Getting more done in a day. That’s all we really want, right?
So, how can we be more productive?
We surveyed the community to find the top productivity apps that they swear by.
Here’s what they had to say.
1. Focus-to-do app
Being a founder and entrepreneur is nearly impossible if you are not productive, so I had to tame the chaos and keep my focus on the projects I am working on.
I am a strong proponent of digital minimalism, that is why I love everything to be gathered in one place and do not rely on the number of tools, as it may have an adverse effect. My top pic is Focus-to-do application (https://www.focustodo.cn/) for a number of reasons: it has a desktop version as well as mobile, so I can use it regardless of the device, it combines the to-do list functionality with setting up the priorities, reminders, estimate tasks in the number of pomodoros of 25min ( or any other length as you customize it) to keep your focus on, and track how much time you spend doing them. What is also cool, during the progress you can set up background sounds for better concentration. I have never saw such a useful aggregation of all the productivity essentials, so it’s my top pic now.
And last but not least, it has a free version available.
— Joe Terrell, Founder @ Drifted
2. Notes app
My favorite productivity app is honestly using the notes app on my phone. I like to experiment with apps from time to time, but I think that having something as simple as a notepad to be able to write down your thoughts at any time will help you in a lot of citations.
— Mark Wilcox, Camping Forge
3. Freedom.to
The best productivity app for me is https://freedom.to
Why do I love it? It’s quite sad really, but it allows me to block myself from using distracting sites when I should be working. You can block any site such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube. Like I need to force myself to do some work.
— Michael Alves, Hello Gardening
My favorite productivity app is Freedom. It allows me to add a list of apps I want to avoid while working and blocks the access to all of them for a certain period of time. This way, I am not tempted to look at my phone or check social media all the time. Freedom is very simple and intuitive, with a great user experience. It’s completely free to download both for Android and iOS which adds to its popularity.
— Elena Rychyna, PR manager at Airfocus
4. Be Focused app
Be Focused is a Pomodoro app. The Pomodoro Technique is a productivity strategy that has been around for years, and it works by setting a 25-minute work time followed by a 5-minute break. You do these intervals repeatedly, engaging yourself ion deep work during the 25-minute timeframe. While that is the standard way of doing it, Be Focused offers flexibility by allowing you to set your own work and break time durations. So you can do a 30-minute work followed by a 10-minute break, or whatever works for you. I’m also able to manage my tasks nicely with the app, and it has pie charts and goal tracking to help me stay on top of my to-do list.
— Michael Barnett, Performer Life
5. TickTick app
I’m a time management and productivity coach and here’s favorite productivity app, here’s mind: TickTick (https://ticktick.com/) TickTick is the task management app that I recommend most frequently to my clients, and it’s also the one I use myself. I love it for many reasons, but chief among them are:
– It’s dead simple to use; very low barrier for entry.
– The free version is great.
– Not only can it manage tasks, it has a robust habit tracker and a
Pomodoro timer.
– It integrates easily with other tools (Gsuite, Chrome, etc.)
– I can add tasks and comments by voice on the go.
– It syncs seamlessly from mobile to web and BOTH UIs are great.
I love it so much I even made a video about it 🙂
— Alexis Haselberger, Alexis Haselberger Coaching and Consulting
6. Asana
I would choose Asana as the best productivity app. There are a lot on the market now, but in my opinion, Asana is one of the more professional apps while still being highly-customizable and easy to use.
It’s great for an organization because collaboration is built into it. You can delegate tasks, assign them from a pool, adjust the scope where everyone can see, change milestones and deadlines, etc. It’s an incredibly straightforward app for a team to use, and it works pretty much out of the box, unlike Trello which you usually have to set up to accommodate your team’s workflow.
— Petra Amara, Rowing Crazy
7. Forest app
I found out about Forest a few months ago from a friend and decided to try it. It’s incredibly simple – whenever you want to focus and stop yourself from looking at the phone, simply plant a tree and let it grow. As long as you don’t leave the app, your tree will keep growing. The moment you do, however, it will die. In the beginning, I was able to resist looking at my phone for 10 or 15 minutes at once, but now I have cycles of 1 or 2 hours. The app helped me focus on work and ignore all notifications and similar distractions. Plus, there is another amazing thing about Forest – it actually helps plant trees all around the world. So far, over a million trees have been planted thanks to the Forest initiatives.
— Stefan Chekanov, CEO of Brosix
8. Trello
Trello is my favorite productivity app. It is a project management app that is reasonably priced and even offers a free version. It has all the bells and whistles of a $49 app at a fraction of the price. It is easy to use — and I am not a huge tech guy — but Trello absolutely makes my life easier.
— Alex Williams, Turbo Gadget Reviews
Trello. It is a highly visual tool which makes it very intuitive. Participants included on it can break big projects down into smaller chunks by having cards for every task. The cards are arranged into different columns, which represent different phases of a project. As tasks get completed, cards are easily transferred from one column to the next. With Trello, you are able to track each progress of a specific project which gives you complete control over things.
— Sandra Henderson, Founder of LifeHacks.io
Trello is my pick for the best productivity app. I can’t say I was a big proponent of task trackers before using them. Occasionally I would write out a list by hand, but I never kept up with it so I never felt like it was helping me much. Trello definitely changed that.
— Carter Seuthe, CEO, Credit Summit
I recently started using Trello and it’s become my best productivity tool by far. It’s allowed me to stay organized and have a visible, working pipeline that everyone can contribute to. No one ever wonders what they need to be doing or how far along the project is.
