Productivity Apps I've Tried and What I Think About Them
If you're anything like me, you've probably spent a lot of time hunting down the perfect app or two to finally get your life in order. There was a period of time where I would monthly, sometimes weekly, trawl the app store for something to help me stay on top of things. And of course, things are bound to fall off the wayside or get dropped. But some things also stick.
So I thought, why not do what I just specified in the title? A couple disclosures: I am pretty much all but confirmed to have adult ADHD/ADD (I have a call with my NP later today which will put that to bed) as well as some sort of mood disorder. I also struggle with anxiety and depression. Things that frequently crop up as obstacles to getting things done for me are forgetfulness, absentmindedness, trouble focusing, procrastination, busy/foggy brain, mood cycles that switch from pretty productive to pretty unproductive, some major executive dysfunction, and something I've recently learned might be demand avoidance? Still need to do some more research on that. It's a lot. When I'm feeling good, it's great, but often it's a struggle just to get the ball rolling or remembering what I even wanted to do.
I'm happy to say that I do have some sort of system cobbled together. It's not perfect or entirely effective, but it has helped me compared to how things used to be, and better, it's been sustainable. I do use a bullet journal and paper to-do lists, but for this post I'll be focusing on the digital apps I've used, or tried to use. As with most things in the intersection of productivity and mental health, YMMV, so something that didn't work for me might work for you and vice versa.
I'll be dividing this up into 3 parts: the stuff that I tried that didn't last (the exes), the stuff I'm using now that does work (the squad), and the stuff I'm trying out at the moment (pending).
THE EXES
Habitica
Often touted with the "gamify your life" logo, this is supposed to increase your productivity by using the rpg format. Ideally you create an avatar, list the habits you want to establish as little tasks/quests, and when you complete them you get xp and level up and so on. So really trying to translate your real life into a video game.
Unfortunately I found the set up too involved for me to really get into it. I would also forget to do the things anyways. I've downloaded and redownloaded the app 2-3 times, but I felt that I just had too many habits to set up and for me it felt like too much work to set up in the beginning, so it never stuck. I think while I found the 8-bit aesthetic charming, I didn't play too many of the rpgs it drew influence from, so that level of immersion/nostalgia was also lost on me.
Forest
I read about this app online. Basically you set a timer to be productive and not touch your phone, and during that time a little tree grows. If you use your phone, the tree dies. The more you use it, the more trees you get, and the more fun trees you get to unlock. Like a pomodoro timer but with trees.
I really liked the concept, and used it for a couple weeks. But it didn't stick, often because I would forget to use it when I actually was being productive, and there isn't really a way to go in and account for when you were productive (kind of goes against the mechanic). I also gave up on the whole "avoid the phone" thing in general. But it is very cute and simple, so I wouldn't *not* recommend it.
Habit Tracker
I think this used to be Habit Bull. Kind of your basic habit tracker, you make your habits, and they show you the streak. You can establish how many times and when it happens, as well as the type of habit it is (ie, yes/no). It's got a good UI and I liked the little daily reminder/affirmations it gave, because I recall them being a bit more straightforward in a quirky way.
Ultimately it didn't stick because I ended up forgetting to use it or ignoring the reminders.
Loop Habit Tracker
I used this app pretty consistently. Very similar to the above app, main difference being that you can visually see the streak as check marks. They have different ways of visualizing the streaks as well.
I don't know why but for some reason this one stuck better than the other. I think it came down to the check marks (Habit Bull uses circles) which made it more obvious what I had completed, and you could see all the habits and edit them on the same place that you track them (I think in the other there was a separate page to edit but I may be mistaken. It's been a while). Or it could just simply be I liked the UI more. But ultimately I think I found it simpler, easier to use, and more visually comprehensive. I did end up dropping it though, and I don't continue to use it today.
Todoist
Basically a cross-platform to do list. You can organize it into projects or as habits. I did like using this, especially since it synced across desktop and mobile, and I tried using this as a way to put everything I ever wanted to accomplish into it. But it fell into the deathtrap of I just forgot to use it, and the larger tasks actually became overwhelming compared to the daily ones and I stopped using it. I was still figuring out how to tackle and balance daily to dos versus larger projects and more nebulous "get this done at some point" and as I stated earlier, putting my daily tasks onto paper post-its/notebooks ended up working out for me better.
aTimeLogger
I really wanted to use this app. It basically tracks the time you spend doing things, and can show you how you split up your day. As a kid, my mom used to plan out our days using a 24-hr paper clock that we would fill in with our "schedule" so visualizing a day like a clock or pie chart had a bit of that nostalgia as well as practical use, since I like to see my time laid out in front of me.
Unfortunately, if you don't remember to use the app... the time tracking falls through. I think you can go back in and put in time you spent after the fact, but ideally you start it when you actually start, and it runs in the background. But then you have to remember to turn it off as well. If you're good at remembering that, then it may work, but if not then... it kind of falls apart. I liked the UI and the emojis, and to my recollection you could pre-emptively choose the activities you wanted to track so it was easier to pick what to track, but yeah. Really wanted to use it, but just didn't work for my absentminded ass.
