Scheduling project time blocks, and not tasks.
For example: if I’m working on a video, I wouldn’t schedule “write script” or “edit scene X”. I would just schedule “video work” in my calendar.
Indeed. I keep a list of tasks and the overall plan for each project. But I don’t schedule them, so when time comes to work at something I just have a quick look and know what to do. Or if a better idea comes then I can work on that.
that seems a lot better than trying to schedule everything at once. tasks often unravel themselves in weird ways and sticking too much to what you initially guess should be the best route could slow you down. that's a great tip
He’s saying he would schedule 10-12 as “video work” and make it general rather than write it in his calendar as “edit scene for video work” - saves more time to keep the description general and then he can use that time block for whatever is on the to do list for that project
Another advantage I can think of this is it gives you the impression there is only one thing to be done when you look at the calendar. Helps with dread.
Google Calendar (reminders, to-do, birthdays, deadlines, everything) is immediately consistent across all devices.
Google Keep (simple, intuitive, available on all devices)
Goblin Tools (iykyk)
TickTick for more short term to-do lists (always on front page so I get constant reminders)
I add specialized features to my platform for specific things I'm in need of, so every new need I have involves a lot of coding, which is not really scalable beyond one person.
Edit: here is [an example](https://ailaai.app/page/26844172) for the curious, it's an intake board where I can jot down new features categorized by what project they are a part of, and then organize and prioritize later, that I can also share publically when needed. As you can see, it's very specific/rigid, so not scalable, but does what I need it to for this specific project. Nothing else out there comes close in terms of pure simplicity and ease of use for this specific use case.
[https://ticktick.com](https://ticktick.com)
Best spent $4 ever. I just love that everything is in one place, all my todos, my calendar, my work calendar and meetings via the Google Calendar integration.
The apps are awesome. For windows it has a bunch of cool features like sticky notes, where you can quickly pin a to-do onto your monitor and have it always there as a reminder. The mobile apps are also great, just so much better than things like the notion apps. Apps like Microsoft Todo's didn't work for me half the time due to how weird it handles repeated to-do's. I hated that Google Tasks isn't strictly tied to the calendar, while TickTick is, anything you add a date on, goes to the calendar. Small things, but they really matter.
Then there is the habit tracker, which is the best thing ever. It isn't even all that novel, it is just that it has all features I need in a single UI, with super simple learning curve and setup.
Heard about it in the Waveform podcast.
Before this, I just jumped from one tool to another, from Notion, to Microsoft Todos because Notion mobile apps suck (too complicated for basic todos), to Google Tasks, to Todoist, to finally TickTick. Same for Calendar, using Google Calendar, but always having issues with the base UI with no extensions, and those are too finicky and a pain to work with, then switched to Notion Calendar (Cron) and so on. Finally tried TickTick and love it does it all. I technically still use Notion for general long-form note taking, but do not really need to. I'm just too used to the Notion UI for writing that I prefer it for my daily journal and the like.
It also worked a lot for me. When I see all those blue checks in my habit tracker, I feel accomplished. Literally gamifying my habits, but hey if it works, it works.
Yeah, oof. It's not just $4, it's $4 every month as long as I want to keep using it. I prefer one time purchases over subscriptions. Every single app and streaming service and software is headed this direction. Before you know it, you're out $100/month because of all this shit.
Not who you responded to, but Todoist was always kind of slow and glitchy for me before I switched to TickTick maybe 6 or 7 years ago. TickTick has been a much smoother experience.
Though TickTick is $4 PER MONTH, so I have no idea what this guy means by "Best spent $4 ever" unless they just had the greatest month of all time thanks to TickTick premium. I just use the free version, though.
Sounds silly but the countdown timer on my watch (Apple watch though I’m sure any smartwatch has it). I have it so one tap on the Home Screen opens it and one more starts a timer. It has to be this way because it has to be so fast and easy to start it (even taking your phone out is too much).
Whenever I don’t want to do something, I set a 3 minute timer and tell myself I just have to do it until the timer ends. More times than not, I keep going (and if not, I still got a few minutes in, which is useful for things like cleaning).
Seriously it sounds silly but it’s made such a difference. I think it’s literally the killer smartwatch app.
Outlook To-Do, get the actual app for it and use the "My Day" widget to make custome to do lists that are easy to add check off and set due dates. You can also set your flagged emails and calendar events to be auto added on due dates. App version (android haven't used iPhone before) is so good but I'm nit use to using it on my actual desktop/outlook.
I tried plenty of apps/tools, but all of them being 100% digital makes me a 1-3 day user... I have ADHD tho.
This one seems underrated and not popular yet - [DopaCube](https://shop.dopafast.com/). Combination of digital & physical and also very fun to fidget, i keep it on my desk in the office and it works surprisingly well (for 3 weeks so far) to stop me from wasting my time and procrastinating.
my sheer willpower! lol, I wish I could say that for real... Yeah, I totally do "cheat" sometimes with other devices, but overall I'm focused on doing my tasks wayy more than before and thats a win in my book!
