Tech Tools to Improve Productivity This Summer
It’s hard to focus on enjoying all the good things that come with summer – like vacations, gardening, or barbeques – when you have a long to-do list sitting on your office desk. One way to get ahead is to learn how to manage your time more efficiently. There’s an app for that! Here are suggestions from this NYC Professional Office Organizer for time management apps that will help you be more productive this summer.
Forest. This app encourages you to put down your phone so you can focus on the current task. The great part of this app is that it is a visual mapping of your productivity – using trees! Here’s how it works: whenever you are ready to focus on a task, click the app and build a tree. The tree grows during the time you are working and staying off your phone. If you leave the app, the tree dies. You can grow an entire forest for a visual representation of the time you stay focused and productive. A perk to this app – they’ve partnered with Trees for the Future to also plant real trees!
StayFocusd. This is a browser extension that you can load onto your computer. It will then work to increase your productivity by limiting the time you can spend on popular time-consuming websites (such as social media, news sites, or gaming sites). You create the list of sites and you also get to choose the amount of time you want to allow for each site. After you’ve used up that allotted time, StayFocusd will block that site so you can focus on work without any distractions.
Do Nothing for 2 Minutes. Feeling overwhelmed? Take a break! This site forces you to stop working, stop reading online articles, and to stop browsing social media. For two minutes, you get to take a break and listen to soothing sounds of waves in the ocean. If you move your mouse, the timer stops and the two minutes starts again. This simple website gives you the space to take just a two minute break so that you can get back to work with a clearer and more focused head.
Strides. This app allows you to track all your goals and habits in one place. Strides makes it easy to set reminders and produces easy-to- read charts that show productivity in a visual way which can make it easier to reach your goals. You can track good or bad habits – anything from how much water you drink in a day to how much time you spend on social media. There’s even a pre-determined goal already designed to help track productivity!
135 List. Prioritize your day with this app that helps you set high, medium, and low daily priorities. You simply choose 1 top priority, 3 medium priorities, and 5 low priorities that you want to accomplish that day. The app is flexible and allows you to create other lists with or without the 1-3- 5 template. Being able to prioritize your tasks is an essential step toward getting work done especially during the summer months.
Don’t let long work hours and a massive to-do list keep you from enjoying the summer. Instead, use this time management tech tools to help you use your time at work in a productive manner. For more time management tips and hands on strategies, reach out to your NYC Professional Office Organizer!