22 Essential Productivity Tolls To Improve Your Workflow

Producing excellent work is an important aspect of career success, and there are many ways to improve productivity while maintaining job satisfaction. One of the best ways to improve work outcomes is by using a productivity tool. Understanding the various options for productivity tools can help you choose the ones that work best for you and your team. In this article, we discuss 22 productivity tools you can find online and explain why these tools are important.

Why is it important to know productivity tools?

Knowing about and using productivity tools can help you increase productivity and performance in the workplace. This is because the goal of productivity tools is to help you save time and complete your work efficiently by limiting distractions and simplifying basic tasks, like checking your email. These tools are especially useful for office jobs or other careers that require excellent time management and online communication skills. Using productivity tools to complete your duties more easily may make you more satisfied with your job, which also benefits your mood and mental health.

Related: How To Be More Productive

22 productivity tools for the workplace

Here are 22 digital productivity tools to help you manage your time and simplify your duties in the workplace:

1. ProofHub

ProofHub is a project planning software that connects managers, teams and clients in one place for more efficient production. This software provides many services to help you plan and organize projects with multiple people. Its comprehensive approach to project management allows you to use ProofHub tools for various projects with different clients at the same time. Some features include:

• Request forms

• Note-taking

• Private chats

• Privacy settings

• To-do lists

2. Asana

Asana is another project planning and management software available online. It focuses on streamlining and automating work for teams to meet their deadlines and objectives. With multiple tools to track and manage workload and workflow, Asana aims to simplify the employee side of project management and ensure teams are performing their best. Features to achieve this are:

• Timelines

• Progress boards

• Calendars

• Project portfolios

• Process templates

3. Evernote

Evernote is an online note-taking application that allows users to plan their activities for better time management. Organization flexibility and easy access are important aspects of Evernote because they allow users to manage tasks in the best ways for them. While Evernote focuses on an individual's organizational skills, it also allows teams to share information in their Spaces features. Other features include:

• Note-taking

• Templates

• Web clipper

• Document scanning

• Note syncing

4. Slack

Slack is a workplace communication software that allows users to create groups called channels to discuss specific subjects. This helps users communicate with their teammates and share important files. Slack offers instant messaging, voice calls and video calls to help users get and share information with their colleagues for better productivity. Some specific features included in this software are:

• Private and public channels

• App integrations

• Search function

• Workflow Builder

• Separate workspaces

Related: 65 Collaboration Tools To Promote Teamwork

5. Trello

Trello is a task-organization software for teams to track and share project progress. Features like boards and cards organize tasks, timelines and information for users to manage every detail of a project and understand each team member's role. Trello's automation feature, Butler, reduces the time to complete minor tasks so users can focus on production. Here are some additional features:

• File storage

• Activity logs

• Task assignment

• Timelines

• Power-Ups

6. Freedom

Freedom is a software program that blocks distracting apps and websites so users can focus on their work and productivity. Users can set their blocklists by choosing which applications and websites distract them most. Freedom benefits the workplace because it allows users to concentrate and gives them more time for work. Other features of this program include:

• Ambient noise

• Browser extensions

• Locked mode

• Scheduling block sessions

• Session history

7. IFTTT

IFTTT, the acronym for If This Then That, is an app that connects apps and devices to simplify processes and create powerful integrations. This is useful for completing many everyday tasks in the workplace more efficiently. To do this, IFTTT uses Applets, which users can create to make devices and apps perform certain actions. Here are some IFTTT features:

• Create Applets

• Connect popular apps and devices

• Explore published Applets

• Add multiple actions

• Set conditions

8. Freedcamp

Freedcamp is a project management system available on the web, mobile devices and as a desktop program. Teams use it to track the progress of a project, and it allows users to have public and private task lists. There are many features available on Freedcamp to help teams stay productive and track information. Some specific features include:

• Time tracker

• Issue tracker

• Invoice tracker

• File editor

• Subtask lists

Related: The 24 Best Free Project Management Software Tools for 2021

9. Zapier

Zapier is a tool that connects multiple web apps together to help teams automate their workflows to improve productivity and performance. It uses workflows called Zaps that assign trigger events to web apps to perform everyday tasks, like sending surveys to various team members at a certain time every week. Other features of Zapier include:

• App integration

• Zap sharing

• Information encryption

• Multi-step Zaps

• Autoreplay tasks

10. Todoist

Todoist is a to-do list program that provides project collaboration, organization and planning functionality for teams and individuals. This tool aims to help users organize their thoughts for more mental clarity and better work performance. Teams can collaborate more effectively with comments and progress trackers to keep everyone on schedule. Some features of Todoist are:

• Recurring due dates

• Team member roles

• Automatic data backups

• Labels

• Priority levels

11. Calendly

Calendly is scheduling software that teams can use to plan meetings easily. It uses an online calendar to allow users to choose dates and times that work for them and the colleagues to meet and sends confirmations and reminders to the attendees. This helps teams save time and focus on preparing for their meetings. Some specific features of Calendly include:

• Calendar app integration

• Invitations

• Auto-assigning meetings

• Notifications

• Time zone detection

12. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a collaboration platform for teams to communicate, manage projects and analyze customer data. This platform combines many business management systems to make it simple for users to access information and complete work. Customer data and contact functionalities enhance typical project management features like time tracking and project profiles. More features of Bitrix24 are:

• Customer relationship management (CRM)

• Private and group chats

• Employee polls

• Task counters

• Feature integration

13. Toggl

Toggl is time tracking software with three tools to help users improve productivity in the workplace. Toggl Plan is a tool that teams can use to see when team members are available and record project progress. Toggl Track can track and label time spent working to help users understand their workday. Toggl Hire helps managers and recruiters create job-specific skills tests for smoother hiring. Other features are:

• Timeline sharing

• Combined data dashboard

• Tracking reminders

• Templates

• Project profiles

14. SaneBox

SaneBox is an email management service that separates emails by their priority levels. The software sends important emails straight to a user's inbox but keeps less important or distracting emails in a SaneLater folder for users to check when they're finished working. This helps users save time when checking their email and makes important emails more noticeable. Features of SaneBox include:

• Multiple email accounts

• Do Not Disturb

• Reminders

• SaneLater, SaneNews and SaneCC folders

• Custom folders

15. Harvest

Harvest is a time tracking software that uses visuals like charts and graphs to keep teams on schedule with their projects and communicate information to clients. This tool is best used for teams that require detailed profit and time information, especially those who have to report such information to their clients. The specific features that make Harvest useful are:

• Time vs. budget reports

• Time trackers

• Calendar integrations

• Browser extensions

• Timesheets

16. Paymo

Paymo is a work and project management software that includes basic project management features and the ability to bill clients. It is to help teams get organized together and allows them to combine multiple types of data like reports, timesheets and schedules in one place for easy access. Paymo focuses on collaborative feedback between team members and clients to improve work performance. Features include:

• Task management

• Scheduling

• Cost estimations

• Time tracking

• Invoicing

17. Time Doctor

Time Doctor is an employee monitoring application used by managers and other high-level employees to supervise the work of team members. With this tool, managers can use features to track how their employees work on computers and create progress and time reports to increase productivity. Some of Time Doctor's useful features are:

• Automated screenshots

• Web and app usage reports

• App integrations

• Time use alerts

• Break trackers

Related: 12 Management Tools for a More Productive Workplace (With Tips)

18. Simplenote

Simplenote is a note-taking web and mobile application. It provides simple, user-friendly note-taking on multiple devices for teams to keep and share information. With the help of tags, Simplenote makes it easy for any team member to find specific notes quickly. While using this tool is straightforward, it has some additional features like:

• Note history

• Syncing and backups

• Publishing notes online

• Markdown support

• Note sharing

19. Unroll.Me

Unroll.Me is a program that helps users unsubscribe from emails to improve productivity and focus in the workplace. The goal of this tool is to clear a user's inbox to help them concentrate on the most important emails. Users can also combine subscription emails into groups that allow them to access necessary emails easily. Here are some other features of Unroll.Me:

• Show all subscription emails

• Daily Rollup

• Automatic categories

• Organize subscriptions

• Resubscribe

20. nTask

nTask is a task and project management software that teams can use to plan and analyze their project or everyday duties. It aims to help users prioritize tasks to improve workflow and make communication between team members easier. This software also focuses on recognizing and eliminating project challenges before they occur. Important features of nTask include:

• Issue tracking

• Risk management

• Meeting management

• To-do lists

• Timesheets

21. Chanty

Chanty is a business communication platform that allows users to chat and share information from multiple devices. This tool provides a simple interface that helps teams organize information and connect with each other. Teams can also use the Teambook feature, which keeps multiple types of information in one place for a user to access. Some features of Chanty include:

• Create tasks

• Set permissions

• App integration

• Voice and video calls

• Voice messages

22. Forest

Forest is a mobile app and browser extension that helps users stay focused by encouraging them to stay off distracting apps or websites while working. It works by allowing a user to plant a seed in a virtual forest, where the seed will only grow if the user concentrates on their work and avoids websites on their Blocklist. Useful features of Forest are:

• Various work timers

• Progress sharing

• Individual time tracking

• Customizable statistics

• Mobile widgets

Please note that none of the companies mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.