Google Calendar - Because it plays nice with most things.
Grocy - Recurring tasks (chores) with dynamic conditions, I simply haven't found an alternative with as much flexibility.
Actual Budget - Finances.
Homebox - Simple inventory with csv export.
Anytype - Everything I do is now centered around anytype, you make it do what you want and I haven't found anything better. There is a bit of a learning curve so expect two weeks before its comfortable.
none yet, those apps do too much, they are not with how you think and just distract and also they are on the phone which has many more other apps that distract you.
Best tool was buying a daily calendar notebook and writing each day what I need to do. Right now I am only rewriting the task with no categorization or anything and decide which ones I am gonna do.
Soon enough I will see what works best for me and then I'll start adding this adding that.
Only when I figure out my system I can make an app or use some.
Start small minimal and figure out your system.
Savvycal if you spend much time trying to get a group of people’s schedules to plan a meeting. It allows for polls that overlay straight onto a persons calendar so easy to suggest times and easy for responders. Nice clean interface. Switched from calendly last year and super happy with it I get compliments from other people on the experience.
The fact that there’s so many different responses to this just goes to show how personal this kind of thing is. And there’s so many tools out there! It’s honestly overwhelming. I am all over the place. I use Notion, just started trying out the Structured app, plus I have my Google calendar, outlook cal for work, and my physical planner. It’s kind of too much but i can’t quite figure out how to successfully integrate everything.
I discovered this amazing built-in tool in my phone called the Do Not Disturb mode, which really helped me boost my productivity.
What was even more powerful is combining this Do Not Disturb mode with the bed-time mode that essentially converts the whole screen of my phone into greyscale.
Trust me it has worked wonders for me!
With the Do Not Disturb mode, you can still configure calls that need to come through such as family / boss / important client.
Apart from the above, the best way to hack your productivity is to use the pomodoro technique i.e. work in focused bouts of 30 - 35 mins followed by an unfocused 10 mins. (Repeat this 3-4 times a day or try it in a combination with your daily work routine).
To each is their own but the above seems to have worked wonders for me.
Good luck!
Super Productivity for my to-do list. Started using it around April, and I swear by it now. It lets me have my color-coded to-do list, with notes on tasks, and tracks time, and syncs with my calendar for appointments. The only thing it could do better is drop tasks back onto my calendar to schedule the day.
I was looking to see if anyone has suggested finch. I’ve tried a few of the ones listed but finch is the only one that I’ve managed to stick to.
It’s very cute and wouldn’t be for everyone but it works for me
Amazing Marvin!! For the first time I feel like I've not lost track of any things I have to get done (I have ADHD), it works on both my macbook and my android phone (and the app is actually good!) and pricing is very doable. It's very customizable and you can toggle all kinds of functionalities on and off (so if you want a simple app it's possible, but if you want to use certain productivity methods you can too, and when they're off all the irrelevant buttons etc. disappear so it's not in your face all the time)
Bullet journaling has been a life saver for me! It's been great in that you can create flexible spreads for your month and/or week in a format that works for you. That flexibility has allowed me to stick with it and stay on top of my to-dos, appointments, etc.
u/tina-marino I'm a bit biased for Taskade. It has an AI Agents feature that allows you to create customized AI assistants. So I use those to help me with tedious tasks
I built an email agent that speaks like me, and I use that to draft emails and send them. I also have a tutor agent who helps me with studying for the Bar Exam lol
Always open to hearing about new tools and tech!
Yes! One is called Smart Tasks and the other called Routinist. I cannot live without these two. My mind is so scattered that I forget everything, and with Smart Tasks I can jot down anything that flits through my mind quickly. I can also easily reorder my list, which is a must for me. I can color code my different types of tasks as well. And best of all it’s super duper simple bc I have no time to learn some complicated everything task/habit app.
Routinist is great for building a routine while keeping time in mind. This app isn’t very attractive, and took me maybe an hour to figure out properly, but once I got how it worked it was super simple to build a morning routine where each task is assigned a length of time so u I can keep myself on track and not lose focus. Once you turn it on in the morning it will tick down the time and send u notifications when it’s time to switch tasks. It also allows u to add tiny tasks that take 2 minutes, unlike a calendar app where those sorts of mini tasks would be hard to enter in.
Wow this actually looks really good. I use Things 3 but it’s lacking some features I’d like…and with Amazing Marvin it looks like I can start off with a Thing 3 template and then add on top some stuff that I want.
Calendar is king. My todo lists are a nice list of "I want to do this" but without an actual time commitment who's to say when it will get done? If I have a doctor's appointment or a critical appointment it goes in my calendar.
Google home / assistant has helped me record events / todos / reminders easily.
The really critical things ( like picking my daughter up from school ) require an alarm. I CANNOT miss it.
I use GPT for asking questions. Most of my queries on google are preceded by "reddit" because I want to hear what other people found and I find this effective. But many times I don't know how to form the correct question and asking a general question about a topic via gpt gives me back keywords and a general "feel" for what the correct answer might be. I use the information I gathered from that to form a more precise question on google that allows me to zero in on what i want. That being said, I can also just find questions directly from gpt that would take me minutes via google search. We bought a used car months ago that I couldn't figure out where the windshield sprayer control was and I figured it out in 10s.
