Work management

  • >Zoho Tables

    Zoho Tables

  • Trello

    Trello

  • ClickUp

    ClickUp

1. Zoho Tables

Zoho Tables is a modern work management tool that helps you organize data, assign tasks, automate workflows, visualize work items, and collaborate with users in real time. It is an ideal tool to centralize your goals, deadlines, and work communication. For users who manage their tasks on spreadsheets, Zoho Tables is a better alternative as it has the appearance of a spreadsheet and the sophistication of a relational database.

Zoho Tables excels in customization. You can create multiple bases (folders) in your workspace to manage your personal and professional goals. You can use the personal workspace to track your fitness routine, reading goals, food habits, hobbies, and expenses. You can use the professional workspace to manage projects, collaborate with colleagues, automate tiresome tasks, and view data in different formats.

Standout features

  • Data visualization: Zoho Tables offers grid, gallery, Kanban, and calendar views. This helps you visualize data in meaningful ways that suit your workflow.
  • Automation: Productivity is all about saving time. You can automate repetitive tasks like sending emails or updating work items based on simple action triggers.
  • Collaboration: Communicate with your team, comment on their work, assign tasks, share files, and track deadlines.
  • Two-way data synchronization: Link fields from different tables to look up, roll up, edit, or add new data.
  • Intuitive mobile app: Create and access bases with Siri voice commands. Extract and import data from physical copies by scanning them.

Drawbacks

  • Since it is new to the market, the number of out-of-the-box integrations is limited. Currently, they provide APIs to build your own integrations.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Small and mid-sized businesses
  • Smaller teams inside enterprises
  • Spreadsheet users
  • Freelancers/solopreneurs

2. Trello

Trello is a Kanban-style list-making application. You can organize your projects into boards, lists, and cards. It is the digital version of sticky notes stacked on a wall. It helps you break down long-term projects into simple tasks. You can also add collaborators to your board, assign them tasks, and track their progress. It looks visually appealing and gives you a bird's-eye view of your project.

Standout features

  • Power-ups: Apart from the native task management features that Trello offers, you can add more features to your board using power-ups. Some of the popular power-ups are calendars, polls, countdowns, card aging, and dashboards.
  • Integrations: Trello integrates with popular apps like Zoho, Zapier, Slack, Jira, Mailchimp, Salesforce, and more.
  • Responsive design: Trello offers a consistent design across devices. You can track your work on the go from any device.

Drawbacks

  • Limited views: Trello is famous for its Kanban boards. Beyond that, it offers limited views and basic features. Users have to upgrade to the premium plan for calendar, timeline, dashboard, table, and map views.
  • Paid add-ons: Most of Trello's standout features are only available as paid power-ups.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Agile project managers
  • Creative teams like design, writing, and marketing
  • Students

3. ClickUp

ClickUp helps you plan, organize, collaborate, and report on projects. It is used by individuals and teams to set goals, track work, chat with teammates, and share wikis. It also has AI to generate plans, create reports, summarize tasks, and enhance writing.

ClickUp also has a native chat application called ClickUp Chat that allows users to text other users in real time. Its email integration lets you view and compose emails without leaving the app.

Standout features

  • Gamification: Stimulates the competitive nature of teammates to boost productivity.
  • Brainstorm sessions: Whiteboards, mind maps, and notepads help you store free-flowing ideas meaningfully.
  • Dashboards: Visualize your team's workload, sprints, bottlenecks, and risks in lists, cards, charts, and graphs.
  • Sprints: Set sprint dates, assign points, mark priorities, and automate unfinished work into your next sprint. Sync your team's development with GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.

Drawbacks

  • Not ideal for individual users: ClickUp is centered around team collaboration. It doesn't offer many features for solopreneurs, freelancers, and personal use cases, as most of its features are only available on the team plans.
  • Complexity: ClickUp is not an ideal tool for non-technical users who need a simple tool to manage their personal goals and professional goals.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Software developers
  • Project managers

Note-taking

  • Evernote

    Evernote

  • Zoho Notebook

    Zoho Notebook

  • Microsoft OneNote

    Microsoft OneNote

1. Evernote

Evernote has been around for decades and has established its name as a go-to note-taking app. Users can create notes, add tasks, organize data, annotate content, and jot down random ideas. It supports multimedia embedding and acts as a versatile digital notebook for personal and professional use.

