Most people working as part of a business will – at some point in their professional lives – have experienced times when their focus and productivity is very low. There are many reasons why someone might be experiencing lower than average productivity levels, or struggling with their focus and concentration.
Before the age of the internet, there were fewer distractions; however, there are ways in which technology can combat these new age distractions, and not to mention new solutions for focus and concentration that weren’t available before the advent of digital technology. We discussed this with an IT company based in London, called TechQuarters, who specialise in managed IT services London based companies have been using for years. They said that there are plenty of great focus and productivity apps that are available for people to use to support their work.
What are Focus and Productivity Apps?
A focus or productivity app is one who’s primary purpose is to help the user become more productive and work more efficiently by improving their focus, concentration, or their ability to manage their workload. There are plenty of examples out there. When we asked TechQuarters what apps they would recommend, they gave a few good examples. There are a few different types of apps designed for focus and productivity – some of them are aimed at encouraging users to avoid distractions; some are designed to help users track their time better; and some are tools for organising work.
6 Apps to Use at Work
So, what apps are available for people who need help with their concentration or productivity levels? According to TechQuarters, whose IT support Essex and London businesses have used extensively to improve their productivity, it all depends on what exactly one struggles with at work. Below are six examples of apps that can help people, depending on what challenge they are dealing with:
For Distractions: Freedom
For people who frequently get distracted by apps on their computer or phone, or by certain websites (such as social media or video streaming sites), a good idea is to use an app like Freedom, which blocks those distractions. There are many apps like this available, but the reason Freedom is one of the better ones, is that it blocks those apps and sites across all of your platforms. So, if you have Freedom on your phone and your computer, and you start a session on either device, the apps or sites you have selected will be blocked on both devices (and any other platform you use Freedom on).
For Time Management: RescueTime
Some people have trouble with managing their time, and end up spending excessive amounts of time, for example, checking and responding to emails. RescueTime is a great, unobtrusive app that tracks the time you spend on different apps and websites. It compiles a report of how you spend your time each day, which is useful for users that want to see precisely where their time – they can then make active changes to their habits, and also become more aware of when they are spending too much time on something. The app has a free and premium version; both versions have the same functionality, but the free version is limited to 3 months of historical data.
For Workload Management: ClickUp
Oftentimes individuals have difficult prioritising work in their heads, or keeping on top of tasks. This is why many people opt into using a workload management software, which takes the guesswork out of managing your to-do list. For individual users, ClickUp has perhaps the best functionality available. It is a cloud-based platform that is available on web browser, desktop, and mobile. With ClickUp, users can create custom task lists for different areas of their work; the app also enables templates for recurring tasks, push reminders, task prioritisation, and progress tracking. In short, it means that users don’t have to do all their work management in their head, and have a powerful interface to refer to.