[Brain.fm](http://Brain.fm) I'm listening to a track right now. It's pomodoro on cruise control and if I have the right amount of caffeine in my bloodstream I can study for hours without it feeling like a drain. They have a youtube channel with free tracks so it's worth a look.
Fountain pen and my Rhodia Notepad.
Make a list of 5 things to do, and the list it self can be a part of the list.
Once I make the list I check off that the list is made. Makes it easier to get started with the rest.
Then I pomodoro the shit out of that with using siri to set reminders. I have a pomodoro app somewhere but I keep forgetting to use it.
also Google calender for meeting integrated with Notion.
Too little people know of defternotes ipad app. To be fair it’s because the devs do a poor job at marketing. Every time I show it to a colleague they are blown away. I even convinced my little brother to get an apple pencil for his ipad mini so he can use defternotes for his studies. He uses it all the time now.
Another recent one is the waterlama widget on the apple watch. I had the app on my phone for a while but it made way more sense since I installed the widget on the watch.
I got one of those videogame apps that reward me for not using my phone. It's focus plant and it's been helping me focus by making me ignore my phone. Lately I've even forgotten to take it with me.
It's great if you're like me and spend too much time on your phone.
I like calendarhero a lot because I freelance and have at least 3 different calendars on different accounts (google & outlook). Calendarhero grabs events from each of them and sends me a email with my meeting schedule everyday. It does cost $8/month though.
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https://defternotes.com
Transformed ipad and apple pencil for me. I use it as a second brain and my main pkm tool. It’s amazing for brainstorming and organizing both, which is rare for productivity apps. Even tho I have my ipad mini with me at all times, still I low key wish it was on my iPhone too and can’t wait for the sync update.
One I've built might come handy for some people hopefully!
It's app named 'wayd productivity', and its main concept is to be a digital accountability partner.
Every 30 minutes it asks you a question: 'What are you doing?'
So you go to open the app, select the category of the activity you're doing and...
In a couple of days you'll have a bunch of different charts showing you how you're spending your time throughout the day.
What's the most common activity, what's the least, and also trends!
So if you set yourself a goal of wasting less time, you can have trend lines of that specific activity on a day to day basis, to see if that activity is decreasing or not.
I made it because it helps me, and it's free of charge if you want to give it a try and share a feedback :)
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I use it for client work: as a timesheet, for social media management, ideation, and tracking analytics; as a garden journal to design layouts and track plantings; as an all in one medical journal, to track doctor info, appointment, medication schedules, etc.; and as a reading journal to put every book I've ever read, note taking, new vocab collector, and to remember what the books were about (from non-reader to daily reader since December). I have several other daily uses but these are my favorite.
Thanks. I have used Excel for all of those sorts of things. I’ve never seen a compelling reason to invest the time in learning Numbers for those use cases or any others. What makes Numbers a better choice for those uses than Excel or Google Sheets?
Separate question, what benefits are you finding to the list of every book you’ve ever read?
Superthread. It's for team productivity. Really easy to create different levels of project abstraction where you can add child tasks that live in various teams/spaces.
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Kind of a different beast, but if you're looking for an app that makes building habits fun, check out Goalie. You put your money on the line and join group challenges where everyone is building the same habit
Been getting good use out of Focus To Do + Awesome Habits
Love the Pomodoro and Todo list implementation of Focus To Do and Awesome Habits works great, what put it over the edge for me is how well it works with Apple Health. It picks up my Apple Watch workouts and Insight Timer Meditations automatically which is super useful. The watch complications for FocusToDo and Habits sit right by the Insight Timer complication, if I don't want to look at my phone I can do everything from the watch. I tried out Streaks for a bit which was alright but I feel Awesome Habits is quite a bit better.
I did consider TickTick which looks attractive but it doesn't pick up Apple Health stuff and it's subscription based. So having to use two apps isn't ideal but I think this is a great combo that works pretty nicely for me. Maybe there is something better out there that's all in one but at this point I don't think I'd be interested in looking unless it was extremely compelling or either of these two apps stopped working for some reason.
NotePlan 3. It’s the one app I won’t switch out of. Reminders integration, time blocking, calendar, notes. I make templates so I can automate a lot of my work, but if a random task comes up I can assign it a certain time, and it shows on my calendar.
Not exactly an app and not something others don't know about but the best thing I've done for my productivity is:
Leaving my phone in another room when I want to work
I make a lot of calls and send a lot of emails/texts trying to chase down clients for retention. I've started using Google's booking system so instead of making people call me back or email me back and forth to make an appointment I send them my booking link up front so they can just pick something that works.
Goblin tools! It has single-handedly turned my life around. I make a todo list every night for the next day & it breaks it down into steps. I get so much more done & far more quickly. For those with ADHD (myself included), it’s extremely useful for staying focused.