Standout features

  • Simple interface: It has a minimalistic interface without many icons and features cluttering the screen.
  • Set recurring tasks: Set a due date for a task and mark it as a recurring activity.
  • Calendar integration: You can integrate your notes with Outlook and Google calendars to see your schedule and plan tasks accordingly.

Drawbacks

  • Limited free plan features: You can only sync two devices, create one notebook and 50 notes, cannot edit notes offline, and have a monthly upload limitation of 60 MB.
  • No visual tools: There are no mind maps or whiteboards to brainstorm ideas.
  • Lacks version history in the free plan: You have to be on the paid plan to recover lost data or if you wish to revert your notes to an older version.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Minimalists
  • Non-technical users

2. Zoho Notebook

Zoho Notebook is a free note-taking app that offers a visually appealing and user-friendly platform for users to organize their notes, tasks, and ideas. It allows users to create different types of notes, such as text notes, checklists, audio notes, sketches, videos, images, and files, and organize them into notebooks. It is available across multiple platforms, including mobile, desktop, and web, with seamless sync capabilities.

Standout features

  • Zia AI: Generate, edit, and enhance your content with Zia AI. It can take notes, create checklists, generate images, insert code, and create templates.
  • User-friendly: Organize your notes with collections, add tags for better searchability, and add task reminders.
  • Extensive integrations: Integrate Notebook with your favorite apps to bring your thoughts, tasks, and files together.
  • Privacy and security: Secure your notes and notebooks with passcodes and Touch ID.

Drawbacks

  • Note templates: There are no default templates for notes. However, users can generate templates using Zia AI.
  • Advanced formatting: Code and syntax editing is limited compared to dedicated code editors.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Small teams
  • Students
  • Minimalists
  • Users looking for a simple tool to jot down ideas

3. Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is a part of the Microsoft Office 365 Suite. It helps users store ideas, free-form drawings, multimedia content, and external files. OneNote allows users to create notebooks, which can be divided into sections and further organized into pages for detailed note-taking.

Standout features

  • Co-pilot: The AI tool understands texts and creates to-do lists, generates summaries, suggests writing prompts, and rewrites notes for clarity.
  • Integrations: You can integrate OneNote with other Microsoft Office tools like Outlook to send information from emails to notes and vice versa.
  • Audio and video notes: Record audio, embed videos, and record videos from your webcam.
  • Infinite canvas: Add notes, images, drawings, and other content anywhere on the page without boundaries.

Drawbacks

  • Overkill for light users: OneNote has sophisticated features that can be overwhelming for users who only need to take down notes.
  • Dependency on Microsoft ecosystem: Users who do not use other Microsoft products might find OneNote restrictive.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Microsoft Office 365 users
  • Students
  • Teachers
  • Researchers

Scheduling

  • Calendly

    Calendly

  • Zoho Bookings

    Zoho Bookings

  • Trevor AI

    Trevor AI

1. Calendly

Calendly is an appointment scheduling software used by individuals and teams to schedule meetings, appointments, and events with their clients or leads. It integrates with popular calendar tools like Google Calendar and Outlook to display slot availability and avoid conflicts.

Standout features

  • Round-robin appointments: Pool your team's calendar to make sure all the teammates are assigned calls on a round-robin basis. Or combine availability to schedule co-hosted calls.
  • Automated emails: Set automated reminder texts and emails before meetings and follow-up emails after meetings to nurture communication.
  • Analytics: Get insights on call trends, team performance, popular events, and more. Filter data based on individuals, teams, or events.
  • Time zone intelligence: Calendly automatically detects and converts time zones while scheduling calls.

Drawbacks

  • Steep learning curve: Onboarding new users is tricky as Calendly has sophisticated features that will take time to get used to.
  • Limited flexibility: You cannot accommodate last-minute requests or schedule impromptu meetings.
  • Cost: The free plan has limited features. It only supports one type of meeting. So, it is not ideal for solopreneurs and freelancers.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Sales teams
  • Marketing teams
  • HR teams
  • IT teams

2. Zoho Bookings

Zoho Bookings is an intuitive appointment scheduling software that ‌empowers individuals and teams to schedule meetings effortlessly. It enables users to book calls and pay for services without manual intervention.

