So you want to be productive? You're ready to get busy? Is it time to get more done and faster? That's good, and there are a lot of productivity resources and tools that can help. Whether you need to write documents, create databases or worksheets, design presentations, graphs or digital paintings, or anything other tasks you have today, you can always be more productive. Productivity tools, tips and websites are resources that can help align your life goals, get centered and design routine to improve the quality of work life balance.
40+ Tools, Skills and Blogs to Supercharge Productivity
This article will introduce you to 10 awesome productivity tools, 10 useful websites and blogs, 10 tips for being productive at home and 10 tips for getting things done at work. Our world is changing rapidly and you don't want to get left behind. Staying organized, getting energized and reducing stress are goals we all have. And this is the ultimate list of productivity resources that will give you the skills to maximize output and minimize struggle.
10+ Productivity Tools You Need to Use
There are a million tools that can help you be productive at work and home — frankly it's overwhelming. This is a list of ten tools and apps that you probably don't know yet, but you should. Give these a try and we're quite certain you won't be disappointed.
Unito: How much time do you spend each day just looking for information? What about signing in and out of software apps? Unito helps people be more productive by building deep, two-way connections between your most important work tools — including Trello, Asana, Wrike, monday.com, and more! You have access to everything you need in the tool you love best. No more signing in and out. No more copying and pasting. Just an efficient workflow to get your most important tasks over the finish line.
Spreeder: Slow and steady might not always help you win the race. Being slow is more likely to push you to the very end. With how competitive the world has become, you must always be ahead of things. Spreeder is a website that will help you increase your reading speed from an average base rate of 200 words per minute to double that number.
Freerice: One needs to be able to convey their message effectively. For that, a carefully curated vocabulary is critical. Free Rice is a productivity website with a social incentive that not only helps you expand your vocabulary but also enables you to contribute to the fight against hunger. For every question that you get right, ten grains of rice are donated to the World Food Program.
Markup Hero: Markup Hero helps you capture ideas, communicate clearly, and save time. Instantly capture and share ideas with Markup Hero's screenshot app and image uploader. Clearly communicate your message on any image with easy to use annotation tools for images and PDF's.
Save time and access all your screenshots and annotations with a click and make edits on the fly. Markup Hero also has a really nice Slack integration that enables users to annotate files with one-click directly from Slack.
Features include: Screenshot, Upload Images, URL Screenshot, Always Editable, Full History, Text Tool, Arrow Tool, Rectangle Tool, Oval Tool, Pen Tool, Colors, Size & Thickness, Sharable Links, Copy & Download, Duplicate, Share in Popular Tools: Slack, Discord, Notion, Evernote, SMS, Email, and 1000's more.
Doodle: Doodle is an app that can be a project manager's best friend. This app enables you to efficiently schedule meetings with different parties and individuals by ensuring that the timings do not clash. The task of setting up meetings is no longer hectic and is, in fact, very fool-proof since you can keep an organized planner that plans for you according to people's availability.
Using connected tools in the workplace can increase productivity 20 to 25 percent. Use tools like Doodle and Markup Hero to keep employees working together not in silos.
Coffitivity: We are all in a rat race and sometimes, it is okay to feel tired and frustrated. In such moments, a relaxing and soothing atmosphere can help lower your level of anxiety and boost your energy level. Coffitivity is a sweet app that plays sounds from different coffee shops from all around the world. Choose the sound of your choice, lay back on your couch, close your eyes, and enjoy the vibes of positivity.
Onlygood: There is definitely a lot of negativity in the world in the current times and the news is always full of sad and sickening incidences. Such an atmosphere of negative energy lowers people's morale and reduces their productivity. Onlygood is an amazing application that brings nothing but good news and positive content to you. Earn yourself some good belly laughs and see your mood elevating.
Pocket: It has started to feel like the Earth is spinning at a faster rate than usual because life has become so fast-paced. Sometimes, you come across articles, stories, or videos that grab your interest, but you happen to be on the run. Pocket helps you update your to-read or to-watch list so you can enjoy the content later when you are lounging on your couch with a steaming mug of coffee.
