It can be easy to be distracted by your phone, here are some apps to boost your productivity
Giving up your phone for long periods of time when working can be unrealistic, we often need to be connected to colleagues, coursemates and the internet.
But some apps can help us stay productive.
Our resident app expert, Molly Dowrick, shares her favourites:
Wunderlist
What does it do?
Wunderlist combines to do lists, reminders, notes and files into one helpful app. To do lists can be grouped and organised by theme. Users are also able to add files, notes and additional tasks within the to do list. You can also directly share your lists on the app via email.
What did I think?
I really liked Wunderlist. I loved that I could group my notes under a general theme and attach files when needed. The app’s background images help add colour and I like that I can view my tasks by group or by the week ahead. It’s no wonder this app is the “Editor’s Choice” on Apple’s app store! Wunderful!
Verdict 4½ stars
Flora
What does it do?
On Flora, users decide how long they want to work solidly and set a timer for their work session. The app counts down the time while ‘growing’ a cyber tree. You can’t use any other app while growing your tree, so if you come off the app and go on to social media or a different distracting activity on your phone, your cyber tree will die. It’s a cute little motivation to keep you on task.
What did I think?
I quite liked having a reason to avoid social media and other apps on my phone: if I clicked on them while my tree was growing on Flora, my tree would die. I could also follow my Facebook friends on Flora and see their progress and how many cyber trees they had grown on Flora. The app doesn’t do anything to stop notifications from other apps though, so I still felt somewhat distracted by my phone and social media – even though I wanted to grow a tree in 25 minutes!
Verdict: 4 stars
Slack
What does it do?
Slack is a discussion and document hub, perfect for groups of colleagues and coursemates to share ideas, links and make decisions, away from messaging apps.
What did I think?
Although I find Slack a helpful platform for seeing documents and links that my colleagues have shared, it has not replaced messaging apps as the main form of communication for me and my colleagues. I think to fully utilise this app in a productive and positive way, the whole team would have to use the app regularly, so that work and planning decisions can be made effectively, without distracting social messages.
Verdict:
3½ stars
If you liked these recommendations, check our our Project.esc magazine for more!
