Sometimes, getting things done feels like an uphill battle. Cross one thing off your list, tack on two more — it's never-ending. Add on the constant flow of emails, Slack messages, and Gchats that come up throughout the day, and it can get overwhelming.
Luckily, we live in a world with an endless supply of apps to help you organize, compartmentalize, and eventually get yourself out of the weeds. We rounded up nine that come recommended from some serious tech badasses, with some awesome productivity tips, too.
Apps To Hack Your Email
“I use things like Boomerang, where I can privately deliver one email to 20 different people, or schedule to send emails later. If I know I have a meeting next Wednesday, I’ll schedule an email to myself on Wednesday morning to remind me. You can also send things 'back to inbox' after a day or two, so it’ll show up again. Since I get distracted by email a lot, I’ll also use 'Inbox Pause,' which lets you pause your emails for however long you want. That way, I can focus on one thing. When I’m ready, I’ll just release all the emails at once and I can go through them in one go.” — Stephanie He, software engineer, FLUX
Apps To Clean Your Screen
"I love opening new tabs, like tabs forever. I get to the point where I can no longer see the icons. OneTab compresses all your open tabs into one list that you can look at later and it timestamps it. It's a bookmarker for your tabs and it makes you look a lot more organized when you're sharing a screen." — Duretti Hirpa, senior engineer, Slack
“I use things like Boomerang, where I can privately deliver one email to 20 different people, or schedule to send emails later. If I know I have a meeting next Wednesday, I’ll schedule an email to myself on Wednesday morning to remind me. You can also send things 'back to inbox' after a day or two, so it’ll show up again. Since I get distracted by email a lot, I’ll also use 'Inbox Pause,' which lets you pause your emails for however long you want. That way, I can focus on one thing. When I’m ready, I’ll just release all the emails at once and I can go through them in one go.” — Stephanie He, software engineer, FLUX
Apps To Clean Your Screen
"I love opening new tabs, like tabs forever. I get to the point where I can no longer see the icons. OneTab compresses all your open tabs into one list that you can look at later and it timestamps it. It's a bookmarker for your tabs and it makes you look a lot more organized when you're sharing a screen." — Duretti Hirpa, senior engineer, Slack
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Apps To Manage Your To-Do List(s)
"I use an app called Wunderlist to help me keep track of my to-dos. It’s basically a desktop application where you can create different lists and I use it on my Mac and my Android. I put everything I need to do into lists. One list has all the tasks I have to do right now, as soon as possible. Another list is for things I can file away and do later — I'll assign myself reminders to do them. And if I’m going through my inbox and something comes up that will take less than two minutes to do, I just do it right away." — Grace Wang, product manager, Palantir "The apps I use the most are Mailbox, Plan, and Calendar. Plan has lists and a calendar; it's all there, so it's one less thing I have to check and keep up to date. It also lets you schedule tasks, which has been good for making me limit my time and focus on the work I need to do. "What's most important for my productivity is pen and paper — I am still super into the analog. I write out weekly schedules and daily to-do lists in my notebook. I use Baron Fig ones, perfect because of the good travel size and dot grid paper, plus the spine bends all the way around so you can write on the go. I start my day by reviewing my list from the previous day and transferring over any outstanding things I didn't get to. If I feel something is no longer important, then I don't copy it over." — Katie Zhu, product manager and engineer, Medium
"I use an app called Wunderlist to help me keep track of my to-dos. It’s basically a desktop application where you can create different lists and I use it on my Mac and my Android. I put everything I need to do into lists. One list has all the tasks I have to do right now, as soon as possible. Another list is for things I can file away and do later — I'll assign myself reminders to do them. And if I’m going through my inbox and something comes up that will take less than two minutes to do, I just do it right away." — Grace Wang, product manager, Palantir "The apps I use the most are Mailbox, Plan, and Calendar. Plan has lists and a calendar; it's all there, so it's one less thing I have to check and keep up to date. It also lets you schedule tasks, which has been good for making me limit my time and focus on the work I need to do. "What's most important for my productivity is pen and paper — I am still super into the analog. I write out weekly schedules and daily to-do lists in my notebook. I use Baron Fig ones, perfect because of the good travel size and dot grid paper, plus the spine bends all the way around so you can write on the go. I start my day by reviewing my list from the previous day and transferring over any outstanding things I didn't get to. If I feel something is no longer important, then I don't copy it over." — Katie Zhu, product manager and engineer, Medium
Apps To Stop Distractions
"Twitter and social media is a huge part of my profession. It's a necessary evil that can sometimes get the better of me. When I need to force myself to take a break, I turn on the Self Control app. It blocks those sites and doesn't let you turn it off, which is huge." — Brianna Wu, cofounder and head of development, Giant Spacekat "I use Momentum. Every time you open a new tab it's a new picture and it asks you what you're working on, tells you the weather, and helps you stay focused. It's really about trying to stay focused on what you're working on today." — Michael Pryor, CEO and cofounder of Trello
Apps To Manage A Big Project
“I just discovered Trello and I can not recommend it enough. We also use Slack, which integrates with Trello and Google Calendar, so we ‘set it and forget it’ when it comes to reminders and deadlines. I use Trello to lay out all our current goals and where we are with them, which allows me to assign tasks to people, get updates when tasks I'm subscribed to have been adjusted, etc. I can create new tasks from within Slack and go into Trello to check in and realign priorities and pending tasks." — Amanda Warner, cofounder and lead animator of Giant Spacekat
"Twitter and social media is a huge part of my profession. It's a necessary evil that can sometimes get the better of me. When I need to force myself to take a break, I turn on the Self Control app. It blocks those sites and doesn't let you turn it off, which is huge." — Brianna Wu, cofounder and head of development, Giant Spacekat "I use Momentum. Every time you open a new tab it's a new picture and it asks you what you're working on, tells you the weather, and helps you stay focused. It's really about trying to stay focused on what you're working on today." — Michael Pryor, CEO and cofounder of Trello
Apps To Manage A Big Project
“I just discovered Trello and I can not recommend it enough. We also use Slack, which integrates with Trello and Google Calendar, so we ‘set it and forget it’ when it comes to reminders and deadlines. I use Trello to lay out all our current goals and where we are with them, which allows me to assign tasks to people, get updates when tasks I'm subscribed to have been adjusted, etc. I can create new tasks from within Slack and go into Trello to check in and realign priorities and pending tasks." — Amanda Warner, cofounder and lead animator of Giant Spacekat