IFTT: With this application, which also has a website, you can create customized shortcut automation. IFTT is compatible with a large number of applications and helps you create customized sequences on your device, which will help you efficiently achieve small tasks like setting up a reminder or managing photo tags.
Wrike: It is fairly natural to become overwhelmed and lose track of your tasks. Wrike is a reasonably good application that allows members of a team to keep up with their tasks and their progress. It is a handy tool for businesses that can help them regulate their projects efficiently.
Mind42: An organized and planned idea is the best idea. Mapping out an outline is one of the most essential aspects of writing something, be it a story, a travel plan, a research paper, or a case study. Mind42 is an application that helps you organize your thoughts and ideas to create an outline that will help you create well-structured content.
Boxmode: A drag-and-drop website builder for creating websites in a variety of niches. Boxmode helps businesses and general users create online projects of any scale. It offers an impeccable user experience with outstanding scalability and efficiency. With Boxmode, you can create all types of promotional landing pages and complex business websites or online shops. It’s a reasonable solution for novices, however, pros can benefit from various features like Code Editor and many more.
You can expect ready-to-use niche templates, project autosave, and real-time edit features, content import/export, meta tags editing, etc. Their Starter package is free of charge.
10 Productivity Blogs You Can't Miss
Sometimes it just take a little reading and reflecting to calm the mind and get your engine oiled up and running fast. These 10 blogs are a great place to start with quick reads and great topics that are easy to put into action.
Dumb Little Man: Web blogger Jay White created Dumb Little Man as a ranting space, which soon became a worldwide hub for people to share their experiences as well as their problems. This interactive platform can help you solve your problems, gain inspiration, and grow.
Ian's Messy Desk: If you're tired of mismanaging time and want to work on your personal development, IMD is the place for you to search for tips, tricks, and advice that can turn your entire game around. It is a good place for learning where you receive the right kind of mentoring and help to set you up in the right direction.
Asian Efficiency: Asian efficiency is your one-stop solution to finding genuine self-help advice and productivity tips. The Asian Efficiency Team helps you develop a productive mindset for you to achieve your goals.
Zen Habits: Lea Babauta, with his articulated articles, can be of immense help if you are struggling with motivation to tackle the ever-growing pile of work. Zen Habits is the ideal place for you if you are looking for productivity tips to help you grow.
Benjamin Hardy: Benjamin Hardy is a Medium blogger. His thought-provoking blog posts can be a potential confidence booster for you and can help set you on the right track.
Darius Foroux: Darius Foroux is a Medium blogger who writes by his own life experiences and creates a thread of connection with the reader. This element of relatability helps you extract a great deal from his productivity advice.
Brendon Burchard: Brendon Burchard posts inspirational videos that can get you up and going after a depressive episode.
The truth is that 13 percent of employees are actively disengaged at work (i.e. they are miserable). Put programs into place that encourage workers to feel good about what they are doing and what they are working toward.
Chris Ducker: If you need the inspiration to grow your business, Chris Ducker is your man. He gives professional advice and tips which can help you grow and expand.
The Actioned Blog: The Actioned Blog provides productivity tips for teams and individuals. These hacks are very professional and can help you improve your productivity.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Eric Barker, with his combination of wittiness and professional insight, can guide you towards improved productivity outcomes.
10 Productivity Tips for Work Life Balance
On first read, these tips and tricks might seem obvious. But like anything, just because we know something, doesn't mean we do it. We all have distractions and bad habits that keep us from being productive at work. Start small and keep it simple. Pick one from this list and actively add it to your day. Be disciplined and deliberate and results will follow.
Reduce Distractions: Try to cut down distractions. It is natural to feel distracted by things but one must know how to snap out of them. Log out of your social media accounts and inform your peers not to contact you during work time.
Do Quick Tasks First: Check off tasks that do not require too much time before you start working on bigger, more time-consuming tasks. This way, you will be able to focus on the latter.
Meetings can be the productivity killer. 91 percent of workers say they have daydreamed during important meetings. Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com have a rule about meetings. If two pizzas are not enough to feed everyone, then the meeting is too big.
