Don’t waste time: 5 free tools to instantly boost your productivity

1. Don’t waste time in your browser: LeechBlock

Of all the tools below, LeechBlock has been my favorite find and the most powerful tool for eliminating distractions. Today, most work requires being on the Internet, but being on the Internet is not necessarily conducive to productivity. There are a thousand possible distractions (social media, email alerts, news sites, etc.) drawing away from one’s focus.

LeechBlock is a robust Chrome extension to bring discipline to your online browsing habits. You can easily create sophisticated rule sets (ie. hourly time limits for a specific set of websites) to govern your browsing, complete with all the essential features like overrides, lockdowns, & statistics. Best of all, it’s free (unlike the popular competitor BlockSite)!

2. Stop wasting time on your phone: Google Digital Wellbeing / Apple Screen Time

Apple’s “Screen Time” app and the Android equivalent “Google Digital Wellbeing” offer similar capabilities for mobile devices. By using these built-in apps, anyone can gain better control of their screen time. Features such as “Focus Mode” and “Bedtime Mode” block users from using distracting apps during specific time periods. Both of these apps are built-in to iOS and Android (respectively), offering an intuitive and effective feature set for reducing the amount of time you spend aimlessly scrolling on your smartphone.

3. Stop doing low-value tasks: Tango

Tango is the ultimate tool for people who struggle with delegation. Arguably the most challenging part of delegating tasks effectively is providing sufficiently detailed and specific instructions — that is, “process-izing” specialized tasks so they can be outsourced.

Tango makes this as simple as just doing the very task you want to delegate once. All you do is hit record, and Tango will automatically generate step-by-step instructions with elegant video recordings of each step. Tango not only makes outsourcing effortless, but it also ensures your instructions will be clear & comprehensive, effectively eliminating the possibility for human error.

4. Stop pointless meetings: Loom

Meetings that lack a clear purpose and agenda can be a colossal waste of time, as they tend to meander aimlessly without achieving any tangible outcomes. Such gatherings often devolve into a mire of aimless conversation and idle chit-chat, with little to no progress made towards any meaningful goals.

Loom is a video messaging tool that helps you get your message across through instantly shareable videos. Loom's seamless recording and sharing capabilities serve as a powerful tool in the fight against aimless, wasteful meetings. By allowing individuals to record and share their thoughts and ideas in an easily accessible format, Loom can streamline communication and increase productivity, eliminating the need for unnecessary meetings.

5. Identify wasteful websites: RescueTime / Toggl

In order to effectively block websites that waste your time, you’ll need to audit and identify where you’re spending your time online. This is the purpose of tools like RescueTime and Toggl, which automatically track and classify the websites that you visit throughout the day.

6. Measure wasteful meetings: Meeting Calculator

Meetings are inevitably costly endeavors, with the cumulative hourly wage of each individual present adding up to a significant sum. Pointless meetings can be a detrimental drain on the bottom line, eating into profits and diverting precious resources away from more pressing matters.

Almost everyone has been in a meeting that could have been an email at some point in their life. Meetings are the bane of productivity in most organizations. Using a Meeting Calculator clock is an excellent strategy to raise awareness of the cost of meetings.

BONUS: Tools by indie makers

Llama Life: Unlike other task managers, Llama Life is designed to help you work by leveraging 'timeboxing', the practice of setting a fixed amount of time to each task. Say goodbye to never-ending task lists with this intuitive and fun application.

KairoHQ: Kairo offers a delightful and flexible tracking dashboard with a gamified, fun user interface. The productivity dashboard helps you track your time and habits to boost your productivity and achieve your goals quicker.