So, your company landed that huge client they have been after and now it is your job to manage the project. That’s great news for your career, but not great news for the amount of time you have to complete all of your new responsibilities. With stress piling up, focus and prioritization become of the utmost importance, and accomplishing the work you would rather not do or goals that you don’t feel like doing right now become easy to put on the back burner. We’ve all been there. Well, it’s a good thing we have technology to help us complete these goals, in spite of our best efforts to avoid the work we get so excited about on Jan 1st! Below are our choices for the Top 3 Apps to help keep you on track for 2017.
Forest App
Did you ever notice that you can’t put your phone down? Well, now you will be tested on your willpower, yay! The concept of Forest is to keep you focused without allowing you to indulge in time-wasting apps on your phone or distractive websites on your computer. Once downloaded, you set your timer to the amount of time you want to dedicate to your goal and “white-list” the applications or websites that are crucial for your goal’s completion. While the timer is going, a tree sprouts and grows while you stay focused. The more trees you have, the closer you get to creating a virtual enchanted forest. The Forest app can definitely help those of us that procrastinate with unproductive activities, like constant email-checking, while appearing busy. Forest is available for Android, iOS, and as a plugin for Google Chrome.
If you leave the app to do activities that you didn’t “white-list” or hit the “give up” button, your tree dies!
Rescuetime
So you have started your workday out on the right foot, got a few things done, took a lunch, got back to work, and turned that “peek” at your notifications into a 2-hour marathon of posting and commenting on Facebook. Or are you in denial of how long you spend doing this in a week’s time? Well here comes Rescuetime to your defense! Rescuetime tracks time spent on applications and websites, giving you an unbiased snapshot of your browsing activities. It’s like a Mint app (financial spending tracker) for your time, because after all time is money, right? Once you know what you are doing, you can take steps to limit or block certain habits and get detailed reports about your accomplishments.The Rescuetime is available for Android, iOS, and as a plugin for Google Chrome.
PCmag praised Rescuetime as being “… simply the best time-management app we’ve ever tested…”
StickK
Still having commitment issues? Well, then you need to tie your goal to something tangible with an app like StickK, a free goal setting platform envisioned by behavioral economists at Yale University. Yep, it’s gotten to that point. StickK works by creating habits on the basis of loss aversion. It has been demonstrated by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman that loss aversion (losing money) is twice as powerful than acquiring gains (making money). Based on this theory, upon creating a goal and determining the habits you would need to complete it, you sign a legally binding “commitment contract” with yourself, to make sure you follow through on your intentions. You can select which of the loss aversion strategies would work best to motivate you. Is it a referee that calls you out on Facebook for your procrastination, your peers cheering you on along the way, or the possible loss of $50 to a controversial charity? StickK is available for Android, iOS, and as a plugin for Google Chrome.
One of the strangest goals on the app is “speak slowly to foreigners,” proving that no goal is too outlandish!
We’ve all ended up spending a few hours on Facebook instead of beginning that difficult project or watching the latest episodes of Big Bang Theory instead of working out. That’s ok to do once in awhile, but don’t let your habits get the best of your goals or feel you have to do any of it alone. Let losing $50 to your ant-charity motivate you to lose those 20 lbs or finish the proposal that you have been putting off. What are your 2017 goals? Let us know, we’re cheering you on here at WBPRO!
Is your company in need of increased productivity? Or are you looking to have parts of your business automated? Get started on those goals and contact us today at sales@wbpro.com.
*This article was originally created by Jorge Campos, Sr. Software Consultant at WBPRO.
