These apps can double your productivity, no matter how unorganised or distracted you are.
By focusing on the tasks you do daily and speeding up how long it takes to do them, you can reclaim weeks of wasted time every year!
Here’s the 12 apps I use daily, that make me at least twice as productive.
Sleep Cycle
What it Does
Sleep Cycle sits on your bedside table and monitors how you sleep. There are 5 stages of sleep, from light to deep.
Sleep Cycle tracks this along with many other factors like sleep quality, time in bed and many other indicators of good sleep.
Why You Need It
Sleep Cycle tracks your sleeping patterns and wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase, without a conventional alarm clock. Waking up during light sleep feels like waking up naturally rested.
That means you get into your day feeling fresh and energetic which has a massive carryover into how successful you become.
Download Sleep Cycle here.
Google Calendar + Checker Plus Extension
What it Does
You already know what Google Calendar does, it handles your time-management and scheduling needs, but the Checker Plus extension you probably haven’t heard of.
It allows you to see your next events, get meeting desktop notifications, add or snooze events without opening the Google Calendar page and so much more.
Why You Need It
Increasing your productivity is about finding the tasks you do daily and reducing how long they take. Checking your calendar is one of those tasks. Here’s how much time you can save:
- Checking calendar takes 5 seconds
- You check on average 3 times a day = 15 seconds a day (5×3)
- There are 260 working days a year
- 15 seconds a day x 260 days a year = 2.7 days a year spent checking your calendar!s
By donating just $1 you can get Checker Plus and save yourself almost 3 days a year.
Get CheckerPlus here.
PromoRepublic – Scheduling Posts
What it Does
PromoRepublic is a social media management platform to create social posts and schedule them to all of your social media accounts.
You also get access to over 100,000 images to and templates to make your posts look professional.
Why You Need It
If you’re posting on your social media regularly, this is another area where you can shave minutes off your schedule everyday. By creating your posts faster (using the templates and images) and saving time on posting, you can make a real dent in your productivity.
Even if you ignore how long it takes to make the posts, and only focus on how long it takes to post you can still save a lot of time. Here’s how:
- 20 seconds to post x 5 social networks (FB, Twitter, Instagram etc) = 100 seconds per post
- 2 social posts per day = 200 seconds a day
- Post everyday = 200 seconds x 365 days = 20 hours per year
Scrivener
What it Does
Scrivener is a word-processing program and outliner designed for authors.
It helps you manage your notes, research and your manuscript for easy access and reference. I especially like the “focus free writing mode” which removes all distractions plus the ability to work with the split screen, so I can see my research side-by-side with my manuscript.
Why You Need It
When I write, I’m always referencing my research. By having my research side-by-side as I write I save time switching tabs and losing my research.
I’ve written more this year since I’ve had Scrivener and the quality of my writing is far better since.
Download Scrivener here.
ToDoIst
What it Does
Ranked as “the best to-do list right now” by The Verge, and loved by more than 25 million people, ToDoIst helps you organize, plan, and collaborate on tasks and projects.
I use this to mange my to do list across desktop, mobile and the web app so I never lose touch with the stuff I need to get done.
Why You Need It
Our digital lives have so many demands, the number of requests coming in are unprecedented (the average American has 14 things on their to-do list, according to new research).
To be productive, you need somewhere to put all the stuff you need to get done. Without a system to manage the in flow, its almost impossible to be productive.
After trying more than 10 systems, ToDoIst is the one I’ve stuck with and the one I recommend.
Evernote
What it Does
Evernote is a note taking, organizing, task management, and archiving system that helps you capture and prioritize ideas, projects and to-do lists, so nothing falls through the cracks.
It has a super powerful search feature, so you can find information fast. You can also share notes with anyone to collaborate on notes, meetings and projects.
Why You Need It
Evernote is what I call a digital filing cabinet, the place I throw everything that I might need later, safe in the knowledge it will be there if I ever need it again.
When I interviewed world renowned productivity expert and creator of Getting Things Done (GTD), David Allen he told me:
“The mind is not designed to store things, its designed to process them.”
David Allen, creator of Getting Things Done (GTD)
For that reason, I’ve replied on Evernote since 2015 to store everything.
Get Evernote for free here.
TrueKey
What it Does
TrueKey lets you forget your passwords by storing them all securely and lets you conveniently login whether on mobile or laptop thanks to the auto-fill feature.
Why You Need It
I have over 800 passwords according to my TrueKey account and I’d have spent so much time resetting passwords and struggling to login.
Aside from that, just taking the time to type the username and password each time takes 5-10 seconds, that now gets done for me automatically thanks to TrueKey.
Get TrueKey here.
Mailbird
What it Does
Mailbird lets you manage multiple accounts and is designed for usability with a clean user interface, intuitive user experience, and simple design that allows for quick navigation through the app.
Why You Need It
Being able to have all of your email accounts in a single place lets you check, process and manage your inboxes faster. If you’re following the “Inbox Zero” approach like me, Mailbird makes things much faster.
The only downside is there’s no mobile app, but you can use the free Edison app for that.
The time you spend checking multiple inboxes alone can be avoided with a single app, Mailbird is the best of them, because it has many other time-saving features baked in.
Get access to Mailbird here.
Spreeder Pro
What it Does
Spreeder is the world’s most advanced and powerful “speed e-reader” – which helps you read everything faster while still retaining comprehension. Spreeder also gives you expert training and a cloud library for all of your documents.
Why You Need It
Spreeder helps you read 3 times faster, save time, and be more productive by using the techniques of the world’s most respected speed-reading trainers and record-holders.
You read a few thousand lines of text everyday, so being able to read them faster allows you to save time. Even if you don’t read super fast, the time saved on scrolling or page turning also adds up over time.
Get access to Spreeder for free here.
Freedom
What it Does
Freedom lets you easily block websites and apps on your computer, phone, and tablet.
Why You Need It
Being able to block your distractions and focus on what matters most means you can get more of the important things done. It gives you discipline when you don’t have any of your own.
The quality of your life is based on what you get done, so everything you can do to focus will serve you.
Get Freedom here.
ScreenCast-O-Matic
What it Does
Create screen recordings and video with this easy-to-use tool
Why You Need It
Explaining things to friends, family, clients and colleagues takes up a lot of time. Multiple emails back and forth, misunderstandings and miscommunications can all be avoided by recording super-fast screen recording videos that you narrate.
Get ScreenCast-O-Matic here.
Focus@Will
What it Does
Focus@Will is a neuroscience based subscription service that uses phase sequenced playlists of instrumental music designed to improve your productivity and tune out distractions.
Why You Need It
The app promises a 4x increase in productivity by playing your personalized focus music to help you get stuff done, even when you’re stressed and under pressure.
The music is created by platinum-selling music producers and the technology is backed by world-class neuroscientists. There are thousands of hours of unique tracks enjoyed by more than 2,000,000 subscribers including employees from Microsoft, Amazon, SpaceX and Apple.
Get Focus@Will here.
Know Any Apps That Can Double Productivity?
If you have any other apps I should check out I’d love to hear about them! Let me know in the comments below.
Skye