The 8 best productivity apps of 2020
We all know how easy it is to get bored at work, caught up in the rhythm of daily commutes, long hours in the office, and the same-old-same-old. But what about now that many of us are working from home?
How do we stay productive while sitting in front of our artfully styled bookcases for Zoom conferences and balancing educating our kids at the kitchen table?
Staying productive amid a global pandemic can be daunting, so heres are our favorite apps to boost productivity.
Todoist
Todoist is a productivity app that can help you organize and build habits that will increase your productivity. The app can be used to set deadlines, program in reminders, and recurring dates.
You can prioritize your tasks based on priority levels and even assign tasks to others on collaborative ventures.
Todoist is a smart app that tracks your progress and helps you personalize your productivity trends. You can integrate your most frequently used tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, and Google Assistant — making it a cross-platform tool you don’t want to miss out on.
You can get Todoist Premium starting at $3 a month. The Premium plan unlocks all of the best features Todoist has to offer. You can manage up to 300 projects with up to 25 people per project, set reminders, filter your tasks, and monitor productivity trends.
If you’re managing a larger number of projects and team members, considering their Team plan, which is designed to make working as a team that much more efficient.
Google Calendar
There are a lot of calendar apps out there, but there are none that can rival the Google Calendar app.
The best part is that the app is free, and the majority of people already use their Google Calendar, which makes it user friendly because you won’t be worried about compatibility issues.
Use it for creating personal events, reminders, and meetings or create shared calendars that you and your team can add to daily. All of your events are stored online, so you won’t ever have to worry about losing your schedule.
Efficiently manage to send out invites directly from the calendar using your address book, allowing people to RSVP and add the event to their calendars.
Google Calendar is the best app to keep you on top of your schedule.
Evernote
If you have to take a lot of notes in your job, consider downloading Evernote. The app even integrates with your favorite apps like Google Drive, Outlook, and Slack to help you stay on top of your workflow.
With Evernote, you can take handwritten notes, photos, and clip web articles into your files seamlessly. One of the best features is how easy it is to turn your notes into presentation-ready slides — perfect for that last-minute Zoom presentation you forgot about.
Evernote has three different plan levels, depending on what you need the tool to do for you. Free offers flexible note-taking, while the Premium Plan ($7.99/month) lets you do everything from app integration to full organization tools.
Evernote also offers a Business Plan ($14.99/month) to help you maximize productivity with your team.
Grammarly
Grammarly may not be a conventional productivity app, but it is a must-have for anyone relying on written content in their workplace. Grammarly works where you work — helping you compose the best emails, blog posts, and documents.
This writing assistant will even check over your writing to help you double-check your tone, which could save you from a lot of problems!
Grammarly is free to add to your Chrome browser. Free will get you simple spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections, but the $11.99 a month Premium plan is where Grammarly becomes a vital productivity tool.
It will detect plagiarism, help you learn a more inclusive language, work on tone, and help turn you into a better writer.
There are no other tools on the market that do what Grammarly can do without breaking the bank.
TweetDeck
If you spend the majority of your time scrolling through Twitter, either for work or because you’re bored, TweetDeck might be the perfect tool to help you maximize your time on the app.
You can schedule original tweets and retweets through TweetDeck, helping you appear online and active even if you’re busy working.
TweetDeck is completely free. You can set up multiple accounts in the app, manage your Twitter inbox, filter through your feed, and set up alerts for specific users and keywords.
It’s an ideal productivity app if you’re looking to organize your social profile or need a tool to manage multiple accounts with ease.
Trello
Trello is an irreplaceable free mobile app that will help you manage projects. The app is designed to help your collaborative team efforts stay organized in fun ways. It utilizes easy-to-use lists, project boards, and card pages to keep your team focused.
One of the best tools offered through Trello is the ability to assign due dates to listed tasks, which can be checked off by teammates as they’re completed, and allows you to assign cards to specific team members to ensure they get done.
Trello even has a workflow automation tool called the Butler, which can be programmed to automate rules, due dates, and assignments based on team habits. Like all the other productivity apps mentioned, Trello is integrated with other tools like Slack, Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, and more!
Slack
You have probably already heard about Slack, as it is one of the most popular business tools on the market right now. Slack makes team communication easy.
Slack gained popularity while we were all still in the office, but it’s even more vital now that everyone works from home. Create project-based channels, break-out groups, and private communication channels to help your team work better together.
Slack offers three plans which are dependent on your business model. For small businesses, Slack is $6.67/month; for larger companies, $12.50/month gets you access to more tools, and for large enterprises, Slack will work with you to find a model that works best for you.
The Bottom Line
While these productivity apps may not be able to do your job for you, they will help you keep track of all of your work, deadlines, and collaborative efforts.
The cross-platform integration available across the apps makes it easy to work on your phone, laptop, or tablet while you keep on top of everything.
