What's Your Best App/Extension for Productivity?

The Wololo Wombat on 07/09/2022 - 08:34
Last edited 07/09/2022 - 08:34

I was inspired by NigelTufnel's comment where they mentioned the app 'Magnets'

I've had a few apps that drastically improved my workflow & I'm always looking for more.

Of course (free) AdBlock extension for a browser is a no-brainer, but one (paid) app 'Paste' (for MacOS, OSX) has been a game changer for me - it allows me to instantly (CMD+SHIFT+V) access my paste history; I can now copy several items at once and easily access them later/connect this history across devices. The UI is very snappy and intuitive.

I was curious - what other apps have been 'game changers' for you? Are they free? Worth the money?

Education & Work

Comments

  • SF3 on 07/09/2022 - 08:46
    +16

    A free option to increase productivity, but a very tough one is not to check “social media” through out the core part of your day.

  • treebytheriver on 07/09/2022 - 08:48
    +18

    Another hack not app: anytime you feel like you want to procrastinate by doing something else (check fb, ozB, etc.) just do nothing. Literally sit there and let your mind wander. You still get a break, but won’t be caught in a extended time dump without realising.

    • Noblejoker on 08/09/2022 - 14:36
      +1

      This seems obvious - yet I have never actually heard or thought this before - well done you

  • Caped Baldy on 07/09/2022 - 09:04
    +7

    I keep visiting ozb and reddit too much….

    I prefer Firefox over Chrome. I do like treestyle tabs and ublock.

    Windows key + V is a more enhanced paste. Stores up to 25 items in a clipboard including some pictures.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 07/09/2022 - 09:06

    CNS Stimulants work well.

    • The Wololo Wombat on 07/09/2022 - 09:46

      Curious way to spell caffeine…

      • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 07/09/2022 - 14:09

        caffeine….yes, caffeine.

        • DoctorCalculon on 07/09/2022 - 20:11

          I use Amphetamine as I found Caffeine does not work with Monterey and Ventura (soon to be released publicly).

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 07/09/2022 - 09:08
    +3

    Host file block ozbargain :’)

    • AustriaBargain on 07/09/2022 - 11:18

      I find it easy to not use ozbargain when I'm meant to be doing something productive, I just use self control.

      • silenthillrocks on 07/09/2022 - 13:17

        Or use the free app called having self-control

  • Cheaplikethebird on 07/09/2022 - 09:16
    +2

    Knocking one out in the morning helps a lot with focus.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 07/09/2022 - 09:20
      +1

      Dae just get sleepy as hell after

    • Ozbar Gain on 07/09/2022 - 12:12
      +8

      On the contrary! I was watching a podcast by prof Andrew Huberman where he said that doing what you suggest releases a hormon called prolactin, which reduces drive and motivation.

      On a related note, he also talked about how dopamine (the hormone responsible for drive / persuit), works has a baseline level in your body. If your baseline is too high, doing normal day-to-day things are boring and you struggle with focus and motivation. What causes your baseline to get too high? Its based on what things you did earlier in the day/week/month.
      Like, try doing productive work after watching youtube shorts for an hour. Or enjoying a jump on the trampoline when you're a regular sky diver.

    • DoctorCalculon on 07/09/2022 - 20:14

      Worst advice ever.

      It will mess up the rest of your day.

  • ShortyX on 07/09/2022 - 09:30

    Rescuetime (rescuetime.com) is a handy tool for monitoring activity and gives a productivity pulse on a dashboard.

  • Muurky on 07/09/2022 - 10:01
    +3

    I've been enjoying Todoist of late. Recently got the cheap Samsung tablet deal from ozbargain and combine it with an app called Wakey (stops the screen from going to sleep) and now have my to do list always visible. The ability to sync my list across my work laptop, tablet, and phone means whenever I have that fleeting thought I can jot it down and process where it sits in the hierarchy later. Also helps fight my object permanence!

  • AustriaBargain on 07/09/2022 - 11:19

    Wipr for Mac and iOS is a great adblocker. It cost like $3 though. But I haven't seen a single ad on YouTube for years.

  • Luminary on 07/09/2022 - 11:34
    +1

    I have automated my mobile to block all distracting apps at certain times of the day. I also use ClickUp for my daily tasks and use it with my partner.

  • Ozbar Gain on 07/09/2022 - 12:16
    +2

    See my comment above about controlling dopamine for gains in focus and motivation and check out the prof Andrew Huberman's podcast.

    As for specific productivity tools, I've found Android's Focus mode to be really helpful. It lets you block notifications (and usage of apps) during scheduled time of days.
    I also have a Google Docs sheet with bullet lists of my todo items under the heading "today" and "other". This sheet is bookmarked in my desktop browser, and on my phone added as a shortcut to my home screen. I use it more for general things than work specific

    • Chandler on 07/09/2022 - 13:35
      +6

      I've recently been using the Master Your Now technique.

      Basically list a handful of things to get done today, list anything else that needs to get done this week and then everything else goes in a separate list ("on the horizon").

      Only touch stuff on your "today" list. As the day goes on, reevaluate your "today" list and turf anything that can't get done (i.e. waiting on someone) and pull forward anything that can be done today instead. Likewise, as the week goes on, reevaluate your "this week" list, moving stuff to the "today" or "horizon" list as appropriate. Pretty simple.

    • kraigg on 08/09/2022 - 08:57
      +1

      I do similar, but use Google Keep for my bullet list of things to do

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 07/09/2022 - 12:45
    +1

    Back in the day, 'Merge and Split' for MS Word was a game changer for me, when generating student reports from a mail merge with Excel data.

  • Chandler on 07/09/2022 - 13:23
    +3

    If your process allows for it, I've found using the Pomodoro technique useful for productivity. In which case the app Goodtime is a good, minimalist pomodoro timer app.

  • OldSchoolHarry on 07/09/2022 - 15:36

    Generally speaking, beware of which app you are giving access to your clipboard. This is one of the ways to get hacked by just passing on sensitive data such as passwords or personal details to third party apps/extensions.

    • DoctorCalculon on 07/09/2022 - 20:16
      +1

      For this reason, apps like 1Password wipes the clipboard after a short duration.

  • giftcardinspector on 08/09/2022 - 07:31

    Fences is a good app for organising your desktop

  • spezd on 08/09/2022 - 08:05
    +2

    Alfredapp http://alfredapp.com/

  • BrettSh on 08/09/2022 - 11:20
    +1

    I use the free version of "Remember the Milk" for task management. However, I am also planning to evaluate TickTick as an alternative.

    My whole family uses the premium version of AnyList for grocery lists, recipes and meal planning. It has a very impressive plugin for importing recipes from a given URL.

    • silenthillrocks on 08/09/2022 - 16:00

      Didn't know tiktok had a task manager

    • Chandler on 14/09/2022 - 07:58

      I use Simpletask in conjunction with the todo.txt method. Platform agnostic (literally a plaintext file), simple, easily shared/synchronised (I use Syncthing)

  • MrBear on 08/09/2022 - 14:36

    For Gmail on Chrome, use the extension "Trimless for Google Mail" which shows the full email instead of that link to show full message which is bloody annoying.

  • trankillity on 09/09/2022 - 08:38
    +4

    MS PowerToys is incredible. Specifically FancyZones. Really helps wrangle windows around easily. This is especially useful to me as my main display is an ultrawide display.

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