Working from home means spending more time with your loved ones while still getting your job done. It does not sound so complex considering how much time and energy you get to save by skipping public transportation and waking up too early in the morning. Yet, working from home also means being surrounded by various distractions that can affect your work schedule.
We all know how significant time management is. If you follow a certain schedule and stick to it, you will get more tasks completed in a short period of time. The thing is, managing your time and tasks seems like an easy thing to do. However, individuals are also prone to forming bad habits that can easily ruin their productivity. Luckily, technology is there to provide assistance. Time management apps have been around for some time now. The reason for this is that people are more likely to get their work done if they can rely on a support system that will remind them of their unfinished tasks. The question is, what kind of time management app will suit you best? We have compiled a list that you can choose from. Let’s get right to it.
Clockify: Time Tracker
image from clockify.me
Clockify is a free time tracker and timesheet app that allows its users or teams to track work hours spent on tasks. The app allows you to run a report where you can identify what areas do you usually spend your time with. Through this you can analyze time-drains and improve efficiency.
Another feature that Clockify can help you with is to improve the profitability of your projects and if you need to increase your hourly rate. With the report that you can run, you will be able to identify the unbillable activities (phone calls, commute, feedback) that takes most of your hourly rate.
Furthermore, Clockify can assist you in monitoring your team’s work output. The app has a feature where all members of the team can log in the time they spend on tasks. Through this, you will be able to compute how much will they get paid based on the amount of work they did.
Here are more time management features that this app offers:
Timekeeping
- Track hours using a timer
- Log time in a timesheet
- Categorize time by project
- Mark time as billable
Reporting
- Visual time breakdown
- Customizable reports
- Share reports with others
- Export as PDF, CSV, and Excel
Team Activity
- Invite whole team
- Set employee hourly rates
- See current activity
- See who worked on what
Available on: Firefox, Chrome, Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux
Rescue Time
image from blog.rescuetime.com
If you are the type to get distracted easily, Rescue Time will make sure that you can manage your time wisely and be productive the whole day. This time management app automatically tracks the time you spend on playing games, shopping online, actual working, and other activities that you do. You don’t need to manually set a timer since the app will just do its job of reporting how much time you spend on your tasks. Through this feature, you can identify what activities you should cut off and focus on to increase your productivity.
Although tasks are done mostly online, some are offline based. The good thing about this app is how you can still manage your time even if your WiFi or cellular data is not connected. Just simply click the “Offline Time” button and your daily activities will still be monitored.
Furthermore, Rescue Time can block all websites that may hinder you from completing your job. If you want to focus to get a project done on time, just open the manual “FocusTime Session” and set the time limit you wish to have the websites remain locked.
This app offers a 14-day free trial with each month subscription at $12.00. However, if you avail their annual package, you will only be billed with $78, a total savings of $66.
Available on: iOS, Android, and Desktop
nTask
nTask started initially as a project and task management app but its recent version have included a time tracking module as well. This feature was incorporated for its users to improve their time management skills while accomplishing tasks and projects.
This app allows you to plan all activities, tasks, and timesheets that your team needs to do. From allocating the needed budget, to assigning a project manager for each project, nTask will help you create a concrete plan for you. In addition, Slack has also been incorporated with this app so members can create schedules and send out invitation to specific people who wishes to monitor their tasks.
Get to know more about nTask with these additional features:
Plan
- Budgeting
- Resource Allocation
- Assign a Project Manager and Project Settings
- Roles and Permissions
Project Planning and Scheduling
- Gantt Charts
- Project Management
- Kanban
- Calendar
Online Team Collaboration
- Task Comments
- Multiple Assignments
- Files and Attachments
- Reminders and Notifications
Project Management
- Time Tracking
- Risk Management
- Issue/Bug Tracking
- Team Meetings
Project Reporting and Delivery
- Public URLs
- Timesheets
- Timeline
- Exports
Available on: iOS, Android, and Desktop
Focus Booster
image from focusboosterapp.com
This time management app uses the Pomodoro technique which allows you to work on a task for 25 minutes straight without interruption. You need to focus on your work during this time span. Once the 25 minutes is over, you’ll just check your task box as a way of saying “congratulations” for not being tempted by distractions.
Focus booster through this technique aims to make you do more and stay focused until you finish your task. The app is also very friendly as you can adjust the theme that will suit your style best. When unexpected interruptions occur, you can just always go back to your work whenever you can. Just remember to save your progress or all will be lost! Compared to other apps that let you create you own timesheets, this one will automatically provide yours as long as you record your Focus Booster sessions.
The app also lets you visit your dashboard where you can monitor your daily productivity rate and revenues (if there is). You can also link your projects and meetings on this one so you can get a better look at how fast or slow you finish you tasks.
Here are more reasons to choose Focus Booster to keep your time managed:
- Pomodoro Timer
- Customization
- Reports
- Time Tracking
- Mini Timer
- Multi Platform
- Dashboards
- Manual the Entry
- Export
Available on: iOS, Android, and Desktop
MyLifeOrganized (MLO)
image from mylifeorganized.net
“Life is simple when organized”. MLO’s tagline sums up all days that we spend cramming or stressing because of all the things we need to do and not finishing everything right on time. Well, this app will help you get your to-do lists organized and focus on your priorities.
MyLifeOrganized is one the best time management apps intended for working people who just have so much on their plate everyday. This organizer software allows you to create new tasks and checklists easily with its drag-and-drop interface. You can switch the position of your tasks based on urgency or priority. What is amazing is that your tasks can be arranged not just into lists but even into a tree!
Another aspect of MLO is how you can easily create sub-tasks for each task, endlessly. You don’t have to create a separate button for a task that just falls under the one you already have. This does not only make the interface looked more polished but it will also help you make sure that all minor details of each task is taken care of.
But the hierarchy you created will not just stay as is. MLO will automatically create a smart list of actions that requires you to accomplish right away. You can use an outline for planning or a plain list for doing. Either way, MLO makes sure that you have all your tasks organized accordingly. In addition, this app can also send you location-based reminders whenever you arrive at your destination. It will also sync with your Cloud so you can always access your tasks in different devices.
Available on: iOS, Android, and Desktop
Other Time Management Apps
Here are more time management apps that you can check out:
- Remember the Milk
- Focus Keeper
- Google Hangouts
- Clara
- Noisli
- Omnifocus
- ForestApp
- Toggl
- Asana
- Trello
Managing your time and tasks can be stressful most of the time. Although these time management apps can help you keep track of your productivity, it is still up to you if you will be swayed by distractions externally and internally. Just remember to also breathe by taking a break. As much as you need to accomplish all your tasks, your mind and body also needs that bit of relaxation.