Do Something Interesting: If you are bored and don't feel like doing a particular task, try to do something else of your interest. This may rejuvenate your mind.
Solve Problems At The Earliest: If there is a problem that is keeping you from making any progress, do not put it on hold. Solve all the problems at the earliest, so you don't have to keep worrying about it.
Batch Process: Instead of randomly doing things, group together similar tasks. Complete similar tasks first before moving on to the next. This will minimize diversions.
Say No: Refuse to any task that seems too burdensome. Trying to do a lot of things together will not get anything done. Therefore, only accepts tasks that you can complete without stressing yourself.
If you run a company, be careful about blocking access to time wasting websites like games and videos. According to a study by thebestvpn.com, blocking these sites doesn't actually increase productivity. In fact, 40% of employees found easy ways to get around these restrictions. Instead, develop practices that encourage employees to work when it's work time and have the freedom to play when it's play time.
Make Categories: Categorize all your different tasks according to their nature and create a list that you can check off from. You can also categorize according to how important they are.
Fix Days of Household Chores: Fix days for doing household chores like grocery, laundry, or cleaning so you don't have to worry about them throughout the week.
Shorten your Emails: Keep your emails to-the-point, remove fluff and say only what you need. This will save you time and are more likely to be read by the recipient.
Figure Your Peak Hours: Are you a morning person, or do you work well during the night hours? Figure out your peak productivity hours; get most of the work done during this time.
10 Productivity Tips for Home Life Balance
If you are working from home, distractions are even more common. It's easy to get sidetracked or stuck binging on Netflix. These tips will help you get into the flow of life, feel better about yourself, have more confidence and start being the best you.
Do Nothing: Sometimes the best thing you can do is, well, nothing. Try sitting quietly, close your eyes and literally do nothing. It's not easy because we're usually thinking about what we need to do, or should do. It's counter-intuitive, but exercise will help you get back into gear.
Listen up. Whether at work or with friends, people want to be heard. Employees who feel their voice is being heard are 4.6 times more likely to perform better at work according to a recent Salesforce.com study.
Tidy up Your Room: A cleaner environment has a very positive effect on your brain, which releases neurochemicals that have a positive effect on the body. This can boost your performance.
Learn Skills: It is never too late to add a new skill to your arsenal. The Internet is full of tutorials that provide step-by-step guidance. Learn to play an instrument or paint. You can also learn digital skills. This way, you can maximize your productive time.
Search for Knowledge: There is no such thing as enough information. There is no limit to knowledge. Read up on different topics and keep yourself updated about current affairs. Never satiate your thirst to learn.
Read Fiction: Reading fiction can take you away from reality and to an entirely new world. This escapade will provide you with a much-needed time-out from the normal routine and rejuvenate you.
Read Non-Fiction: Pick up autobiographies or biographies of some inspirational people will inspire you and motivate you to grow and not give up.
Try Something New: Do not restrict yourself. Be open to new ideas. Explore different avenues and try your luck at different things. There is always something new to learn.
Be Artistic: Everyone has a hidden artist within and bringing it out once in a while can prove to be a promising experience. Pick up a canvas, a blank sheet, or an old record and start working with paints and colors. You don't have to create the picture-perfect version of Van Gogh's Starry Night, but you can definitely create your own version of it.
Take Care of Your Mental Health: A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body, maybe even more. If you are mentally drained or upset, there is no chance of having a productive hour, let alone a day. Relieve yourself of unnecessary stress and try to remain positive. If nothing else helps, seek professional help.
Hang out with Friends and Family: Isolation is never too good for your health. It is okay to minimize contact during work hours but always keep a balance. Hang out with friends and family every once or twice a week to have a good time.
Wrapping Up and Bringing it All Together
So that's it. Our list of 40 tips, tools, apps, websites and blogs for kicking your productivity into high gear. Remember, life isn't just about getting things done. Whether at work, at play, at love or at rest, life is a balance.
Hopefully this article gave you some ways to increase productivity when the time is right and decrease frustration when it's time to pause. Have fun and live a big full life.
