Life might not be back to normal just yet, but with restrictions lifting, the country is opening up once more.
Readapting and reorganising ourselves and our priorities to fit the new, post-pandemic normal might not be easy, but technology could provide the answer.
Here are some of the best apps on the market for helping you to stay organised, productive, and healthy in body and mind.
1. RescueTime
If you are adjusting to permanent or flexible home working, managing distractions and staying productive can be a real challenge. RescueTime could help.
The app works with Windows 10 and macOS 10.12+ and sits in your taskbar, giving you a daily “Focus Work Goal”. It does this by assessing your work style and combining this with an analysis of over three billion hours of activity from people like you.
The app works in the background, tracking your time and logging the minutes you spend answering emails, scheduling meetings, or posting on social media.
It can nudge you when you are getting distracted, helping you to regain focus and warn of upcoming events.
When you really need to concentrate, you can trigger a “Focus Session”. The app will block access to the apps it knows distract you, allowing you to focus. It will also provide daily reports to show when you were most productive, and where improvements could be made.
You can trial the app for free, after which a subscription will be required (currently $9 per month).
While not a new app, it is one of the best productivity apps on the market, with over 13 years in business and more than 2 million users worldwide.
2. Evernote
Evernote is another app that has been around for some time, but it has recently gone through a huge redesign.
It’s great for keeping track of ideas throughout the day. Whether that’s items to add to your shopping list and gift ideas for the grandchildren, or networking details and inspiration for a work project, the free, premium, and business versions can help.
You can jot down notes, copy and paste quotes, or clip and crop direct from the web and then organise and collate the content you collect in a way that makes sense to you. The app will allow you to search pdfs and can be used to scan and read handwritten notes in 11 languages.
Available on Android and Apple, use the free app to get started immediately or opt for a free trial of the premium (£4.99 per month) or business (£10.99 per month) options.
3. Habitica
Habitica is a great free app, available on Apple and Android, which helps you to form better habits. It does this through “gamifying” your goal setting and habit building.
With a retro, Dungeons and Dragons aesthetic, you create your own avatar and then earn points for your character, levelling up as you perform certain daily tasks. Better still, you pick the habits you want to form and the tasks you want to be rewarded for doing or avoiding.
Whether you want to drink more water, floss daily, or do more exercise, you can use the app to earn in-game or “real-world” rewards.
Turning your to-do list into a mobile game can help make achieving your goals fun, increasing the likelihood that you will stick to the daily tasks you set yourself. This gives you the best possible chance of turning them into habits.
Use the app to improve your productivity at work or to help organise your home life.
4. Insight Timer
Sometimes, organising and achieving maximum productivity might mean taking a moment for yourself, relaxing body and mind.
Insight Timer, available for Apple and Android, is not just a mindfulness app. It’s also a social network for meditators.
You can see how many people are meditating along with you, locally and globally, and invite friends to join in.
With tens of thousands of free, online meditations there is something for everyone, from beginners to meditation pros. You’ll also find live events, from calming piano recitals to talks on mindfulness and wellbeing.
Take time out during the day to relax and you might find you return to work or home life reinvigorated. There are short sessions for kids too. And at bedtime, guided sleep talks, music, and meditation can all help you drift off to sleep, ensuring you feel energised the next day.
Compared to other mindfulness apps on the market, Insight Timer doesn’t come cheap. It will set you back £59.99 a year.
While the sheer size of the app and the amount of content – more than 45,000 pre-recorded meditations with additional live content – can make it intimidating at first, it represents great value for money, and used regularly, it could form a life-changing habit.
5. Trello
Whether you’re managing a project or organising your next family holiday, Trello can help you break big tasks into manageable chunks.
The app uses “Trello boards”, to which you pin your digital folders and to-do lists, assigning separate tasks while keeping in contact through the apps instant messaging service.
It’s free to use, although a paid version unlocks additional features that might be helpful, depending on whether you’re using the app for home or office use.
