9 Digital Tools For A Productive Summer
These digital tools will help you stay more organized, productive, and efficient this summer, leaving plenty of time for fun in the sun.
![](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt69509c9116440be8/blt3c245fce799c2d24/64cb3fa33567e26363aab04d/productivityapp_intro.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Summer is a time for relaxation, but that doesn't mean you can take three months off work.
Productivity is important year-round, and even more so when you're trying to balance vacation time against accomplishing your usual day-to-day tasks. Sure, you can slack off during the summer months, but all of those unaccomplished to-do lists will add up over time.
Before we dive into the digital tools you can use to stay productive, it's important to note a few traditional pieces of advice to help you get things done without a browser extension or mobile app.
[Read: 10 iOS, Android app to boost team collaboration.]
First and foremost, it's important to acknowledge how much time you have and how much you can get done in one day. Being realistic about the time it takes to complete each task will help you manage your to-do list and feel more accomplished at the end of the day.
Removing the clutter from your workspace can help you kick off the day with a fresh start and clear mind. The task shouldn't be limited to your physical workspace. Having an organized desk is important, but having a clear PC desktop is beneficial as well.
Now, let's talk about getting down to work. You could go the old-fashioned route and write your to-do list with pen and paper, or you could use one of many digital tools available to help you organize your day and keep you functioning at your most productive.
To keep you working effectively during the summer months, we've put together a roundup of digital tools designed to get you organized and help you power through your workday.
Do you use any of these tools? Are there any you would add to the list? Please share your own productivity tips and tricks in the comments section below.
We've all been there: All of a sudden it's 5 pm and you feel you haven't gotten anything done. Where did the time go? RescueTime can tell you.
RescueTime is a personal analytics service for web and mobile use. It's designed to help you see where you get distracted so you can improve your work habits. The app runs in the background and tracks the time you spend on various apps and websites to give you a picture of how you spend your day. It then provides detailed reports documenting your activity.
With RescueTime, you can learn how many hours are spent in meetings, writing emails, or browsing social media. You can set alerts for when you have spent a certain amount of time on a specific task, or block entire websites to avoid distractions. As a reward, RescueTime will highlight the things you accomplished during the day.
RescueTime Lite is available, free. It lets you track time, set goals, and receive reports every week, and every three months. For $6.75/month or $54/year you can get the Premium version, which comes with daily goal alerts, website blocking, more detailed reports, faster data processing, and an unlimited report history. There is a 14-day free trial period for Premium.
The app is available for Mac, PC, Android, and Linux.
Maybe the reason your productivity is suffering isn't a lack of apps, but too many. Taco is a free web-based tool designed to give you an aggregated view of tasks written in multiple apps.
The app pulls items from to-do lists you have stored in more than 40 different applications, including popular picks you may already use, such as Trello, Evernote, Gmail, Zendesk, and Todoist. It then presents a combined list of tasks to ensure you don't forget to do anything.
Inbox overload is a daily battle for most professionals, and sorting through all those emails can drain hours from the workday. Unroll.me aims to help you save time on email by removing clutter from your inbox.
The app combines all sales, listserv, and newsletter email into a daily package it calls the Rollup. Once you choose which messages you want in the Rollup, all future emails from those senders will automatically be included. Swipe left on a message to unsubscribe and those emails will never arrive back in your inbox; swipe right to keep the subscriptions you want. If you make a mistake, you can re-edit your subscriptions in the edit tab.
Unroll.me supports Gmail, Google Apps, Outlook.com, iCloud, Yahoo! Mail, and AOL accounts. You can switch between accounts in Settings. It's available on iOS. A similar email management app called K-9 Mail is available on Android.
Need to break a bad habit or adopt a good one? DayDeed is a tool designed, the makers claim, to help keep you on track as you achieve your goals, whether they include getting in shape, building a career, or acquiring a new skill.
The app lets you track achievements as you wish. We all track success in different ways. Some people are more interested in perfecting a skill, while others might want to monitor progress or steadiness. You can record daily tasks or weekly sessions within the app, which also lets you know how long you've been on the right track.
DayDeed is available for free on the web.
1-3-5 List aims to help you prioritize your day with a specific type of to-do list with one big task, three medium tasks, and five small tasks. While you can organize tasks any way you wish within the tool, the 1-3-5 method is recommended to help you prioritize tasks and make your daily responsibilities seem more manageable.
The app is inspired by the 1-3-5 rule, as described by The Daily Muse. This approach to productivity has you assume you can only accomplish one big thing, three medium things, and five small things in one day. The idea is that by forcing yourself to make a list, you will accomplish the things you want to do, rather than things that happen to get done throughout the day. Prioritization makes the rule work.
There is no app to download for 1-3-5 List. The tool works in the browser on iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, and Linux devices. A premium version called 1-3-5 Premium gives you access to unlimited tasks and lists, an archive of completed tasks, custom themes, and the ability to collaborate with others by sharing your lists. It's available for $2.50/month or $25/year.
If you do any of your work online, chances are you're guilty of bouncing from tab to tab in between tasks. StayFocusd is a Google Chrome extension that aims to eliminate these distractions by letting you block certain websites.
You can use StayFocusd to set specific websites you want to avoid during your working hours. If you have a lot to get done (or you're simply easily distracted), you can opt to "go nuclear" and StayFocusd will do a hard block for a preset amount of time for as many sites as you want. If necessary, it will even block you from accessing the internet altogether.
The Hemingway editor app wants to help improve your writing. It goes beyond correcting basic spelling errors to alerting users to run-on sentences, overly dense sentences, adverbs, and the passive voice.
Each type of suggestion is highlighted in a different color. For example, if you notice a sentence is marked in yellow, it's a sign of a common error or run-on sentence, and you should shorten or split it. If a sentence is highlighted in red, it's likely too complex for readers. Phrases marked in green indicate you're using passive voice (which should not be done too often).
You can use Hemingway to paste in content you're working on to be edited, or you can click the Write button to start a new piece. The editor also gauges the quality of your work with a Readability score, so you know how much more editing needs to be done. It does not need an internet connection to work.
Hemingway is available for $9.99 for Mac and Windows devices.
Plan is an organization app designed to help you take control of your productivity. The team behind the app acknowledges how an onslaught of to-do lists, reminders, calendars, and sticky notes can prove detrimental when it comes to actually getting work done.
Plan takes a new approach to time management by adding context to each item on your to-do list. It takes into consideration how meetings relate to different tasks, the people involved in each task, and where everything happens. The idea is to simplify time management.
The app syncs with your Google calendar and contacts to start. Through Plan you can view your tasks, notes, and meetings all in one place, and set up time to work on individual tasks. Insights derived from the app show how your time is being used, so you can ensure you're not wasting hours on irrelevant tasks.
Plan is available for free on the web, iPhone, and in beta on Mac.
Today.txt is a free, bare-bones productivity tool perfect for acknowledging goals to start the day. Simply access the website, enter the goal(s) you hope to accomplish for the day, and when you hope to finish each.
"If I do this and only this, today will be a good day," the webpage says. Writing down your goals can boost your motivation to achieve them, so, as simple as it is, Today.txt could be the tool that helps you get stuff done.
Today.txt is a free, bare-bones productivity tool perfect for acknowledging goals to start the day. Simply access the website, enter the goal(s) you hope to accomplish for the day, and when you hope to finish each.
"If I do this and only this, today will be a good day," the webpage says. Writing down your goals can boost your motivation to achieve them, so, as simple as it is, Today.txt could be the tool that helps you get stuff done.
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