In April 2020: “Phhhh TikTok? Isn’t that for 12 year olds doing cringey dances?”
In January 2021 at 2am: “OMG have you seen the BossIt challenge videos?!”
With our restricted work environments and limited amount of out-of-work activities, the boundaries between work and play have become blurred. It seems as if we spend our lives in our bedrooms whether we are watching Netflix, sleeping, hosting Zoom calls, creating content, sending emails or trying to get into the zone. For many of us, this has increased the risk of procrastination.
Here is a list of five free apps that aim to nip procrastination in the bud and increase your sense of productivity.
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Brainsparker
A brainstorming app that modernises the pen to paper approach. The app contains 200 cards containing thought-provoking words and phrases; you simply shake your device to shuffle the pack and produce a new card. -
Forest
Forest lets you choose a time limit for your focus sessions and plants a tree when that same session starts. If you pick up your phone before the end of the time limit, your tree dies. You can even add background noises such as rain and wildlife to help you get in the bubble. Essentially, the app motivates you to stay focused on a specific task for a set amount of time. You may even be tempted to move your phone to the bathroom for the duration in order to reduce temptation. What’s better is that you can plant actual trees with your focus sessions. -
Coffitivity
For those of you who don’t like complete silence, Coffitivity recreates the ambient sounds of a cafe. So put a brew on and get in the zone – this is also a nice sense of escapism from the deadly silence of London in a pandemic. -
Sleep Cycle
Working from our beds also doesn’t help construct the boundary between work and rest. Sleep Cycle ensures that you understand your rest time by measuring your sleep and helping you keep your sleep cycles healthy and under control. -
Unstuck
Unstuck is a self-paced course that teaches you to overcome any symptoms of creative block through provocative questions, targeted tips and action-oriented tools. Don’t hit the wall – break through it!