LifeRPG
Similar to Habitica, but without the cute 8-bit design. It seemed simpler to use, but I honestly don't recall using this very much, if at all. I think it just fell into too busy early set up, which was too overwhelming even to start.
Remente
Another app that seemed cute but I don't remember using it. Gotta be honest, I don't entirely remember how it works? But it was using Cognitive Behavior Therapy to help with productivity and habit tracking, and there was a journaling option. I think it means well and could be very useful for some, but while it was compelling enough for me to download, not compelling enough for me to use regularly or even remember.
Google Tasks
I vaguely remember creating a to-do list on here. If I remember correctly there is cross-platform functionality which is nice, but I just don't use it.
Intellect
This is kind of viewed as like, a personal trainer or life coach for your productivity. I was excited for it because it offered pre-made plans "personalized" for you and your goals, which I found appealing as it took the workload off of you to set everything up, but I didn't like that you could only focus on "one" thing. I know for some that may be helpful, but I have so many things that need help, it felt limiting and ultimately I didn't use it past day one.
THE SQUAD
Google Calendar
This is my go-to place to make sure I don't forget dates and commitments and deadlines. The really important stuff. If I'm hanging out with someone, have a doctor's appointment, found an interesting event I might want to check out, full moons, or need to pencil in potential vacations, this is where it goes. And I put that stuff in immediately. The fact that so many events outside of my own life are scheduled using G-cal as well, especially during covid times, just adds to the functionality. What started off as just periodic or work-related use turned into something I use all the time for my personal life. And having those reminders and alarms helps a TON and is why I use this in addition to my paper calendars. While the wall calendars help me visualize my month, G-cal actually reminds me when the stuff is happening.
However, I did learn from several failed attempts that I cannot even hope to fully schedule my life out in G-cal. Despite how helpful the reminders/alarms are for appointments and engagements, they get extremely annoying for life things like "eat lunch" or "work out" and I end up just ignoring them. Cluttering my weeks with day-to-day stuff also made it difficult to see when those important appointments actually were on my phone. I have put my usual work meetings in my gcal for scheduling purposes, which I'm neutral about. But ultimately I use this app daily and find it extremely helpful, especially with my forgetfulness.
Google Sheets
I have been a loyal user of the Google Sheets budget templates since late 2014, which is how I've tracked my finances for the past 6 years. I highly recommend them as they're easy to customize and use. The larger annual budget is also pretty comprehensive, but the massive size of it and the work it takes to fill everything in and categorize it (since there are more categories in the annual) have led me to avoid using it... but it has been sitting in the back of my mind as something to backfill since I find the data and trends useful.
My habit tracker is also through Google sheets. I found a template online (I think it was based in part on the X method) that was pretty much everything I wanted, customized it to my liking, and went from there. I don't use it all the time, but when I do it's super easy, and it has actually been instrumental in realizing I might be affected by a mood disorder, since by nature it would track the periods of disuse. Since the tracker shows the entire year, you can visually see my use of it in one full stretch (depending on how wide your monitor is) making those trends easier to see as opposed to flipping between months. Ironically, one would think since it lacks reminders (a constant theme in my dropping of other habit trackers) that I would fail to remember to use it period, but I think the familiarity of sheets and my frequent use of drive helped me actually remember to use it. The fact that I can access it across platforms, backfill days I missed (if I remember what I did) and just. The plain simplicity of it helps, as well as the fact that I can hide previous months to just focus on my current month.
Lastly, my 5 year plan lives on a Google sheet, which I update as needed and shows my financial plan as well as my life goals.
Cumo
This is just a basic memo app that I downloaded because for some reason I couldn't find the notes app lolol. But the memos are really cute, are customizable, and I use it as digital post-its/brain dump for when I don't have a pencil and paper near me. I also write songs or quotes in here, and use this constantly for grocery lists. It does come with ads which is annoying but I just found out you can buy it ad-free for $2.49, one time... hm. They have a lite and pro version which has backup data for monthly/annual subscription.
Notion
I discovered this about a month and a half ago through a youtube video, and I really like it. I use it as a digital dashboard for everything I have going on. This includes long-term projects, ideas, monthly to dos, weekly to dos, even daily to dos, and has a weekly and monthly calendar, as well as my future planning, which goes wayyyyy out. I also created a series of quicklinks to various google docs and sheets so I don't have to go searching through my drive. Lastly, I use it as a place to clip different articles I find online, whether that's recipes or resources. It's cross-platform (and cross-software) functional which I really like, and the mobile version is still fairly usable (although I did set up the dashboard on the computer. I would recommend that for sure). I had been looking for a dashboard of sorts, and this pretty much delivered.
