6 apps for better productivity

Software to enhance your efficiency

In many ways, mobile devices can be both a distraction and a burden when we want to achieve our goals. But as with any tool, whether your iPhone or iPad help or hinders your productivity basically comes down to how you use it.

Here, we’ve picked six of our favorite apps for helping you complete your daily tasks more efficiently — whether it’s managing your emails, or focusing on those jobs you just have to get done.

And because life isn’t just work, work, work, we’ve also included apps to help you develop healthy habits and that promote mindfulness, too. tim hardwick

Astro Free Made for iPhone, iPad

If you feel overwhelmed by emails then Astro is for you. The AI-powered inbox assistant watches for patterns in your message management and learns which emails are the most important to you, placing them in a priority inbox. It can unsubscribe you from emails and purge your inbox of junk, with minimal interaction on your part. Astro even responds to natural language commands and helps to manage your schedule.

Things 3 $9.99 Made for iPhone, iPad

Beneath Things’ simplistic interface is a powerful to-do app that’s especially useful for breaking up daily tasks into easier-to-tackle chunks: multiple views like ‘Today’, ‘This Evening’, and ‘Upcoming’ give clear chronology to your workflow, while headlines allow you to break down to-dos into even smaller jobs. The latest version, Things 3, also features a deep-linking mechanism that can connect to-do lists with other apps.

Drafts 5 Free (IAPs) Made for iPhone, iPad

Drafts might look like a barebones text editor, but its extensibility makes it a powerful note capturing tool. The app works as a launching-off point to copy, share, or link your text into a range of other apps and services. Use it to compose a message, create a file in Dropbox, send a task to Reminders, and a whole host of other actions. You can even use it to style the text you create, thanks to its extensive formatting tools.

Forest $1.99 Made for iPhone, iPad

Digital devices can easily become the focus of procrastination; that’s why Forest encourages you to put down your phone and focus on the task at hand. It does this by growing virtual trees on your phone when you’re not using it for other things — but if you leave the app, your tree will wither. Growers earn rewards and unlock new tree species, while an inspired friend system means trees only grow when everyone stays focused.

Timeless Free (IAPs) Made for iPhone, iPad

More and more people are discovering mindfulness as a way to boost productivity, as it can prevent multiple tasks and thoughts from overwhelming the mind. Timeless is a slick meditation and timer app that offers daily reminders for when it’s time to be mindful. You can easily customize sessions, track your daily progress, and earn streaks. Guided meditation courses are also on offer if you don’t know where to start.

Done! Free (IAPs) Made for iPhone

Optimizing your productivity depends on building good habits and quitting bad ones, which is what Done does best. This app lets you create healthy routines, set goals, and track your progress over days, weeks, and months, and motivates you with streaks when you meet your goals over consecutive periods. Its journal lets you keep notes about your habits, and the customizable UI and responsive audio effects only add to the satisfaction.