15 Online Productivity Tools You’ll LOVE
Finding your productivity groove at home (or let’s be real, anywhere) is a challenging feat…
…in part because we all need different levels and kinds of support when it comes to focus, organization, and time management.
The good news?
Today, there are TONS of tools and resources available online — many that are free! — that are designed to support you in your work, whether you’re looking to find your flow with a creative project or automate tasks for a more seamless, hands-off work experience.
I rounded up 15 of my personal FAVORITE online tools to help do #allthethings while staying organized and motivated, no matter the work in front of you.
Ambient Background Noise: Brain.fm
Grab your headphones and get in the zone instantly. Brain.fm is designed to help you achieve your goals through a combination of ambient sounds and music, whether you’re trying to focus, relax, or sleep. What I so LOVE about this website is its high level of customization; beyond basic goals of focusing, etc., you have the option to narrow in even further based on the type of work you’re doing and even edit the various sounds and level of neural effect to your heart’s desire.
Hey, girl…
Want to try Brain.fm for yourself?! Click here to start a free trial, and use the code jennamurillo for 20% off your subscription!
Automations: IFTTT
IFTTT (which is short for “If This Then That”) is a brilliant website that allows you to seamlessly integrate various apps and websites for easier, automatic workflows. For instance, want to share your blog posts to LinkedIn as they are published? There’s a workflow for that! IFTTT has SO many integrations available now — and they continue to add more — so you have options to set up workflows for everything from your social media strategy and client management to your Fitbit tracking and cleaning robots at home.
Email Organization: MailTrack
This is one I honestly couldn’t live without now: MailTrack. The most basic feature of MailTrack that I use religiously is its ability track and notify you of email opens. Curious to know if the receiver opened your email? This clever app will send you a notification as soon as they do — or it’ll let you know if they haven’t opened it within 48 hours of sending. It’s a simple concept, but eases my mind dramatically to know an important email has been viewed and is in the right hands. Note: The free plan does include a little signature that you can easily “x” out of with each email sent, but they also offer VERY inexpensive plans that eliminate this extra step for you (and include other added features).
File Management: Google Drive
How could I make this list without mentioning Google Drive? Google Drive has been my personal choice for online shared file organization for years, in large part due to its consistent, simple, and clean interface. I use Google Drive to organize and share client files, create spreadsheets I can access and edit anywhere, and create questionnaires for potential clients… among so many other uses. I categorize everything under either a Work or Personal folder to keep things simple and organized. And of course, the best part — it’s free up to a certain storage limit!
List-making: Todoist
When it comes to simple, organized, and accessible checklists, Todoist is one of the best. The free plan has all of the features you need to stay on top of your list (and even invite collaborators, such as team members, spouses, etc.), but the app offers a TON of functionality beyond checklists for further project management and team collaboration. I love the simplicity of the interface — and I’m always all about an app that allows me to access and sync from any device. Todoist is a simple concept with powerful functionality.
Mindmapping + Idea Exploration: Miro
Miro is a very cool company with a ton of collaborative products built for teams, but what I love most is the mind mapping feature! This is a free website you can use to mind map out your idea or project — whether it’s a new company, product, or literally anything else — with unlimited canvas space so your ideas aren’t limited by the size of your paper. An intuitive interface with features like color coding, rearranging, and sharing capabilities make Miro a perfect way to get your ideas out of your head and onto the screen in minutes.
Note-taking: Evernote
Oh Evernote — another tool I use daily and can’t recommend enough. I like when an app or website serves a specific purpose in my life or business, and with Evernote, that means keeping track of what I learn and want to remember from the books I read. (What’s the point of reading a TON of books in the non-fiction sector if you’re not taking away a nugget or two that you can recall and apply to your life?) It’s impossible to simply remember everything, so I organize book notes and main takeaways in Evernote so everything is organized and easily accessible for future reference. Of course, Evernote has capabilities far beyond this — but this is my personal favorite way to use it!
Password Organizer: LastPass
Tired of memorizing countless similar-yet-different passwords for ALL of the things? LastPass is a solution that helps eliminate that issue. This website and app is completely secure and allows you to manage your passwords from anywhere with ONE master password. Honestly, if I tried totaling the hours I spent guessing and resetting passwords across the multitude of websites and apps I use… let’s just say I’d definitely be cringing at the amount of time wasted (and frustration incurred) doing just that.
Pomodoro: Pomofocus
Have you heard of the Pomodoro Technique when it comes to productivity and getting things done? Founded as a more productive way to work, this technique is based on intervals of focused work, each followed by a short break to reset. Pomofocus features a simple interface that allows you to add your tasks for the day and then set timers that guide you through the focused work sessions and breaks. It’s a simple concept that can have a big impact on your productivity!
Priority Planning: Eisenhower Matrix
Speaking of impactful productivity measures… the Eisenhower Matrix is another favorite that I use often and stand by always. The Eisenhower Matrix can be executed on a simple sheet of paper, or you can this website to help. The brilliance in this simple yet powerful system is that it helps you organize and prioritize your tasks by level of urgency and importance in just a few minutes, so you spend your valuable time on the most essential tasks. Next time you do a full brain dump of everything in swirling around in your brain, filter that list through the Eisenhower Matrix so you can easily prioritize what to work on first, what to delegate, what to work on later, and sometimes even what to eliminate entirely.
Project + Team Organization: Notion
Ok so here’s one I’m still fairly new to, but my minimalistic, productivity-driven self is already obsessed: Notion. It’s free for solo users (yay!) and offers some seriously cool, intuitive project management, doc organization, team collaboration solutions and MORE. Like so much more. It’s beautiful and simple and functional for everything from extended team timelines down to daily task lists. Not to mention, they have a pretty cool library of reference materials and guides designed to help you get started without the intimidation factor.
Save for Later: Pocket
If you’re like me and constantlyyyy coming across articles and websites you want to check out later — Pocket is a dream. It syncs between your devices and allows you to easily and quickly capture links you want to check out later. Saving links from your computer is as easy as downloading the little Pocket browser extension and clicking it anytime you come across something to save — and of course, the app allows you to do so from any device, and you can even email Pocket to save it to your account. And (this feature is pretty cool), it formats all of the links in a similar fashion, so scrolling through your saved items is a breeze from a visual standpoint.
Stay Focused: Forest
Finding your focus while working on the computer is one challenge… staying focused is quite another. Staying focused is made a little easier with a website and app like Forest. Forest is unique in that it rewards you for your focusing abilities by planting cute, little virtual trees (and over time, you build a forest of trees); but what I truly love is its partnership with Trees for the Future, where they will plant REAL trees based on your use! How cool is that?! You’re doing good for the world while staying focused in your work. Win, win.
Team Communication: Slack
Slack declares itself as your digital HQ; and as a robust and intuitive team communication tool, I would say that’s pretty spot on. It’s an easy way to keep your team in touch and organized on various projects, events, campaigns, you name it. Even if your team is small, it’s great way to move your work-related conversations from text, email, messenger, etc. to one clean, organized app that essentially allows you to be available during your desired work hours.
Video Communication: Zoom
I’d be remiss not to mention one of the most commonly used video conferencing tools: Zoom! I’ve always had pretty consistent luck with the quality and dependability of this tool when it comes to video calls for meetings, collaborations, and more, and couldn’t imagine going without when it comes to my business.
Finding your productivity rhythm at home isn’t as difficult or intimidating with a go-to list of resources designed to help you thrive!
Try out a few from this list or find what works best for you in your home work environment.
With love + inspiration from our home to yours,
Jenna
