5 WEB APPS THAT CAN BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

By Aasiya Maryam

Bismillah

Do you find yourself switching on your laptop to get some work done but eventually find yourself wasting time on social networking sites or tab hopping? Are you overcome with an avalanche of ideas only to forget what they were over time? Or have you ever wanted to find a solution to spend your time more productively, but just nothing seems to work?

If you have ever found yourself in these situations, then here are five web apps to your rescue that can help you boost your productivity, inshaAllah:

1. Evernote: A simple easy to use virtual notebook is what I would call this app. You can save quick ideas, make a shopping checklist, plan your next holiday, and add audio/video clips… the list is endless. Just save whatever you want and access it from your browser, tablet or smartphone any time you want to.

2. LeechBlock/StayFocusd: My biggest productivity killer is browsing time-wasting websites on the internet for long hours. I struggled to keep myself from this habit until I found the perfect app to solve my problem.

LeechBlock is a Mozilla Firefox add-on that helps you block whichever websites you want for a certain period during the day or simply limit their use to a few hours or minutes in a day. Now, before I find myself browsing websites aimlessly, LeechBlock simply denies me access to these websites once the time has elapsed! You simply HAVE to add this one onto your browser if you want to beat procrastination and make wise use of time. Google Chrome users can add the StayFocusd app which solves the same problem and provides almost similar features.

3. Pocket: Have you ever caught yourself tab hopping? You know those days when you find your web browser with more than ten tabs open! It may be that you found some interesting article not-so-related with what you actually logged onto the Internet for. But you really really want to read it, so either you waste time reading all of it or you bookmark it. I would say that doing either of these is a bad idea; what you instead need to do instead is just “Pocket” it!

Pocket helps you save the web pages so that you can read them later. The cherry on top being that these pages are stored for offline use also. I recommend downloading the app on your smart phones too. So, the next time you come across a “must-read” article online or something that seems to interest you, simply pocket it and you can read it while commuting or whenever you are free.

4. TaskTimer: This simple time tracker app for Google Chrome allows you to create any number of tasks with time goals. It provides a sound notification feature to remind you when the goal is reached i.e., when the time is up for that particular task. Additionally, it helps you keep track of the amount of time you spent on each task.

I, personally, use this app to organise my time online. So, when I switch on my laptop, the first thing I do is open the app and make a list of tasks that I need to complete along with the time goals for each. It helps me plan and use my time spent on my laptop productively.

5. Paymo: Managing projects, employees, or clients, tracking time spent on a project, generating invoices and more – This is what Paymo helps you do. For anyone who is starting a business, working as a freelancer or an entrepreneur with a small-medium sized business; this app will boost your productivity and help you organise your work efficiently.

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I'd love to hear your views on this topic. Please post in the comments section below! :)

Posted in: Aasiya Maryam,apps,internet,productivity,Soceity,time. productivity,web apps