With all the distractions on social media and elsewhere, it can be hard to avoid being unproductive. Maybe your phone beeps and you pick it up to quickly check that “super important” notification only to realize, thirty minutes later, that you’ve been scrolling through Instagram and looking at your cousin’s wedding pictures instead.
Sound familiar? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. The truth is, distractions are hard to avoid.
Fortunately, there are apps and tools you can use to drastically improve your productivity. Here are six awesome tools that will help you keep your focus.
#1. Escape
If you get distracted easily, then you should check out the Escape app. It allows you to track the time you spend on websites and other apps, and it’ll keep track of the number of times you open your social media, email, and other distractions.
Also, the app gives you a report of how many times you’ve been distracted during the day. This is helpful because it allows you to see the apps where you spend most of your time and adjust your usage appropriately. The result? More productivity and less wondering where the day went!
#2. LastPass
When you have to share your passwords with others, it can be hard to keep track of whether everyone is following password security practices.
Think about it: Your teams can potentially share passwords in non-secured ways through instant messages and email. That’s why you need the LastPass app.
With the app, anyone on your team can share passwords safely, without actually disclosing what the passwords are. You’ll save time, generate strong passwords with a password manager, and ultimately have more peace of mind about password security.
#3. Focus booster
Time management is vital if you want to be a successful entrepreneur. With the Focus Booster, you can keep track of your time by using the Pomodoro technique. With this technique, you set a timer for 25 minutes of total concentration followed by a 5-minute break. From the focus booster dashboard, you can see your rhythms and progress while identifying areas where you need to improve.
#4. Google Keep
If you use sticky notes all the time but wish you could easily share them with others digitally or keep them online, meet Google Keep. It allows you to do both of those things and more, and it integrates seamlessly with Google Drive for a headache-free transfer.
#5. Todoist
Organizing your to-do list has now been made easier thanks to the Todoist app. The app allows you to organize and sort your tasks, track your progress, and set due dates, so you won’t have an excuse to be unproductive anymore. As an entrepreneur, being able to sort your tasks according to tags and priority can be a lifesaver and cut down on overwhelm.
#6. Tinyjpg.com
JPEG is a popular image format, but most JPEG files don’t have optimal compression and waste bytes. That’s why using tinyjpg.com can make a big difference.
With just a few clicks, it enables you to reduce the file sizes of images, giving you a quality image without wasting bandwidth. As anyone who has to deal with frozen web pages knows, waiting around for them to unfreeze can make you unproductive (and lead you down an Instagram rabbit hole).
The good news is that reducing file sizes can help. And the best part? Tinyjpeg.com is free to use for up to 20 images at a time, so you can try it risk-free.
Bottom line
Using a few good tools can help increase your productivity considerably and reduce wasted effort. As an entrepreneur, time is one of your most valuable assets, so being able to streamline your day and simplify things as needed can make a huge difference. In fact, once you try out the tools above, you may wonder what you ever did without them!
