Tools to Boost Your Personal Productivity

by Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp — all-in-one help authoring tool

Productivity equals efficiency. Personal productivity is something that makes us satisfied with what we do by seeing our achievements.

Some basic ways to increase your personal productivity include:

• Listing tasks and prioritize them
• Taking breaks to boost overall production
• Exercising regularly
• Eating healthy.

That’s great but not enough. There are more ways to be productive. For example, a wide range of tools with different functions to help you become more efficient. You can make the best use of technology with the following free tools:

1. Calendly for scheduling meetings. Sync your calendar with an account in Calendly, after registration and choose when you’re available. Time slots are 15 min/30 min/45 min/etc. When you need to schedule a meeting, you give the person your Calendly link and they can choose the best time slot for them. No extra emails back and forth. And its free for Basic Plan users with the possibility to upgrade.
2. Todoist for task management. It allows you to record and group tasks together based on projects. It’s like an upgraded version of your traditional to-do list. But here you can also collaborate with other people by sharing and assigning tasks. Also with the free basic version.
3. ClickHelp for teamwork on documents. It is one of the best online help authoring tools for creating, hosting, and sharing your documents. You can manage all your documents from a central place, easily import all your text documents, translate them, and perform document management with ease. Being a SaaS solution, there’s no configuration or installation to do. A free trial can give you an insight into the processes you can manage there.
4. If This Then That (IFTTT) for automating repetitive tasks. This tool seamlessly connects different apps and experiences. Set up a range of different automations in IFTTT, from everyday tasks to more niche occurrences. For example, you can add a reminder to your calendar to congratulate your grandma on her birthday or set a reminder to drink more water. This app can give you more time to focus on other, more important aspects of your work. The basic plan is free.
5. Evernote for taking and organizing notes. In this app, you can collect all of your ideas and thoughts in one place. One fantastic feature of Evernote is that it allows users to take photos of written notes and upload them to the app, in addition to taking notes directly on their device. You can use the search function to browse all your files no matter if they are written or typed. Organize your notes in notebook systems and filter them by adding tags. The app is free to download but you can also buy a premium version.
6. Toggl Track for time tracking. The app has a clean and simple interface and it suits different types of users (i.e., artists, developers, and companies of all sizes). Toggl offers custom reports, which can help improve any business. You can see how much time is spent on different activities and track workflow inefficiencies. Available on mobile, desktop, and on your browser Toggle is free for up to 5 users.
7. MindMeister for mind mapping. It is a tool for visualizing data, planning projects and brainstorming ideas. You can use it individually, or among teams to collaborate and share ideas in real-time. A lot of pre-set map themes are at your disposal, or you can also customize your map with colors, styles, formatting, and images that best fit your needs. All the information is stored in the cloud so you can access your map from everywhere.
8. Krisp for noise canceling. That is one interesting app for communication. It removes all kinds of background noises during a call in real-time (a nice catch for those who are constantly distracted by the surrounding sounds) and allows people to communicate with each other professionally. Use Krisp with over 800 communication, conferencing, messaging, podcasting, and recording apps and you can pair it with any headphones, speakers, and microphones that you prefer. The free personal plan includes 120 minutes per week. Downloadable on Mac and Windows.
9. Last Pass for managing passwords. Store all of your digital passwords in one place and make it easier to log into all of your various accounts while also keeping your digital information secure. Once you’ve added an account to Last Pass, utilize the automated app fill on mobile devices to remove the hassle of typing on small mobile keyboards. Note: A free plan does not include syncing across all devices.
10. Drag for email management. Everyone knows that emails can be a hassle, especially if you have to maintain multiple email accounts. With Drag, you can seamlessly handle your emails. Simply install its Google Chrome extension and write emails with a personal touch using the customized email templates for Gmail. Its email editor makes creating templates for the most frequently sent emails easy. With the email tracker feature, you’ll be informed of when and how often the recipient opens your email. You can also add unique information in the custom fields, schedule an email follow-up to get the answers, and wrap things up.
11. Habitica for building new habits. Keep track of your goals until they turn into your habits. The app has game-like features where you get rewards for achieving goals and punishment for failing to do so. It also has a social network that can always motivate and inspire you to develop healthy habits. Whether you want to grow the habit of walking in the morning or going to the gym, this app is beneficial.

By resolving focusing and productivity issues in your personal life, you can automatically increase your work productivity. The more you delegate the capture and organization tasks to technology the more time and energy you’ll have for creativity and networking that only you can do.

Have a nice day!

Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp.com — best online documentation tool for SaaS vendors