APPS FOR PRODUCTIVITY

It’s been said and written by most of the productivity experts that one of the most major causes of
distraction, procrastination and low quality workforce is our dependability on technologies. We are
using our phones for almost everything and yet there is still so much you have not experienced. This
is overwhelming in itself.

The experts are not wrong; after all they have the facts with them. But there is also a bright side to
it. In this blog I am mentioning 7 apps that help me in being productive.

FOREST- This app is most useful for people who get distracted by their phones at work or have
phone addiction, which results in lower productive hours.

This app lets you set a time period in which you do not want to use your phone. It does not lock your
for that period but instead gives gentle reminders to back away or even motivates you to be
focused. For each successful session you are awarded with a tree to plant in your forest.

How I use it?

This app is most useful in times when you are on your productive best of the day but you also tend
to waste that precious energy, focus and time on phone. I use this app the moment I sit on my desk
to an hour. This hour lets me do the most amount of work. I also use this app after coming back from
office as a “no-tech for an hour” challenge. In this hour I eat, read books, write blogs, meditate or
plan. It gives me a much needed break from technologies after spending the whole day in front of a
computer.

COLOR NOTE- This is a simple app. You just make different checklist or text based notes in it. It
serves dual purpose of a To-Do list app and a note taking app. There are multiple to-do list apps in
playstore but what makes it more effective is its simplistic style. For someone who is new in making
to-do list, this app is perfect. Once you perfect the art of to-do list, you can further use other
advanced to-do apps as per your requirement.

How I use it?

I start by making a master list. This list contains all the things that come to my mind at any moment
of day in any order as well. Then I divide these tasks into three different lists namely A, B and C. List
A contains task which are important as well as urgent. List B contains tasks that are important but
not urgent. Finally the list C contains tasks that are nor important nor urgent. Whenever I am free I
look into list A, if list A is all done I go to B and then list C.

SIMPLE HABITS- How does a meditation app makes the productivity list? Well, in order to work more
you also need to take ample rest. This app simply increases the quality of your rest. This app
contains guided meditation programs for all your everyday activities. And they all are just 5 minutes
long.

How I use it?

I use this app quite often. The best time for me is once in the morning for mindfulness, then once at
work for better focus and then before going to bed to calm down and relieving stress.
SIMPLE MIND FREE- Mind mapping is a technique in which you map your ideas and thought into a
linked structure. This app is a simple mind mapping tool. It is great for projecting and saving
complicated ideas for future projects. This results in a freer mind.

How I use it?

This is how I used the app to create this blog.

DAYLIO- It is a personal diary app. A diary app might look out of place in a list of productive apps but
it does more than what meets the eyes. This app not just captures your daily mood, emotion and
work routine but it also gives you stats on these. In the race of being the most productive person
around, this app will help you keep track of yourself. This app also helps you in being productive
outside your office and achieve personal goals.

How I use it?

I make two entries in this app every day. Once in morning after my meditation, I write down how I
am feeling and what I want to achieve today. The second entry comes before bedtime. This entry
contains thoughts of what I did today and what I couldn’t. By making these two entries I am able to
capture my whole day in this app.

SHEETS- Google sheets is basically the Google version of excel but it is way more effective. The
reason is its offline features which let you work on a project on the go and even without internet
connectivity. It is minimalistic man’s app. It is great for working on big data and it helps if you know
how to read data. You can use it with data from your life as well like your budget planning, weight
loss program and much more.

How I use it?

Apart from using it for almost everything at work, I also use it for keeping track of my budget.

GOOGLE CALENDER- There is no highly productive person who doesn’t use calendar. And what
better than a calendar which doesn’t need manual entries but is totally automated. This app being a
product of Google is also in sync with most of your everyday apps.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS-

EVERNOTE- This app does everything. You can take great notes, instant notes, voice note, its also
integrated with Google, turns business cards indo pdfs and save them, can do group projects, works
offline too, chat with fellow mates, has cloud storage and is super secured. But all these things also
make it a complicated app to follow. It is great app but not the best to start with.

HEADSPACE- It is a great alternative for simple habits. I preferred Simple habits over headspace
because Simple habits has more free stuff which means you can use this app without subscription
for a longer time.

CAMSCANNER- This app is almost perfect for people who still prefer writing on papers over digital
documentation.
So that’s it. These in my personal experiences have been my best buddies in times when I had a lot
on my plate. I hope some of these can help you with your productivity as well.

THANK YOU.