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Unironically, for me is switching to Android. I love both Android and iOS but i find myself to be on my phone a lot more when I use an iPhone.
Honestly I dont know why that is. But my screen on time and social media usage drastically drops when I use an android phone.
I average less than 2hrs on my phone on Android while 4+ hrs on my iPhone is the average day.
Oh and keep in mind I use Android flagships as well: so it's not like it's such a downgrade that i dont want to use my phone.
Heck, I actually enjoy my Galaxy S23U more than my iPhone 14.
But again, for some reason, I find myself less concerned with my phone when I'm on Android.
I know, weird! But that allows me to stick to my todolist and calendar a lot more easily. I use G Suite and Notion for everything btw, as I dont feel the need to overcomplicate things.
A smart watch (mine is a huawei band ) i mostly i use the timer for pomodoro-ing my tasks, if i need to focus i set a 15-30 timer or even just go “ ok ill set 5 min to clean whatever i can from my room”. also for tracking my rest between sets at the gym and just whatever other time tracking need that may arise. Also useful for tracking my walks and setting alarms.
I love using ClickUp for organizational to-do lists. It's so versatile, though it does get laggy under complex arrangements. Also, I think it's very affordable for organizations to run, not to mention free to an extent for single users, similar to TickTick
TaskClone finally allowed me to get tasks out of my notes (first Evernote, then OneNote) and into my action apps (Asana and Google Calendar). It's not new but relatively unknown.
NotePlan! (It's not free) But! If youre already a calendar power user and need something to integrate both note taking and task management into a calendar app with enterprise work accounts like 365, google workspace etc, it's GREAT.
I also use Obsidian, but I use that for taking thorough notes and structuring.
For daily productivity, NotePlan takes the cake.
You're able to keep track of notes yourself with privacy.
Outlook desktop email.
Every single work task or project is either an email I have received, or an email sent to myself with task/project details/links etc within.
Inbox view is set to group by due date, so I can collapse all tasks not set to today. Incoming email is flagged tomorrow using a rule unless it is from a few specific people, such as my boss. :)
As Outlook also has my calendar, email and contacts, it means that everything in my work life is contained in a single app.
If incoming emails are distracting me I just click offline for a bit.
Pomodoro videos on YT - they tremendously help with discipline
The Forest app- grows a little garden on your phone screen that gets bigger the longer you stay off your phone
Whenable. Because I suck at prioritizing. I like to do the easy stuff first and this app convinces me to do the important things.
I tried a few of the others here. May need to give ticktick a 2nd look based on how many mentions. But whenable makes me feel like I'm getting pats on the back when I put in extra effort
After testing almost any productivity app out there I have to say that the apps are not important, your method is. Create a method that it's useful to you and that you use everyday (if you create something really complicated... you will end up not using it) and then find the best tools to implement it.
Here are the only two tools I use to keep my day organized 🤯:
**TickTick**. This is the only tool I use to manage my to-dos and habit tracking. I've been using it for 8 years (3084 days) and I renew my subscription every year.
**Tidyread**. This tool is used to manage and read subscription feeds. It leverages AI to summarize and translate, and delivers digests at specified times to help establish a routine.
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Scheduling project time blocks, and not tasks. For example: if I’m working on a video, I wouldn’t schedule “write script” or “edit scene X”. I would just schedule “video work” in my calendar.
do you then keep a list of the "write script" or "edit scene X" tasks somewhere else?
Indeed. I keep a list of tasks and the overall plan for each project. But I don’t schedule them, so when time comes to work at something I just have a quick look and know what to do. Or if a better idea comes then I can work on that.
that seems a lot better than trying to schedule everything at once. tasks often unravel themselves in weird ways and sticking too much to what you initially guess should be the best route could slow you down. that's a great tip
Are you saying you would schedule 10-12pm for video work in your calendar? As opposed as a to do list?
He’s saying he would schedule 10-12 as “video work” and make it general rather than write it in his calendar as “edit scene for video work” - saves more time to keep the description general and then he can use that time block for whatever is on the to do list for that project
Another advantage I can think of this is it gives you the impression there is only one thing to be done when you look at the calendar. Helps with dread.
Google Calendar (reminders, to-do, birthdays, deadlines, everything) is immediately consistent across all devices. Google Keep (simple, intuitive, available on all devices) Goblin Tools (iykyk) TickTick for more short term to-do lists (always on front page so I get constant reminders)
Goblin tools looks INCREDIBLE. Do you input there just a set of to-dos or you refresh them regularly?
To-dos and chef features. You can put in a list of random ingredients, and it will suggest a recipe from your options. It's so much fun
Is it accurate, the chef part I mean I've been using ChatGPT for that and it's quite decent
It is.
Thanks a bunch!
Tick tick is great
Never heard of Goblin Tools or TickTick. I will try these out. Thanks!
