Every few years there are new products that launch, that can save us a significant amount of stress, hassle, and time, while increasing the level of happiness and freedom we get. We’ve compiled the top 11 products that will help you get more done in less time.
1. Pocket
Love reading articles but hate having too many tabs open? Try Pocket. This simple extension allows you to save articles you find online, and read it on any of your devices when you’re free. It’s also a great tool to use if you enjoy re-reading great articles to refresh your memory from time to time.
2. Boomerang
We can all relate to the burdens of answering emails back and forth. Whether it’s late at night and you want to send an email later in the morning, or want to follow-up with someone at a later date, Boomerang is a great tool that syncs to your Gmail. You can choose to send your emails at a very specific time, like 6:23PM or simply decide to send it at a later date, if timing is not of importance.
3. One Big Thing
Forget to-do lists, what’s your one big thing? According to Gary Keller, the author of The ONE Thing, you have to find that one task or activity, such that if completed, everything else will become easier or unnecessary. To maximize your productivity and get more done, we have to pick our one thing that will have the biggest impact for our end goal, rather than completing numerous minor tasks. This app will help you prioritze your one thing on a daily basis, while allowing you to put down secondary tasks that you can complete, only once you’ve completed your one thing.
4. Pomodoro
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The principle behind it is that rather than working for long periods of time, we should work with intense focus in short bursts of 25 minutes. The goal is to have at least 10 pomodoros in one day to get all the tasks that we want to get done. This allows us to get more done in a shorter amount of time, as 10 pomodoros equal to roughly four hours.
5. Google Calendar
Sometimes, a good old calendar can solve many of our issues. According to a researcher, Kevin Kruse, there are a few key weaknesses of a to-do list: Doesn’t account for time. When we have a long list of tasks, we tend to tackle those that can be completed quickly in a few minutes, leaving the longer items left undone. Research from the company iDoneThis indicates that 41% of all to-do list items are never completed! Doesn’t distinguish between urgent and important. Once again, our impulse is to fight the urgent and ignore the important. (Are you overdue for your next colonoscopy or mammogram?) Contribute to stress. In what’s known in psychology as the Zeigarnik effect, unfinished tasks contribute to intrusive, uncontrolled thoughts. It’s no wonder we feel so overwhelmed in the day, but fight insomnia at night.
You can integrate your Google, Outlook or iCalendar to your mobile phone, allowing you to update and check it wherever you go.
6. Rype
Ever felt like you were too busy to learn a new language? Rype may be your solution. Rype offers private Spanish coaching for busy professionals. You’ll get unlimited one-on-one Spanish lessons online at anytime of the day, any day of the week, allowing you to fit learning a language into your lifestyle.
You can also enjoy your lessons on-the-go, so you can have your Spanish lessons as you’re taking a break from work, enjoying a nice walk by the park, or even while you’re driving. Time will no longer be an excuse for not learning a language. You can get started for free by taking advantage of their free trial offer.
7. Buffer
Buffer makes social media scheduling easy. Instead of having to fill out and post your social media updates everytime, you can update it in one location using Buffer, and schedule it to post at a later date.
8. Flipboard
Flipboard brings the best articles online for you in one location, and allow you to filter through different categories, like Business, News, Sports, Tech & Science, and more. It’s a great way to see what’s happening around the world or in your industry in a matter of minutes, instead of browsing through the web to find the content yourself.
9. LastPass
Do you forget your password often? LastPass allows you to record the passwords you use online, and automatically triggers it for you the next time you try to log-in. You can also access their dashboard, allowing you to find all of your passwords in one place, in case you need to retrieve it again. Simple!
10. Papier
Ever get random thoughts or brilliant ideas that you want to put down on paper? Papier solves this problem, but allowing you to do it on your own computer. All you have to do is open up a new tab, and you can start taking notes immediately.
11. IFTTT
IFTTT, which stands for “If this then that”, allows you to automate your online life, period. You can use it to create “recipes” such as “if you post on Instagram, save it on Dropbox” or “when it’s 7AM, open up the weather network application.” You can use your own creativity to design automations that will make your life easier, or you can check out their popular recipes that other people have been using to get more done in less time.
Hope you enjoyed this list of tools. Which one is your favorite?
