The seven starter tools you need for a simple productivity system - RescueTime Blog

No matter how many communication apps like Slack, Zoom, Teams, or Whatsapp come, the email will not go away anytime soon. We need to optimize our email experience, deleting spam and unwanted emails, while unsubscribing to newsletters that snatch your attention.

It is a good idea to clear all your emails, reply to the urgent ones or mark them as read. Regarding what app to use, the omnipresent Gmail is the go-to app for email, both in the browser and the smartphone.

• The productivity community follows this philosophy: If it's not in my calendar, it didn’t happen.
• The calendar is the dashboard of our life, letting us visualize our weeks and months.
• Putting things on the calendar is both a to-do list task and a reminder, with the phone buzzing a few minutes before the task needs to be done.
• Google Calendar is the app of choice here, syncing easily with Apple, Windows or Android.

Time-tracking tools are a must for freelancers that have hourly billing have a psychological edge: Pressing the start button that counts our productive time makes us more focused and less inclined to open a Facebook tab on the side.

Apps like RescueTime provide a comprehensive report on the activities that take our time.

There are certain apps whose sole function is to block us from the time-wasting black holes of the internet: Reddit, Youtube, Instagram or Facebook.

These apps keep our eyes on the ball as we cannot access the places that provide us with a quick dose of dopamine. A few such apps that one can search for is Freedom and Cold Turkey

Habits are powerful, and the key component of any habit is being regular.

Just like Jerry Seinfeld used a giant annual calendar, crossing a big red X on days he worked, we can use habit-forming apps to keep us regular in our desired routines and not break the chain.

A few choices are Momentum or Habitica.