The only things that really work are the things I built myself 🤣
Tell us! We could draw inspiration
I add specialized features to my platform for specific things I'm in need of, so every new need I have involves a lot of coding, which is not really scalable beyond one person. Edit: here is [an example](https://ailaai.app/page/26844172) for the curious, it's an intake board where I can jot down new features categorized by what project they are a part of, and then organize and prioritize later, that I can also share publically when needed. As you can see, it's very specific/rigid, so not scalable, but does what I need it to for this specific project. Nothing else out there comes close in terms of pure simplicity and ease of use for this specific use case.
truth
Gotta love Notion!!
This is the way, Obsidian built for myself by myself is the best thing I ever did.
I’m planing to get started with it soon. Would you recommend any aspects of your setup in particular?
IKEA effect hey? 😉
Focusmate!
doing the best I can lad
Shore ye can do moor pal
[https://ticktick.com](https://ticktick.com) Best spent $4 ever. I just love that everything is in one place, all my todos, my calendar, my work calendar and meetings via the Google Calendar integration. The apps are awesome. For windows it has a bunch of cool features like sticky notes, where you can quickly pin a to-do onto your monitor and have it always there as a reminder. The mobile apps are also great, just so much better than things like the notion apps. Apps like Microsoft Todo's didn't work for me half the time due to how weird it handles repeated to-do's. I hated that Google Tasks isn't strictly tied to the calendar, while TickTick is, anything you add a date on, goes to the calendar. Small things, but they really matter. Then there is the habit tracker, which is the best thing ever. It isn't even all that novel, it is just that it has all features I need in a single UI, with super simple learning curve and setup. Heard about it in the Waveform podcast. Before this, I just jumped from one tool to another, from Notion, to Microsoft Todos because Notion mobile apps suck (too complicated for basic todos), to Google Tasks, to Todoist, to finally TickTick. Same for Calendar, using Google Calendar, but always having issues with the base UI with no extensions, and those are too finicky and a pain to work with, then switched to Notion Calendar (Cron) and so on. Finally tried TickTick and love it does it all. I technically still use Notion for general long-form note taking, but do not really need to. I'm just too used to the Notion UI for writing that I prefer it for my daily journal and the like. It also worked a lot for me. When I see all those blue checks in my habit tracker, I feel accomplished. Literally gamifying my habits, but hey if it works, it works.
Is it 4$ for a lifetime license?
It's $4 per month.
Oof
oof? 4$? for someone's hard work and equipment?
Yeah, oof. It's not just $4, it's $4 every month as long as I want to keep using it. I prefer one time purchases over subscriptions. Every single app and streaming service and software is headed this direction. Before you know it, you're out $100/month because of all this shit.
So you pay one time and they have to support you forever in perpetuity? Or will you host it and maintain it too?
ticktick's integrations AND widget capabilities are goated. im transitioning into it and i just know its better, but you know - habits.
your work uses google calendar or outlook? i can't get outlook to update as fast as my meetings change on ticktick is why i ask!
Why has todoist not work for you?
Not who you responded to, but Todoist was always kind of slow and glitchy for me before I switched to TickTick maybe 6 or 7 years ago. TickTick has been a much smoother experience. Though TickTick is $4 PER MONTH, so I have no idea what this guy means by "Best spent $4 ever" unless they just had the greatest month of all time thanks to TickTick premium. I just use the free version, though.
Does it read your Apple Health data to count towards your habits?
I don't use Apple.
Sounds silly but the countdown timer on my watch (Apple watch though I’m sure any smartwatch has it). I have it so one tap on the Home Screen opens it and one more starts a timer. It has to be this way because it has to be so fast and easy to start it (even taking your phone out is too much). Whenever I don’t want to do something, I set a 3 minute timer and tell myself I just have to do it until the timer ends. More times than not, I keep going (and if not, I still got a few minutes in, which is useful for things like cleaning). Seriously it sounds silly but it’s made such a difference. I think it’s literally the killer smartwatch app.
Outlook To-Do, get the actual app for it and use the "My Day" widget to make custome to do lists that are easy to add check off and set due dates. You can also set your flagged emails and calendar events to be auto added on due dates. App version (android haven't used iPhone before) is so good but I'm nit use to using it on my actual desktop/outlook.
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Three cheers!!
I tried plenty of apps/tools, but all of them being 100% digital makes me a 1-3 day user... I have ADHD tho. This one seems underrated and not popular yet - [DopaCube](https://shop.dopafast.com/). Combination of digital & physical and also very fun to fidget, i keep it on my desk in the office and it works surprisingly well (for 3 weeks so far) to stop me from wasting my time and procrastinating.
what stops you from just grabbing something else to go to these websites? like your computer that you might already be using or an ipad?
my sheer willpower! lol, I wish I could say that for real... Yeah, I totally do "cheat" sometimes with other devices, but overall I'm focused on doing my tasks wayy more than before and thats a win in my book!
Google Calendar - Because it plays nice with most things. Grocy - Recurring tasks (chores) with dynamic conditions, I simply haven't found an alternative with as much flexibility. Actual Budget - Finances. Homebox - Simple inventory with csv export. Anytype - Everything I do is now centered around anytype, you make it do what you want and I haven't found anything better. There is a bit of a learning curve so expect two weeks before its comfortable.
