitely going. You possibly can observe by venture or process, and even set billable charges for those who’re freelancing.
You possibly can observe your time retroactively or reside as you’re employed. Hitting the beginning button on a time-tracking process is like an immediate productiveness enhance for me. As a result of my time is being recorded, I’m means much less more likely to bounce between duties or fall down a TikTok rabbit gap.
The reporting options are surprisingly satisfying, too. Even for those who don’t observe each minute, doing it might probably supply actually useful perception. Are you spending an excessive amount of time on a facet venture, or duties which might be technically exterior of your scope?
There are another instruments on this checklist which have analytics, however nothing fairly on the extent of Toggl. You possibly can drill down by time interval, venture, or process — and have a helpful bar/pie/line graph to go together with it.
The integrations are my absolute favourite. Because of a intelligent browser extension, Toggl Observe pairs with virtually any web-based instrument, so that you don’t even have to open Toggl to begin monitoring.
With the extension enabled, the little pink ‘begin’ button can seem on every little thing from Google Docs to Notion pages to emails. Considered one of my favourite workflows is to timeblock in Todoist, then begin a Toggle process throughout the Todoist internet app.
That means, I solely have to log into Toggl to evaluate the analytics.
My favourite options:
- Easy integrations with a mindblowing variety of instruments
- A number of methods to visualise your productiveness information
- Capability to export reviews to share with managers
- Simply join your timed work to invoices — wonderful for freelancers.
Price: Free, with paid plans beginning at $10
Sunsama
Greatest productiveness instrument for aware planning
I would like the instruments I take advantage of to be aesthetically pleasing. In the event that they’re not, I simply can’t carry myself to make use of them.
The bar is excessive, and Sunsama might be the most superbly designed on this checklist. It delivers on the promise of productiveness, too — Sunsama is all about aware planning and being sensible about what you’ll be able to really obtain in a day.
It’s glorious for lovers of time blocking who are inclined to overestimate what they will get performed.
It encourages you to set estimated occasions for every process as a part of a very pretty day by day planning ritual, and allows you to know when you may have an excessive amount of deliberate for the day.
It additionally has a light-weight stats and analytics function so you’ll be able to see the place you spent your time, which I really like.
The one draw back to this app is the fee — it is available in at $20 per thirty days, $16 if paid yearly, however can you actually put a worth on productiveness? In all probability.
My favourite options:
- Guided day by day and weekly planning routines
- Easy analytics that can assist you higher handle your time
- Strong checklist of integrations to consolidate duties from elsewhere
Price: $20 per thirty days, $16 if paid yearly
P.S. In case you’re in search of the same instrument on a funds, Ellie deserves an honorable point out right here! Ellie was constructed by an impartial developer, it’s very nice to take a look at, and works in the same means.
Mind.fm
Greatest productiveness instrument for moving into deep focus mode
After I have to get into deep work mode, mind.fm is my first port of name.
It’s a music app, however not in the best way you suppose — mind.fm makes use of science-backed audio that’s particularly designed that can assist you focus, loosen up, or sleep.
Based on their web site, brainwaves function at totally different speeds (Hz) that scientists usually break down into 4 classes which might be related to totally different psychological states — one in every of these is “lively considering, problem-solving, and focus.”
“Mind.fm identifies the optimum Hz vary for a given psychological state and interprets it into quantity modulations inside sure areas of our music,” the corporate explains. “This encourages your mind to extend the facility stage of brainwaves which might be equal to or just like the patterns we have embedded within the music.”
Whether or not it’s a placebo impact or not, the ‘Focus’ mode actually works for me, significantly for inventive work. I discover I’m capable of get right into a circulation state as a rule once I’m listening.
There are a handful of different apps and instruments that provide one thing related, however lots of them don’t supply the power to customise your sounds in the best way mind.fm does. Easy filters show you how to pinpoint what works for you, whether or not that’s cinematic sounds, acoustic guitar, singing bowls, or birdsong. (I’m a fan of thunderstorms.)
It’s not free, however the subscription is fairly affordable. In case you’re the form of one who works greatest with sound however finds lyrics distracting (like me!) mind.fm may assist.
My favourite options:
- Large number of sound filters that show you how to customise your expertise
- Use it to focus, sleep, meditate, and extra
- An app for each machine — there’s a model for desktops, telephones, and tablets. You need to use in-browser too, for those who choose
Price: $9.99 per thirty days or $69.99 per yr.
