If you are looking for a magic bullet that will help you boost your productivity, you are in the right place. Arianna Huffington, the co-founder of The Huffington Post, a columnist, and a best-selling author, believes that there is an indispensable ingredient in the recipe for success. “The way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is getting enough sleep,” says Huffington in her brief yet powerful TED-talk “How to succeed? Get more sleep”. So, believe it or not, if you want to become your most productive self, put on your pajamas and hop into bed.
But what to do after you have slept your healthy seven and a half or eight hours? There is still quite a lot of time left to get things done. The good news is that having slept enough, you will be full of energy and enthusiasm. The bad news is that your to-do list will probably look endless. For many young professionals, it will include tasks related both to your work and studies. And, after all, you still need time to catch up with your friends and relatives, go to the gym, do the shopping and a thousand other daily necessities. How to squeeze all these things into 16 hours? domyessay.com can help you with your college assignments. And for other tasks, there are many smart apps that will help you work less and accomplish more. Remember, being productive does not mean working longer hours and sacrificing your health on the altar of your efficiency factor. Increasing productivity is rather about working more fruitfully, spending less time on a task, while preserving your joie de vivre. So, read, install, and enjoy!
1. Focus To-Do
Productivity starts with a tomato. If you have already heard about the Pomodoro Technique – and we bet you have – you will not be surprised by this vegetable-inspired axiom. This productivity-improving technique was developed back in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, whose motto is “work smarter, not harder.” The funny name comes from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used when he was working on this method. The Pomodoro routine is quite simple: you set the timer for 25 minutes and work without interruption; when the timer buzzes, you take a well-deserved 5-minute break. After four pomodoros, take a longer break – go for a walk for around 20-30 minutes, make yourself a cup of green tea, read a book, or do any other activity not related to work. If you do not have a tomato-shaped timer, you can always use a Pomodoro app to help you adopt a productive approach to time management.
Focus To-Do is an app that combines a Pomodoro timer and a to-do list. Apart from the cheerful and appealing timer, you get an opportunity to boost your productivity by organizing your tasks into lists, setting reminders for them, and seeing your productivity stats conveniently summed up in a detailed report.
2. PomoDone
If you are already using a digital to-do list, you might opt for another Pomodoro-based app called PomoDone, which you can easily connect to your favorite productivity and task-management tools such as Trello, Evernote, Asana, Basecamp, Jira, Slack, Todoist, and many others.
3. Rescue Time
Pomodoro technique is a method suitable both for carefree beginners and advanced workaholics. But if you are a perfectionist and love being in control of every single detail, try Rescue Time app. With this app, you can find out what precisely is distracting you from getting things done in a painless and convenient way. The app analyzes data from your computer and phone and offers you a summative report so that you could take more mindful and data-informed decisions. The app will also help you stay focused by blocking websites that are eating up your time – turn on this feature when you need to work on an important task, and procrastination is not welcome.
4. Evernote
Evernote is an ultimate go-to app for all the young professionals looking to introduce some order into their notes without sacrificing the fun and pleasure of writing creative and visually appealing entries. With Evernote, you can create notes and integrate links, photos, emails, audio, and video files. You can also take notes on the go by simply dictating them. It is a great way to keep track of all your ideas, agendas, and projects. Nothing falls through the cracks!
5. Dashlane
If you are one of those people who press the “Forgot password” button on a regular basis, welcome to the club! You do not need to feel guilty anymore for not jotting down your latest password. Dashlane, a digital password manager, will allow you to store all your passwords in one safe place. It automatically fills in your passwords, payments, and personal details. Remember what Sherlock Holmes said? You need space in your attic for more important things than meaningless combinations of letters and digits.
6. Remember the Milk
If it is not only the tricky password that can easily slip your mind, choose one of the digital to-do lists to help you stay organized. RtM is one of the best and most popular task-management tools out there. “You’ll never forget the milk (or anything else) again,” promises the app. You can create a list and use colorful tags, break your lists into subsections, assign priority, and get reminded by email, text, IM, Twitter, and mobile apps. Such features as Smart Add and Smart List will make you fall in love with this friendly and helpful app.
7. Todoist
Another great task manager is the legendary Todoist app used by many leading professionals all over the world. This app will help you capture and organize all work-related or personal tasks, track your productivity trends, stop procrastinating, and ultimately build a healthy work-life balance. It will remind you about deadlines and scheduled meetings so that you will never have to feel embarrassed again.
We are aware that you need to spend time on finding your way around these apps, and if you are reading this article, you surely do not have this resource in abundance. But all you have to do is to try them out! Ultimately these apps will help you save time for healthy sleep, meditation, coffee breaks, and other relaxing pastimes that will definitely increase your energy levels and make you more productive.