We all wanna be more productive right? Whether that's achieved by being more organised or by living smart, everyone wants to get their lives in order and have more time to do what they want. For these reasons, today we look at five iPhone and Android apps that will make your life a whole lot easier or better, and hence a whole lot more productive.
Note that this isn't going to be a typical "use a calendar and to-do list app" article - we all know that apps like Waze and Todoist are awesome tools. Instead, I've tested out a few dozen productivity-related apps which I thought most people wouldn't have, with the hopes of introducing you to something new rather than letting you know that you should keep using Google Calendar.
Throughout this list, I'm simply gonna let you know what's great about these apps, why you should get them, and how they will make you more productive. So without further ado, here are my five favourite from the few dozen apps I have tested over the past couple of months:
Note: I'm not being paid by any of these companies to promote their apps, these are simply apps which I recommend purely based on what they have to offer and how great I think they are.
Calm
Price: Free with a few features or $19.99/month (or $73.99/year)
Okay, so admittedly this is a very mainstream app - it won app of the year a few years back and is said to be worth more than $250M nowadays - but I still feel like it deserves a spot in this list because so many people have heard of it but don't actually realise how great it is.
Effectively, the purpose of the app is in the name: they have a bunch of tools to help you live a more calm life. Whether that's through their meditation programs, sleep stories, or something else - I can't recommend the app highly enough.
Before getting Calm, I thought that things like meditation were a bit of a waste of time to be honest, but after trying it for a few days I started to get why people did day in and day out. I started to be able to spend less time getting worked up and nervous about little things in life, and as a result I began to enjoy life more.
As for productivity, Calm is full of it. Since using it I've managed to get to sleep a lot quicker and get little things like making a phone call done without worrying much more often.
While it carries a pretty hefty price tag every month, I urge you to download it and sign up for the free trial just to give the full experience a go. Don't forget too that there are a fair few tools you can still use with the free version - most notably you'll get the first day of a lot of meditation programs, and a bunch of sleep stories too.
Fudget
Price: Free
Fudget is a really cool budgeting app, and while I've always been one to save money and enjoy being smart with money, I hadn't really given budgeting a go until I tried Fudget a few months back. This was mostly because it seemed a little stupid - you were wasting so much time working out how much money you had, and then working out the cost of everything that it really didn't seem to be worth it. Fudget completely changed that perspective.
Perhaps the simplest app I have ever used, Fudget gets the job done with very few words - which I've learned is exactly how it should be with budgeting. The first thing you do is add a budget, whether that be (as seen above) for a month in the year, or for an event (your mum's birthday or whatever it may be). Then you add your income, your expenses and boom you're done. You can now see exactly how much goes in and out of your account. This simplicity and effectiveness is what makes Fudget such a productivity-inducing app.
Also note that you can purchase the Pro version for a one-time purchase of $6.99, and it'll add a bunch of nice features like calculators and themes - but what's awesome is that while I would definitely recommend supporting the app if you can, it's still completely functional without spending a cent.
Speedtest
Price: Free
Speedtest is one of those apps that you won't use everyday, but from time to time it'll save you a lot of frustration. Effectively, Speedtest will check both the download and upload speed of your internet. Why is this important? Well, consider the following situations below:
1. You have two WiFi networks that you could connect to at home, and you want to know which is faster. Simply connect to a network and press 'go' on Speedtest then repeat the process for the other network. You can now compare the two scores and know which network you should be on.
2. At home, your WiFi network appears to be going a little slower than the 10mbps upload speed promised by your provider. You use Speedtest and discover the upload speed to be 200mbps, so you contact your provider and get the issue fixed in a jiffy.
3. You're out and about, and you have a bunch of jobs you need to do ASAP on your phone. You can either do them on a 4G network, or a public WiFi connection. You can now tell which is going to be more reliable, hence which will make you more productive.
As you can see, Speedtest will definitely get the occasional use, and on the whole is just a nice app to have in certain situations - especially considering it's free and it makes you look like a tech pro too.
Transit
Price: Free
If you live just about anywhere in the world and you take public transport, then Transit is as good as it gets. They have everything from buses and ferries to city bikes and Ubers, so no matter how you travel Transit has you covered.
For me, the best part about Transit is how easy it is to see what you are going to need to take to get to where you need to go. They have this beautiful interface which makes public transport a lot more visual, as opposed to "catch the 22N bus" (which you can see in the photo above).
As for being more productive, you simply type your destination and time of arrival into Transit, and it will then consider every possible option to get you there via public transport, along with the exact time you should leave.
Being a free app, I really have no complaints at all about Transit - it's saved me a whole lot of time waiting around at bus stops and train stations, and makes the public transport experience a lot less stressful and so much simpler.
1Password
Price: Free for 30 days then $2.99/month
1Password is a password manager, and while a lot of people think they're unnecessary, I can't even begin to tell you how much time I've saved since using it. Effectively, for those of you who don't know a password manager is a safe way of keeping all of your passwords in one place. What's awesome about 1Password though, is that they'll keep just about any information that you want safely in your own encrypted vault.
A lot of people think that it's much more worth it to just use iCloud's Keychain or Google's Autocomplete, but 1Password is better for heaps of reasons:
1. Your passwords are much safer in 1Password, as they keep everything in an encrypted vault, as opposed to just somewhere on your phone or computer.
2. 1Password allows you to put in information on other important things like your driver's license, credit card information, and bank account numbers.
3. Everything can be accessed from any device with the 1Password app regardless of what brand it is, both online and offline.
4. If any of your passwords are too short, have been reused, or may have been acquired in a data breach - 1Password let's you know, and will generate you a new one.
For me, 1Password is without a doubt worth the $2.99 fee per month - I use it everyday, and now that I've started using it I can't imagine trying to get by without it. It definitely gives you the peace of mind that everything is stored in a safe place, but the fact that it's a super convenient time-saver makes it an offer you really can't refuse. For any families out there, note that your whole family can use this for $4.99 per month.
There you have it ladies and gentlemen - that's my five new favourite apps in 2019 when it comes to productivity. I sincerely hope I've prompted you to download at least one of these apps, because every single one is really cool and has saved me valuable time over the past few months.
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