Technology can make you happier, makes life easier, and can even make you wealthier. Why aren’t you allowing it to make your more productive? The sad truth is, most people allow technology to take away their productivity. You don’t have to be one! Check out these 4 apps to help you be more productive!
Price: FREE
Speaking of technology sucking away productivity, when was the last time you logged on to a social media site to check in and then saw that you wasted three hours of time? It happens to everyone at some point, and that’s where Stayfocusd can help. This URL blocker offers customizable settings, multiple countdown clocks, and a self-imposed lock-out feature to help you stay off the Internet sites that waste time and keeps you focused on work. You do have total control over the lists of sites it blocks or limits, though, so you need to be honest and harsh with yourself when setting the app to be what you need.
Price: $72 per year, but a free version is available
Let’s say you have blocked sites, limited sites, and locked yourself out of others, but you are still losing time. How!??! Where is all of your time going? RescueTime can you help you find it. Anyone who looks for ways to be more productive will tell you that every minute of your day counts, and every minute saved is one that makes you a more productive person. RescueTime is an app that monitors your computer use to show you where you are productive and where you are wasting time. This app is also customizable and you can tell it to monitor all activity or just certain apps and sites. For best results, let it look at all computer activity. It is both Mac and Windows compatible and can work on multiple computers and devices. You can get a 14 day free trial.
Price: $45 per year for Premium, but a free version is available
You took wonderful notes today at that oh-so-important meeting and you feel like you can use your television watching down-time to get ahead on tomorrow’s work. Great! You are being productive and getting ahead- until you get home and see that you left your notes on your desk and you can’t run back to the office. Don’t let this happen again. Evernote is an app that can store notes for you on just about any device you can imagine. If you put them in form your work computer, you can access them on your phone when that dentist appointment runs longer than you thought. You can then pick up where you left off on your Kindle at the gym. It ensures you are never without notes when you need them, or even just when you have extra time to access them.
Price: Cozi Gold is $29.99/year, but a free version is available
Ever schedule an appointment, not realizing another family member had already scheduled something for that date/time? Unless you have the superpower of duplicating yourself and occupying two places at once, you need a shared family calendar. Cozi is an awesome shared calendar app that the whole family can use and update. You can color code family members for the calendar, which makes time management for the whole family a breeze. The free version has the shared calendar, a shopping list, a to do list, and even a family journal. Cozi Gold is ad-free adds an address book and birthday tracker feature that the whole family can use. Cozi Gold also offers VIP customer support.
