Got a to do list as long as your arm? Struggle to keep focused on your work? Check out these great apps and websites that you can install on your computer or phone to help keep you focused, organised and smash out your work super fast!
COFFITVITY
First up is Coffitivity, (it’s a bit of a mouthful!) A website and app that is a great way to help keep you focused. Research has shown that people struggle to be productive in either loud and noisy surroundings or complete silence.
Being able to hear ambient noises around them makes some people more creative and focused. Coffitivity is a great programme that replicates the murmur of a coffee shop. You can hear people quietly talking and noises of milk being frothed and plates clinking. I’ve personally tried this one out and although it sounded a bit funny through headphones at first, I have found it very relaxing and it has allowed me to focus a lot more in the office.
You can stream the sound through the website, or download the app to your computer where you can easily access it through your menu bar. There are also three different settings so you can choose between ‘coffee morning’, ‘lunchtime lounge’ and ‘university undertones’
HEY FOCUS
Do you find yourself ‘accidentally’ browsing to social media or other web pages when you should be focusing on work? Hey Focus allows you to block distracting websites. The app sits in your menu and when you try to browse to a site that you’ve blocked, it shows a motivational quote to try and encourage you to focus again.
This app is great if you have don’t have the willpower to resist social media or newspaper websites, but it is easy to turn off, so manic procrastinators can easily get around it if Facebook is calling their name!
I find that when doing research for work I see articles, pictures and videos that distract me. Pocket is an app that allows you to save all these things for later. If you’re in the middle of work and come across something that interests you, you can ‘put it in your Pocket’. (see what I did there?!) The app allows you to automatically save things from your web browser, email or even other apps like Flipboard to look at later. Better yet, the app doesn’t need an internet connection, allowing you to take a look at things on your lunch break or train journey home.
ORGANISATION APPS
If it’s not necessarily the distractions that are keeping you from getting creative and working hard, but instead the organisation, there are tonnes of apps out there that can help to prioritise projects.
Apps such as ‘Things’, ‘Remember the Milk’ ‘Gneo’ and ‘Omnioutliner’ are simple task planner apps that incorporate to do lists and the like, so you can keep on top of things. They all have different functionalities at different levels so it’s worth doing your research into them to find one that will suit you – it’s much easier than having loads of bits of paper floating around!
What apps will you be trying out? Have we missed out any? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!