Standout features

  • Personalized booking page: Show your availability, add content, use brand colors and logos, choose a theme that resonates with your business, and create dedicated web pages for your staff. Embed the booking page on your website to make it easier for website visitors to schedule calls.
  • Diverse scheduling options: Schedule one-on-one calls, group meetings, and collective meetings.
  • Payment gateways: Collect payments in full, partially, or as a deposit before appointments through popular payment gateways like Razorpay, PayPal, Stripe, and more.
  • Integrations: Zoho Bookings integrates with popular online meeting tools like Zoho Meeting, Zoom, Google Meet, and GoToMeeting. You can also use Zoho Flow or Zapier to connect with third-party apps.

Drawbacks

  • Multicurrency pricing is limited.
  • Selling subscriptions, memberships, and gift certificates is not possible.
  • Apple Calendar integration is yet to come.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Solopreneurs
  • Small businesses
  • Mid-sized businesses
  • Enterprises

3. Trevor AI

Trevor AI is a virtual scheduling assistant that syncs your to-do list with your Google or Microsoft calendar to build your daily schedule. It organizes tasks based on their priorities, deadlines, and user availability. It uses machine learning algorithms to understand user behavior and auto-assigns a duration for each task. It learns from user interactions to set realistic goals to avoid overcommitting.

Standout features

  • Scheduling suggestions: Plan your day with personalized suggestions. Filter suggestions based on days, weeks, or a specific task list. Get reminders for overdue tasks.
  • Drag-and-drop: Add, move, resize, and reschedule tasks with the drag-and-drop feature.
  • Minimalist design: It focuses on simplicity. The UI is not cluttered with unnecessary prompts and icons, making it easy to navigate.

Drawbacks

  • Deadline rigidity: You can't set soft and hard deadlines for tasks. If you have unfinished tasks at the end of the day, Trevor AI doesn't automatically push them to the next day or week.
  • Absence of hierarchies: You cannot add sub-tasks or dependent tasks to a primary task.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Users who extensively use Microsoft or Google calendar
  • Academics
  • Remote workers
  • Freelancers

Procrastination management

  • Forest

    Forest

  • Freedom

    Freedom

  • RescueTime

    RescueTime

1. Forest

Forest is an interactive app that helps you stay focused through gamification. When users want to focus on a task, they plant a tree. A timer starts when a task begins and keeps running for a specified duration. If you stop the timer or use your phone, the tree will wither and die. When you start using the app regularly, you can plant your own virtual forest.

Standout features

  • Green initiative: When users complete a focus session successfully, they will earn coins. After they reach a certain threshold, they can spend the virtual coins to plant real trees. Forest donates to its partner, Trees for the Future, and places planting orders on behalf of the users.
  • Team mode: Invite friends and teammates to join focus sessions. It helps everyone stay off their phones and concentrate on the task at hand.
  • Customization: Users can buy different tree species and themes by staying productive.

Drawbacks

  • Accidental disruptions: If you need to use your phone for emergencies, calls, or view OTP texts, your tree dies.
  • Feels repetitive in the long run: After a while, growing virtual trees might lose its novelty, and the gamification aspect might lack motivation.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Individuals struggling with smartphone addiction
  • Individuals struggling with short attention spans
  • Group study sessions

2. Freedom

Freedom limits access to specific websites and apps to limit distractions while working. Users can create a custom block list and schedule focus sessions in advance. Individuals struggling with procrastination can even block internet access during their focus sessions. This helps them tackle procrastination in an efficient way.

Standout features

  • Sync across devices: Include many devices in a focus session. Sync a focus session across devices so you aren't distracted. For example, ensure you can't access your laptop during a focus session on your phone.
  • Locked mode: It prevents users from bypassing focus sessions. Once the lock mode is enabled, users cannot edit or cancel an active session until the timer runs out.
  • Ambient sound: Listen to calming music to cancel external noise during focus sessions. Freedom offers both free and paid music.
  • Session annotations: Leave notes on each focus session to reflect on work accomplished, challenges faced, effectiveness of the session, and more. It helps you reflect on your small wins.

Drawbacks

  • Rigid structure: Freedom takes an all-or-nothing approach to manage procrastination. Users cannot customize block levels, like limiting an app's usage to specific time windows.
  • Limited features in the free version: The free version offers very basic functionalities with limited sessions and blocks. Advanced features like scheduling and Locked Mode require a subscription.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Professionals with tight deadlines
  • Individuals battling digital addictions or dependencies

3. RescueTime

RescueTime helps users understand their procrastination patterns by tracking the time they spend on websites and apps. It provides detailed analytics on how their time has been used on websites, files opened, and apps used. In this way, users can pinpoint their distractions and boost productivity. It also blocks websites that a user classifies as distracting.