Notion itself is super versatile, and very sandbox, so it can be extremely overwhelming because you basically start with nothing. I found the templates helpful, and based my dashboard on their life template and moved things around accordingly. There are several great youtube videos out there about how others have used Notion as well, which I'd recommend watching before diving in. Notion is also FREE which I really love, and not only does it have an offline desktop version, but a web-browser version as well. So you can really access it from anywhere. I've been debating creating a video about my own life dashboard and how I use Notion, so if I keep using it, you can expect one in a few months :) (unless you're super interested now and can't wait)
PENDING
Tiimo
I discovered this app yesterday through Facebook. It's being advertised as a habit tracker specifically made to help those with ADHD and Autism, primarily targeting the executive dysfunction and grouping habits into routines. I watched a couple videos and was intrigued. It basically leverages time blocking (how Google Calendar works) which is something I did frequently in college, and how I do prefer to visualize my days. But it adds another layer by allowing you to create a routine once, then dropping it into the days as needed. So if you choose to plan week by week, you can just use those routines you already made each week instead of reinventing the wheel every time. And if you know you'll have a different day randomly, you can plan for it instead of going through the delete process like G-Cal. There is also color coding and emojis to make it visually appealing. Then when the routine hits at that time, it basically automatically goes through that routine using the allotted time you estimated you'd need. So if your routine is make the bed (1 minute), put on clothes (5 minutes), eat breakfast (10 minutes), the reminder would go off to make the bed, and after a minute has passed or you told it you had finished, it would go to "put on clothes" automatically, and so on. It can also sync to smart watches so you don't need the distraction of your phone. There are a few videos that go deeper into this if you're interested.
On paper, I really like the sound of it. But I got caught again on building the routine. There is a lot of blank space, and maybe it was just the time that I opened the app (middle of the work day) but I didn't make much progress on it. Additionally, my days rarely start at the same time, so nailing an exact hour for my morning routine to start wasn't going to happen, which meant I wasn't going to start building the routine lol. It is also a paid app, although you can try the webcalendar for free. I haven't given up entirely on it, but I haven't made any significant moves on it yet either.
ROUTINERY
Very similar to Tiimo, it popped up in recommendations in the app store when I was looking for Tiimo. You build your routine, and when you start it, it goes. For some reason though, THIS one really landed for me. Maybe it was actually the lack of micromanaging via actively planning out which days you use this routine or not? Instead you just create the standalone routine, with the time you generally want to start it at. Something I really liked was that several of the activities were already preset, and organized based on morning, evening, and workout. There is of course the option to make a new activity. But the app prompts you straight off to create a morning routine, and has suggestions right off the bat for you to use. Not only are the emojis cute and relevant, but there is an estimated time duration each one comes with, so it's really just a matter of adding them to your routine, then shuffling them into the order you like. You can add multiple versions of the same task as well, which I personally like since you have the option of skipping an activity, so you can create a one-size-fits-all routine depending on what you have the energy for.
I used it this morning after setting it up last night. My over-ambitious self wanted to try taking a walk early in the morning, but that ended up not happening. I also didn't start the routine at the time I initially put it at. But! Turns out you can start the routine whenever you want, and once it starts, it goes like Tiimo. But you can not only end the task early, but you can pause or skip it, and it gives you the option to snooze if it takes a little longer than you anticipated (and the countdown continues. it doesn't move on to the next task until you hit skip or complete)
Since I didn't go for my walk, I hit skip. But my dumb little brain realized that even though the next task was shower, I had just changed into clothes so it felt out of order. Hence that doubling the tasks. For days where I don't feel like taking a walk, I could add a shower before I changed into my clothes and skip the 2nd shower task, or vice versa if I did choose to go for a walk. I found the immediate "moving on to the next task" super helpful, like when you're following along to an at-home workout. Sort of like following instructions, and the automatic part helped take away the "okay now what's next" or the issues with remembering. Tiimo takes advantage of this too, but again, Routinely had a lower bar to entry for me personally. More flexibility with the routine in terms of scheduling, but still with the option to actually get everything completed. There is a subscription fee if you want more than 2 routines, so if I keep using it I may fork out the money for an annual (or just try to cram everything into 2 very long routines lolol)
AVOCATION
I definitely forgot avocation was an actual word for a moment lol. But this seems pretty similar to Routinely and Tiimo, and I mainly downloaded it to see if maybe, as with Habit Bull and Loop, I'd gravitate more to one than the other. I haven't used it yet because I liked Routinely, but the UI looks very cute and you have the ability to grow a little plant with your habit streaks! I'm a sucker for anything with plants and it definitely feels like an in-game reward (which is definitely important for me and continuing habits) but... I am afraid that it may stress me out and during my first low days on the app when I break the streak, the dead plant will bum me out and make me lose motivation... so we'll see. Haven't written it off yet, but it is on the backburner.
So those are all the apps I've tried so far! Let me know if you've used any, or tried anything I haven't listed! And if there's anything you want to learn more about, especially if it's something I'm trying out or am already using, or a new one entirely, definitely let me know! As hectic as it can be trying to get my life in order, I do enjoy the planning process, so I'd love to talk more on any of this stuff more in the future :)