Focus Traveller
Greatest productiveness instrument for enjoyable Pomodoro classes
Focus Traveller is a Pomodoro timer, however means, far more enjoyable. Within the app, you create a mountain-climbing avatar, who can solely scale the height when you’re working. Every time I have to get rid of my telephone as a distraction and add one other incentive to get working, I flip to this app.
I’ll prop my telephone up subsequent to my desk, kind in my process, and set my little mountaineer to climbing.
There’s ambient noise, gentle animations, and it seems like somewhat deal with each time I take advantage of it. Plus, for those who toggle on deep focus mode, your avatar will cease climbing for those who transfer out of the app.
In case you’re motivated by gamification or want some further incentives to remain off TikTok (🙋♀️), Focus Traveller is likely to be price a attempt. It’s not full of analytics or integrations, however typically the little temper enhance is what you want.
Plus, for those who work for lengthy sufficient in a day, your little avatar will have a good time after they attain the summit. Yay!
My favourite options:
- Customise your avatar and terrain
- Easy, soothing background sounds
- Focus with mates — you’ll be able to arrange a ‘Journey Group’ if you wish to work with another person
Price: Free, although there’s a paid plan for extra enjoyable background choices, at $0.99 per thirty days.
Notion
Greatest productiveness instrument for note-taking and documentation
In case you’re involved in productiveness instruments, you most likely already know. However this checklist wouldn’t be full with out Notion.
Notion is the productiveness equal of a Swiss Military knife. You need to use it to create easy notes, absolutely formatted paperwork, and superior databases. At Buffer, a lot of our weblog content material is deliberate, written, and edited in Notion. (I’m drafting this weblog put up in Notion, because it occurs.)
Exterior of that, I take advantage of it for every little thing from writing podcast scripts to monitoring my weekly exercises. Heck, I even preserve notes about video games I’m at the moment enjoying in Notion.
Notion’s flexibility means it may be precisely what you want — however the draw back is that it does take a while to arrange the best way you need. Due to that, I select to not preserve my process administration and planning in Notion (although you completely can try this). I discovered that I wanted the readability of a separate, extra targeted instrument. However most of my different work, private {and professional}, takes place in a single database or one other.
All that mentioned, there are such a lot of nice templates on the market, and as soon as you discover your circulation, Notion turns into the instrument you didn’t know you couldn’t reside with out. Additionally, it performs very well with different instruments like Routine and Akiflow.
My favourite options:
- The power to attach databases for associated tasks
- A number of views that flip databases into kanbans, calendars, and extra
- Formatting choices that will let you create lovely paperwork
- The power to ‘publish’ pages and share them publicly
Price: Free, with paid plans beginning at $10
Superlist
Greatest productiveness instrument for lovers of lists
Superlist continues to be pretty new, nevertheless it’s already making waves as a process supervisor and notes instrument. It’s designed by the identical people behind Wunderlist (RIP), and it exhibits — it’s smooth, minimal, and surprisingly highly effective.
I really like the way it handles subtasks and recurring objects, and the interface makes even mundane to-dos really feel enjoyable.
So simple as it appears, Superlist has some highly effective options tucked away, like AI assembly notes, and a voice assistant that may flip a ramble into actionable to-dos.
It’s not as advanced as one thing like Akiflow or Notion, however that’s precisely the purpose. Superlist helps you get stuff performed with out making you’re feeling such as you’re managing an enormous system.
Plus, there’s a complete free plan that provides you entry to plenty of this. If you need a superbly designed, dead-simple process supervisor and/or notes app, Superlist is price exploring.
My favourite options:
- Shared lists that replace in real-time (whats up, household buying checklist)
- Pure language processing that can assist you add objects sooner
- AI assembly note-taker that may robotically add to-do objects to your checklist
Price: Free, with paid plans beginning at $15 per individual per thirty days.
My high tip for instruments testing: If one thing on this checklist doesn’t fairly click on, don’t be afraid to cancel after the trial. The very last thing you need is to your productiveness system to change into a chore in and of itself.
I extremely advocate experimenting with totally different techniques to seek out what matches your mind greatest (and conserving a grasp checklist of your most essential duties so nothing will get misplaced in between tool-hopping. I’ve been there!)
Did I miss your favourite instrument? There are various others I’d have preferred to incorporate right here, however this text is already somewhat lengthy! And since I’m monitoring this process, I do know it’s time to maneuver on to immediately’s different objects…
In all seriousness, although, there are such a lot of glorious ones on the market that it was powerful to decide on my favorites. In case you’d prefer to advocate one thing else for this checklist, pop them within the feedback or discover me @kirstilang on Threads.