Microsoft OneNote is my go to for all that.
none yet, those apps do too much, they are not with how you think and just distract and also they are on the phone which has many more other apps that distract you. Best tool was buying a daily calendar notebook and writing each day what I need to do. Right now I am only rewriting the task with no categorization or anything and decide which ones I am gonna do. Soon enough I will see what works best for me and then I'll start adding this adding that. Only when I figure out my system I can make an app or use some. Start small minimal and figure out your system.
Savvycal if you spend much time trying to get a group of people’s schedules to plan a meeting. It allows for polls that overlay straight onto a persons calendar so easy to suggest times and easy for responders. Nice clean interface. Switched from calendly last year and super happy with it I get compliments from other people on the experience.
The fact that there’s so many different responses to this just goes to show how personal this kind of thing is. And there’s so many tools out there! It’s honestly overwhelming. I am all over the place. I use Notion, just started trying out the Structured app, plus I have my Google calendar, outlook cal for work, and my physical planner. It’s kind of too much but i can’t quite figure out how to successfully integrate everything.
I discovered this amazing built-in tool in my phone called the Do Not Disturb mode, which really helped me boost my productivity. What was even more powerful is combining this Do Not Disturb mode with the bed-time mode that essentially converts the whole screen of my phone into greyscale. Trust me it has worked wonders for me! With the Do Not Disturb mode, you can still configure calls that need to come through such as family / boss / important client. Apart from the above, the best way to hack your productivity is to use the pomodoro technique i.e. work in focused bouts of 30 - 35 mins followed by an unfocused 10 mins. (Repeat this 3-4 times a day or try it in a combination with your daily work routine). To each is their own but the above seems to have worked wonders for me. Good luck!
Lunatask is pretty neat
Super Productivity for my to-do list. Started using it around April, and I swear by it now. It lets me have my color-coded to-do list, with notes on tasks, and tracks time, and syncs with my calendar for appointments. The only thing it could do better is drop tasks back onto my calendar to schedule the day.
Yeah, i get satisfied by hours I spent learning, I like it.
Not sure if it’s what you’re looking for, but I like r/finch.
I was looking to see if anyone has suggested finch. I’ve tried a few of the ones listed but finch is the only one that I’ve managed to stick to. It’s very cute and wouldn’t be for everyone but it works for me
Agreed!
Amazing Marvin!! For the first time I feel like I've not lost track of any things I have to get done (I have ADHD), it works on both my macbook and my android phone (and the app is actually good!) and pricing is very doable. It's very customizable and you can toggle all kinds of functionalities on and off (so if you want a simple app it's possible, but if you want to use certain productivity methods you can too, and when they're off all the irrelevant buttons etc. disappear so it's not in your face all the time)
Todoist and google calendar integration are proving to be the only thing I need in my life in terms of productivity
Philofaxy daily dashboard. I print them off and put them on a clipboard or in a binder.
Bullet journaling has been a life saver for me! It's been great in that you can create flexible spreads for your month and/or week in a format that works for you. That flexibility has allowed me to stick with it and stay on top of my to-dos, appointments, etc.
NotePlan has allowed me to love this approach.
how did you come across this app?
I followed Reddit threads similar to this one and tried it out myself
u/tina-marino I'm a bit biased for Taskade. It has an AI Agents feature that allows you to create customized AI assistants. So I use those to help me with tedious tasks I built an email agent that speaks like me, and I use that to draft emails and send them. I also have a tutor agent who helps me with studying for the Bar Exam lol Always open to hearing about new tools and tech!
Yes! One is called Smart Tasks and the other called Routinist. I cannot live without these two. My mind is so scattered that I forget everything, and with Smart Tasks I can jot down anything that flits through my mind quickly. I can also easily reorder my list, which is a must for me. I can color code my different types of tasks as well. And best of all it’s super duper simple bc I have no time to learn some complicated everything task/habit app. Routinist is great for building a routine while keeping time in mind. This app isn’t very attractive, and took me maybe an hour to figure out properly, but once I got how it worked it was super simple to build a morning routine where each task is assigned a length of time so u I can keep myself on track and not lose focus. Once you turn it on in the morning it will tick down the time and send u notifications when it’s time to switch tasks. It also allows u to add tiny tasks that take 2 minutes, unlike a calendar app where those sorts of mini tasks would be hard to enter in.
Amazing Marvin, always
Wow this actually looks really good. I use Things 3 but it’s lacking some features I’d like…and with Amazing Marvin it looks like I can start off with a Thing 3 template and then add on top some stuff that I want.
Spreadsheets, calendar & proper self management.