Standout features

  • Activity tracking: Automatically tracks the time you spend on websites and apps without manual input.
  • Timesheet: Get activity logs for specific tasks or projects. Generate time logs for client billings and performance reviews to keep multiple projects and clients under control.

Drawbacks

  • Potential misclassification: Some activities might be misclassified and require manual adjustments. For example, using YouTube for work-related tutorials might be categorized as entertainment.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Freelancers
  • Academics

Mindfulness

  • Headspace

    Headspace

  • Happify

    Happify

  • Aura

    Aura

1. Headspace

Headspace offers guided meditation to help you reduce stress, manage anxiety, and sleep soundly. It helps users get started with meditation with easy guidance. They get tailored suggestions based on their goals, making it suitable for beginners and experienced meditators alike.

Standout features

  • The Wake Up: Short, motivational videos to start the day on a positive note.
  • Different varieties of meditation: Offers guided meditations with a prerecorded voice or unguided meditations with only music and images. You can also filter meditation courses by time duration.
  • Progress tracker: Track your daily streak and get reminders to practice.

Drawbacks

  • Pricing: There is no free plan. Users get a 7-day free trial with a monthly subscription and a 17-day free trial with an annual subscription. They should upgrade to a paid plan to continue using Headspace. It's priced at $69.99 per year and $12.99 per month.
  • Cluttered UI: The home screen is cluttered with too many bells and whistles. Most of the videos in their vast library might offer the same value and feel repetitive at times.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Individuals new to meditation
  • Individuals struggling with sleeplessness
  • Busy professionals
  • Students struggling to focus

2. Happify

Happify helps users break bad patterns, form new habits, and overcome negative thoughts through science-backed games and activities. It encourages users to connect with their thoughts and feelings through cognitive behavioral therapy.

Standout features

  • Engaging activities: It offers quizzes, games, and guided exercises that are designed to shift negative focus and build self-compassion.
  • Happify community: It focuses on receiving and passing on encouraging words to other Happify users by participating in discussion forums, applauding one another's achievements, and helping them navigate troubles.
  • Guided tracks: Users get personalized activities (tracks) after completing a short assessment to develop well-being skills for specific life situations.
  • Upside: Articles on a wide range of topics on mental health that you can read on the go.

Drawbacks

  • Little structure: Happify does not have daily goals. Users are left with multiple options and games to choose from. This might be tricky for users who prefer clear instructions on what to do and when to do it.
  • Old-fashioned UI: Compared to other popular apps in this category, Happify's user interface looks outdated.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Gamified mental wellness app seekers
  • Mental wellness community seekers
  • Individuals battling negativity and loneliness

3. Aura

Aura is a mental wellness app that helps users become emotionally well-balanced through guided meditation, hypnosis, sound healing, podcasts, stories, celebrity masterclasses, and one-on-one coaching. Users can choose from a wide range of topics to concentrate upon like work, relationships, parenting, personal growth, sound sleep, and more.

Standout features

  • Challenges: Users get various challenges like 7-day Love and Connection Journey, 10 Nights of Deep Sleep, and more. They are a series of meditation, hypnosis, and life coaching sessions that help users build daily habits in a gamified manner. They also earn badges after completing challenges.
  • Live streaming: Users can join live streams of coaches, ask questions, and post their journey.
  • Gratitude journal: Users can write the things they are grateful for every day. This helps increase positivity and celebrate small wins.
  • Prayers: Aura offers prayer sessions from different religions.

Drawbacks

  • Limited free content: Aura offers a seven-day free trial. Most of their content requires a subscription, which might be costly for some users.
  • Tech dependence: Relying on a smartphone to sleep better can be counterproductive at times.

Who is it ideal for?

  • Individuals looking to sleep better
  • Individuals working on emotional fulfillment

Wrapping up

Productivity isn't about doing more work. It is about doing what truly matters efficiently and with focus. Experiment with apps and choose the one that enhances your workflow and addresses your challenges. Make use of free trials where possible and give yourself time to adapt to the new system. The right app is the one that fits your routine and empowers you to achieve your goals.

Happy New Year!

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