If there’s one resource we never seem to have enough of, it’s time. In fact, a survey of almost 2,000 professionals found the average person is only productive for about three hours each day. The rest of those working hours are spent on various distractions such as texting friends or family, reading the news, and checking social media.
Yep…time management can be quite a challenge. But in this digital-first era, make life easier for yourself with mobile apps that will create more structure and margin in your hectic schedule. From automating repetitive tasks to helping you avoid procrastination, these five apps are just the time saving solutions you need.
Time-Saving Web Apps
Zapier
You know those line items on your schedule that still have to be done, but seem to always steal the focus from higher priority tasks? Don’t perform them manually—automate these functions with Zapier. This will create a more efficient, streamlined workflow overall, so you can accomplish more in a much shorter amount of time. Zapier also integrates with other team collaboration and project management software to automate emails, data entry, file sharing, and other tasks across numerous platforms.
Freedom
We’ve all experienced it—the urge to sneak an innocent glance at a social media notification, only to waste the next hour scrolling on that feed. This habit is a major drain on productivity, but with the Freedom app, you can restrict access to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social or entertainment websites on all your devices. Just think how much time you’ll reclaim after blocking out those distractions. You will have the bandwidth to concentrate on what actually matters in order to achieve your goals.
Boomerang
If you’re a person with an inbox (because, of course you are), it will come as no surprise that email is one of the most rampant time wasters out there. In fact, it’s not uncommon to spend 209 minutes checking professional emails and another 143 minutes checking personal emails each day—which is about six hours of lost productivity. Enter: Boomerang, an app that enables you to silence incoming email notifications, filter emails that you need to open, and schedule your own emails to be sent automatically.
Todoist
For the consummate list maker who needs to visualize your schedule written out line by line, Todoist is the answer. Gone are those days of jotting tasks down on post-it notes—Todoist consolidates your lists on one virtual hub that also integrates with your inbox and calendar. With its large suite of features, you can assign project deadlines, sort each item in order of priority, and create sub-tasks to stay as organized as possible. It’s compatible with all devices too, so you can view these lists from anywhere.
If it was an option, who wouldn’t choose to spend the afternoon skimming Reddit threads, watching YouTube videos, sharing viral memes, or learning which Ted Lasso character you are, courtesy of Buzzfeed? There’s no denying it—the internet is chock-full of mindless entertainment to waste an entire day, and that’s where Pocket comes in. This app allows you to save articles, videos, or other content for later reference, so you can circle back around to consume them during non-work hours.
Be Productive, Stay Organized, and Save Time.
If it feels like there just aren’t enough hours in a day to tackle all the spinning balls you have in the air, time saving apps come in clutch. Whether you need a reminder to submit that work presentation before it’s due, you need to shave a few minutes off your current email routine, you need some help crawling out of a social media “scroll hole,” or anything else in between, these time saving apps will have your back.
So welcome to one of the easiest, most accessible ways to reclaim maximum organization and productivity. All it takes is a simple download from the App Store, then viola—time management is quite literally right at your fingertips!
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