We’ve shared tools to help you with word processing and organizing. We provided tips to help avoid distraction. Today we will share some tools to help you be more productive as a writer. In a previous post, we shared tips on time management, but let’s go deeper and provide you with tools.
Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro Technique? It’s a method that was designed to promote productivity. It stipulates that you should work for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, then work for 25 minutes, take another 5-minute break etc., etc.
Marinara Timer
There’s an app for that! It’s free, and it’s called the Marinara Timer. It makes navigating the Pomodoro Technique easier by alerting you when your work sessions and breaks are up. It also offers customizable timers if the 25/5 rhythm isn’t quite keeping you on track.
Cold Turkey
Cold Turkey is a program that lets you completely rid yourself of distraction. Their website tagline says, “Meet your match, Zuckerberg.” With this challenge, Cold Turkey is set up where you can block yourself from accessing certain websites — or even your entire computer — for periods, only allowing you to use the current document you’re working on. They have a free version, or you can pay $20 for their premium version.
Freedom
It functions like Cold Turkey; however, a unique function of Freedom is the ability to sync your distraction-free periods across all your devices. They have a seven-day free trial period. After that, you must choose between their $7/month or the $29/year plans.
To Doist
To Doist is said to be the ultimate app for creating to-do lists. It lets you get a daily or weekly overview of your tasks, prioritize the most important tasks, and even assign tasks to other people if you’re working on a specific goal with other collaborators.
You can add tasks like “Read emails every day at 10am” to fill your to-do list in seconds using Todoist’s powerful natural language recognition and recurring dates. According to their website, your to-do lists are automatically sorted into Today, Upcoming, and custom Filter views to help you focus on your most important things.
They also provide these features:
- Use Todoist’s apps, extensions, and widgets on any device or platform.
- Hundreds of templates are available to get you started with whatever’s on your plate.
- Customize your to-do list with filters, labels, priorities, and more.
- Link Todoist with your calendar, voice assistant, and 30+ other tools.
- Personal productivity recommendations based on your unique traits and strengths.
Their Free Plan offers 5 active projects, 5 collaborators per project, 5 MB file uploads, 3 filters, and a 1-week activity history. Their Pro Plan is $4/month (billed annually) or $5/month (billed monthly and it offers 300 active projects, 25 collaborators per project, 100 MB file uploads, 150 filters, Reminders, Unlimited activity history, Themes, and auto backups. They also have a Business Plan. Check out their pricing and features here.
Noisli
If you thrive with a little background noise and struggle with keeping your thoughts on the task when you’re working in silence, Noisli has a solution for you. The tool lets you choose from up to 28 high-quality background sounds that you can play individually or combine with each other. You can adjust the volume for each sound to customize your combinations to your needs and make them your own.
According to their website, “We provide background sounds that help to mask annoying noises in order to keep you sane, improve your focus and boost your productivity.”
They also highlight that you can listen to the carefully curated Playlists to inspire and explore new sound suggestions for various situations. They offer a Timer that helps you work in sessions to prevent burnout and a lovely distraction-free Text Editor.
Noisli has a Free version that offers 16 sounds, 1.5 hrs/day streaming, and 3 curated Playlists; you can save up to 5 Favorites; it comes with a Simple Timer and Simple Text Editor. They also have Pro and Business plans billed monthly or annually.
Which Tools Do You Use? Which Ones Will You Try?
Let us know!
~D.O.M.E. Life Publishing
D.O.M.E. Life Insights 