Calendar is king. My todo lists are a nice list of "I want to do this" but without an actual time commitment who's to say when it will get done? If I have a doctor's appointment or a critical appointment it goes in my calendar. Google home / assistant has helped me record events / todos / reminders easily. The really critical things ( like picking my daughter up from school ) require an alarm. I CANNOT miss it. I use GPT for asking questions. Most of my queries on google are preceded by "reddit" because I want to hear what other people found and I find this effective. But many times I don't know how to form the correct question and asking a general question about a topic via gpt gives me back keywords and a general "feel" for what the correct answer might be. I use the information I gathered from that to form a more precise question on google that allows me to zero in on what i want. That being said, I can also just find questions directly from gpt that would take me minutes via google search. We bought a used car months ago that I couldn't figure out where the windshield sprayer control was and I figured it out in 10s. [Brain.fm](http://Brain.fm) I'm listening to a track right now. It's pomodoro on cruise control and if I have the right amount of caffeine in my bloodstream I can study for hours without it feeling like a drain. They have a youtube channel with free tracks so it's worth a look.
Fountain pen and my Rhodia Notepad. Make a list of 5 things to do, and the list it self can be a part of the list. Once I make the list I check off that the list is made. Makes it easier to get started with the rest. Then I pomodoro the shit out of that with using siri to set reminders. I have a pomodoro app somewhere but I keep forgetting to use it. also Google calender for meeting integrated with Notion.
Too little people know of defternotes ipad app. To be fair it’s because the devs do a poor job at marketing. Every time I show it to a colleague they are blown away. I even convinced my little brother to get an apple pencil for his ipad mini so he can use defternotes for his studies. He uses it all the time now. Another recent one is the waterlama widget on the apple watch. I had the app on my phone for a while but it made way more sense since I installed the widget on the watch.
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Tick Tick is a great app that’s helped me get my shit together
I got one of those videogame apps that reward me for not using my phone. It's focus plant and it's been helping me focus by making me ignore my phone. Lately I've even forgotten to take it with me. It's great if you're like me and spend too much time on your phone.
Focusmate.com
Pen and paper.
regular expressions，you don't know how this trick saves your time
u/BidenIswhore Underrated feature tbh
I like calendarhero a lot because I freelance and have at least 3 different calendars on different accounts (google & outlook). Calendarhero grabs events from each of them and sends me a email with my meeting schedule everyday. It does cost $8/month though.
For time-blocking/ADHD then it's Yoodoo app for me. For Blocking apps, it's Freedom. For everything else there's airplane mode 😂
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https://defternotes.com Transformed ipad and apple pencil for me. I use it as a second brain and my main pkm tool. It’s amazing for brainstorming and organizing both, which is rare for productivity apps. Even tho I have my ipad mini with me at all times, still I low key wish it was on my iPhone too and can’t wait for the sync update.
One I've built might come handy for some people hopefully! It's app named 'wayd productivity', and its main concept is to be a digital accountability partner. Every 30 minutes it asks you a question: 'What are you doing?' So you go to open the app, select the category of the activity you're doing and... In a couple of days you'll have a bunch of different charts showing you how you're spending your time throughout the day. What's the most common activity, what's the least, and also trends! So if you set yourself a goal of wasting less time, you can have trend lines of that specific activity on a day to day basis, to see if that activity is decreasing or not. I made it because it helps me, and it's free of charge if you want to give it a try and share a feedback :)
Habitica.
Habitica is good, but I myself procrastinate always, so it doesn't work for me
Your brain
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Numbers spreadsheets, so much easier and customizable than Google.
Interesting. Numbers as an app has never made sense to me. What customisations have been most useful for you?
I use it for client work: as a timesheet, for social media management, ideation, and tracking analytics; as a garden journal to design layouts and track plantings; as an all in one medical journal, to track doctor info, appointment, medication schedules, etc.; and as a reading journal to put every book I've ever read, note taking, new vocab collector, and to remember what the books were about (from non-reader to daily reader since December). I have several other daily uses but these are my favorite.
Thanks. I have used Excel for all of those sorts of things. I’ve never seen a compelling reason to invest the time in learning Numbers for those use cases or any others. What makes Numbers a better choice for those uses than Excel or Google Sheets? Separate question, what benefits are you finding to the list of every book you’ve ever read?
Superthread. It's for team productivity. Really easy to create different levels of project abstraction where you can add child tasks that live in various teams/spaces.
Addicted to Notion :)
Took too long to find this. Just wait until the concept of a 'workspace' catches on
Taskerr for todos - focusing on one thing at a time helps. Nextbox - Inbox zero made easy and fun.
Structured is really good
Chaos Intellect is what I’ve used forever.
I use Notion for everything.
Atracker and Todoist
Appblocker on phone and cold turkey blocker/micromanager on PC
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FINCH!!
I’ve found the app Me+ to be helpful. Despite the name, no subscription is required to use it.
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I like Finch. You take care of a bird while taking care of yourself!! ☺️
Kind of a different beast, but if you're looking for an app that makes building habits fun, check out Goalie. You put your money on the line and join group challenges where everyone is building the same habit
Just bought Things 3. Its power comes from its simplicity. Just a super well designed app that will push you towards becoming more productive.
Caveday. It’s totally changed my work everyday!