— Johnathan R. Smith, veteran and founder of Camper Guide
I could not survive without Trello (trello.com). I love it for a few reasons: it’s available both on my computer via website and as an app on my phone, and they sync almost immediately so I never miss a beat while on the go. Also the Trello system for boards and checklists is simple and straightforward but still very effective, and satisfies my love of to do lists and checking things off as they get done. On the whole Trello is just easy and convenient and gets the job done! I’m more productive because of it.
— Angela Wills, Savvy Homemade
9. Done app
In my work as a founder and creative professional, I’ve found that the best productivity apps are the ones that help build better habits. I use the app Done because it reminds me to complete daily or weekly habits and see how I’m doing throughout the week. My team members at my company Kingdom of Ink all use it as well, since we’re all managing different freelance writing projects and have to remember how to keep up with the habits we’re building each week outside of work as well!
— Amy Suto, Kingdom of Ink
10. Drafts 5 from Agile Tortoise
As a website founder who has a lot on my hands, using a productive app like Drafts 5 from Agile Tortoise helps me make excellent drafts, perfect for taking down notes when in meetings. Random creative ideas are now easily written down and sorted later as Drafts 5 allows your hastily jotted down notes to be edited, and be turned into documents, messages or social media posts.
— Michelle Devani, lovedevani
11. Evernote
My number one favorite productivity application is Evernote. Evernote is free to use and I can save my work on multiple devices. It allows me to take notes and organize all my ideas in different file formats online and offline. It sets a reminder for all my virtual to-do lists, which is convenient in my schedule.
— Alex Williams, Get Vegan
Years ago I got a deal on Evernote and it’s all I’ve been using ever since. It’s on my phone and my laptop, so I can access it when I’m at my desk and when I’m not.
I love how simple it is to use. And I really like the web clipper so that I can save interesting things to Evernote instead of getting distracted by them when I find them.
— Gene Daniels, Learning CBD
12. Pomofocus
As a business owner, I need to manage my time well because I do not have a lot of it, considering that I have a lot on my plate right now. Thankfully, I use an app that helps me manage my time well: The Pomodoro Timer found in https://pomofocus.io/. The best thing about this timer is that is browser-based, so no there’s no need to download anything. It’s also free and convenient to use. With this app, you’re just a few clicks away from making the most of your working hours.
— Sonya Schwartz, founder of Her Norm
13. ToDoist
My favourite productivity app is ToDoist, I have it on all of my devices. It’s a task app with a series of sophisticated function and features that allow you to organise, filter and view tasks easily. I use it for professional and personal productivity, including having regular and annual garden task reminders set up. I’ve been using it for over 3 years and have just become one of the 0.05% of users who have reached their ‘Enlightenment’ level of task completion (22,590 tasks). My business has a SaaS product, which connects to productivity, so we’re very choosy about what systems we use. We’ve considered alternatives to ToDoist a few times but we always decide it’s integral to our operations.
— Jessica Gregson, Subsector Ltd
I like to use Todoist. It’s a robust, fast and simple App with lots of nice features. With the ’email to project’ feature, I send tasks from my email directly to specific projects. Todoist also has Projects, Sub Projects, Inbox, Labels, and Filters. I particularly like the Filter feature showing me all tasks that are overdue or that will be due by the end of the day. That, plus I can connect to Evernote using IFTT, or other tools such as Zapier or Trello.
— Rolf Hansen, Luxury Cars A2Z
14. Unroll Me app
My Favorite Productivity App: Unroll me. With this app, unsubscribe in scale and keep your inbox at zero. Opening up a full inbox is an overwhelm creators, full of distractions that will divert your morning away. This app is quick, clean and simple to use. It will also save you hours and save you stress.
15. Dynalist
Dynalist is great because of its simplicity. I can very quickly use the interface to manage all my to-do’s without wasting too much time. And there’s no distractions since it’s a no frills cloud-based app. Oh, and it’s free which makes it even better.
— Kenneth Byrd, Curl Centric
16. Remember the Milk
I use Remember the Milk (RememberTheMilk.com) to hold every to-do and project. Even the free version is powerful enough to meet the needs of most people, and it’s easy to get up and going. For the advanced user, the keyboard shortcuts make navigation easy. The Smart Lists make retrieval of information in any form instantaneous. Integration with IFTTT allows me to speak tasks and have them show up in the day, priority, and tag of my choice. Nothing falls through the cracks and I never rewrite a to-do list.
— Frank Buck, author
17. Any.do app
My favorite productivity app has got to be any.do. As a mom, editor and writer, I have a lot of tasks and schedules and they can end up clashing with one another if I don’t try to be organized. But thanks to any.do, I can organize my schedule swiftly and effectively. The app allows me to schedule tasks by date and set reminders. And since it allows syncing across devices, I’m always on top of my responsibilities, whether I’m looking at my Google calendar or using the app from my phone. And my favorite feature is the voice entry wherein I only need to speak into the app, and it would take notes for me — just perfect for people like who always have their hands full!
— Giselle May, editor of www.katherinerosman.com
18. BrainFM
This is probably going to be a different type of productivity app than the other’s which are probably about organizing work, but BrainFM is a game-changer for me. They have scientific studies to support the binaural beats effect on focus, but I don’t care if it is just a placebo effect. When I need to get down to work, the music tunes out the world and I usually don’t even realize I’ve been non-stop on a task until the music fades out at the end of the time interval I chose.
— Tim White, Mile Pro