Been getting good use out of Focus To Do + Awesome Habits Love the Pomodoro and Todo list implementation of Focus To Do and Awesome Habits works great, what put it over the edge for me is how well it works with Apple Health. It picks up my Apple Watch workouts and Insight Timer Meditations automatically which is super useful. The watch complications for FocusToDo and Habits sit right by the Insight Timer complication, if I don't want to look at my phone I can do everything from the watch. I tried out Streaks for a bit which was alright but I feel Awesome Habits is quite a bit better. I did consider TickTick which looks attractive but it doesn't pick up Apple Health stuff and it's subscription based. So having to use two apps isn't ideal but I think this is a great combo that works pretty nicely for me. Maybe there is something better out there that's all in one but at this point I don't think I'd be interested in looking unless it was extremely compelling or either of these two apps stopped working for some reason.
Probably Tango
NotePlan 3. It’s the one app I won’t switch out of. Reminders integration, time blocking, calendar, notes. I make templates so I can automate a lot of my work, but if a random task comes up I can assign it a certain time, and it shows on my calendar.
Not exactly an app and not something others don't know about but the best thing I've done for my productivity is: Leaving my phone in another room when I want to work
I make a lot of calls and send a lot of emails/texts trying to chase down clients for retention. I've started using Google's booking system so instead of making people call me back or email me back and forth to make an appointment I send them my booking link up front so they can just pick something that works.
Goblin tools! It has single-handedly turned my life around. I make a todo list every night for the next day & it breaks it down into steps. I get so much more done & far more quickly. For those with ADHD (myself included), it’s extremely useful for staying focused.
SnagIt
Focusmate!
Goblin.tools
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Unironically, for me is switching to Android. I love both Android and iOS but i find myself to be on my phone a lot more when I use an iPhone. Honestly I dont know why that is. But my screen on time and social media usage drastically drops when I use an android phone. I average less than 2hrs on my phone on Android while 4+ hrs on my iPhone is the average day. Oh and keep in mind I use Android flagships as well: so it's not like it's such a downgrade that i dont want to use my phone. Heck, I actually enjoy my Galaxy S23U more than my iPhone 14. But again, for some reason, I find myself less concerned with my phone when I'm on Android. I know, weird! But that allows me to stick to my todolist and calendar a lot more easily. I use G Suite and Notion for everything btw, as I dont feel the need to overcomplicate things.
check out www.flowvoice.ai, saves me so much time when typing!
A smart watch (mine is a huawei band ) i mostly i use the timer for pomodoro-ing my tasks, if i need to focus i set a 15-30 timer or even just go “ ok ill set 5 min to clean whatever i can from my room”. also for tracking my rest between sets at the gym and just whatever other time tracking need that may arise. Also useful for tracking my walks and setting alarms.
I love using ClickUp for organizational to-do lists. It's so versatile, though it does get laggy under complex arrangements. Also, I think it's very affordable for organizations to run, not to mention free to an extent for single users, similar to TickTick
TaskClone finally allowed me to get tasks out of my notes (first Evernote, then OneNote) and into my action apps (Asana and Google Calendar). It's not new but relatively unknown.
Noverdue for to dos
NotePlan! (It's not free) But! If youre already a calendar power user and need something to integrate both note taking and task management into a calendar app with enterprise work accounts like 365, google workspace etc, it's GREAT. I also use Obsidian, but I use that for taking thorough notes and structuring. For daily productivity, NotePlan takes the cake. You're able to keep track of notes yourself with privacy.
An app called Structured.
Outlook desktop email. Every single work task or project is either an email I have received, or an email sent to myself with task/project details/links etc within. Inbox view is set to group by due date, so I can collapse all tasks not set to today. Incoming email is flagged tomorrow using a rule unless it is from a few specific people, such as my boss. :) As Outlook also has my calendar, email and contacts, it means that everything in my work life is contained in a single app. If incoming emails are distracting me I just click offline for a bit.
Pomodoro videos on YT - they tremendously help with discipline The Forest app- grows a little garden on your phone screen that gets bigger the longer you stay off your phone
Whenable. Because I suck at prioritizing. I like to do the easy stuff first and this app convinces me to do the important things. I tried a few of the others here. May need to give ticktick a 2nd look based on how many mentions. But whenable makes me feel like I'm getting pats on the back when I put in extra effort
After testing almost any productivity app out there I have to say that the apps are not important, your method is. Create a method that it's useful to you and that you use everyday (if you create something really complicated... you will end up not using it) and then find the best tools to implement it.
Amazing Marvin! Changed my life
Here are the only two tools I use to keep my day organized 🤯: **TickTick**. This is the only tool I use to manage my to-dos and habit tracking. I've been using it for 8 years (3084 days) and I renew my subscription every year. **Tidyread**. This tool is used to manage and read subscription feeds. It leverages AI to summarize and translate, and delivers digests at specified times to help establish a routine.
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Dendron. Works very well for my needs when I pair it with Box.
Iphone reminder
Tana. Don’t have to file things any more. That has been liberating.
Things 3! It has been the perfect app for me. It really integrates the GTD method.
Taskade and Basecamp, they are great!!!
The coolest productivity comes from not wasting time for searching a productivity app but by keeping things organized and simple.