You know that woman that’s always organized? There’s never a hair out of place. Her house is always clean. Her business seems to run effortlessly. She always has this calm demeanor. Her inbox is clean; every email has been responded to or trashed accordingly. She is goals. She is NOT me. I have envelopes full of paper, washi tape, planners, calendars, tax papers, water bottles, lotion — in short, my desk is a mess. We’re not even going to start talking about my inbox, which is sitting pretty at 3,088 emails! My workspace, however, is something I’m proud of as I do manage to keep that area neat-ish.
As a business owner, blogger, homemaker, single mama, just a woman doing life period, it’s hard to stay organized, but it is so necessary. It’s hard to get anything accomplished when you’re unorganized and frustrated— speaking from personal experience. Thankfully, I’ve found a few good apps that keep me focused, organized and centered in this hectic day-to-day life of mine.
1. Calm: The Best Guided Meditation App
I use Calm DAILY! I used to dread meditating. It was something I never attempted to get into, but since I started using Calm, it’s become a part of my daily morning routine.
With Calm, you have the option of guided or unguided meditations. Once you’ve made it through a meditation session, you’ll see a calendar that shows you how many times you’ve meditated during the month. You also have a huge selection of meditations to choose from such as body scan and walking meditations, sessions on topics like loving-kindness, self-care, inner peace, and forgiveness. Calm also offers Daily Calm sessions which offer you a sample from the paid programs on the app including choice, resilience, gratitude, impermanence and letting go. I’ve done a few of their sleep stories too and I definitely think they helped me get to sleep quicker.
If you’re feeling anxious, overwhelmed or just want to take some me-time, consider giving it a try. Calm does offer a trial period. If you love it, you can upgrade it to the full year. It took me only one session to decide that it was worth it. I haven’t regretted it one bit.
Available on: Apple and Android for free or $12.99/mo for a subscription
2. Momentum: Morning Motivation
All of the blogs and podcasts recommend beginning each day with a goal, mantra, affirmation, or maybe even meditation if you’re the type. But if you’ve just battled traffic, wrestled with kids, made bargains with toddlers, helped your honey hunt down keys and arrived to absolute chaos in your inbox, you might not be able to set a goal besides surviving the day. Momentum encourages you to start each day with intention. This desktop extension lets you set a daily goal that’ll appear on your homepage, set against super inspirational backgrounds of scenic views and motivational quotes like, “Deal with the big while it is still small.”
Once you finish your task, you get to manually check your goal off the list even get you a “Way to go!” in return. Cue the warm and fuzzies.
If pressure makes you want to run and hide or camp out in the bed with Netflix and a glass of wine—even when you need it—use Momentum for some lower-key inspiration.
Available on: Chrome for free
3. Boomerang For Gmail: Email Manager to Keep Productive
People send a lot of emails, like A LOT. More often than not, those emails need a follow-up. Or sometimes you just don’t need to see a notification for every email that comes. Sometimes you actually find the time to respond, but it’s 1 or 2 in the morning and you can’t send an email now, right? Enter Boomerang for Gmail. When I discovered this app, I had the insane urge to send a bunch of emails because, chile, I was obsessed!.
The app reminds that you about an email you haven’t dealt with yet, so it brings the conversation back up to the top of your Inbox. Handy if you think there are some emails you can revisit another time but probably won’t remember yourself!
The best feature of Boomerang would have to be the Pause My Inbox feature. Instead of getting distracted every time a new email comes in, I can pause my inbox and do my work – distraction-free. If one reason you’re not productive is checking (and rechecking) your inbox all the time, use the Pause My Inbox feature.
Schedule emails to send later, loopback conversations when you’re ready to deal with them, let Boomerang solve those email nightmares.
Available on: Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge for free
4. Focus@Will: Get Your Head In The Game
Focus@Will uses the science-backed motivational power of music to improve your focus. It puts your brain in full productivity mode.
The app’s calming music—coffee shop background noise, rushing water, “focus spa”—drowns out the distractions so you can hone in on your work. If Spotify’s not cutting it, give Focus@Will a shot. It costs $9.95 a month.
Available on: Apple and Android for $9.95 per month
5. Mindly: Master Your Mental Mess
You never mean to procrastinate, but your mind is so cluttered with to-do lists and deadlines and reminders to call mom that you just can’t make sense of it all…and so you start watching Netflix or binge-watching makeup tutorials on YouTube.
With Mindly, you can take back control of your brain. The app helps you organize your thoughts in a more three-dimensional—and less-soul crushing—manner than a to-do list. Through the app, you create circles and interconnect related ideas. You can edit these little bubbles, change their colors, and even add emojis to them!
So next time you’re feeling scattered, download Mindly to spring clean your brain.
Available on: Web, Apple, and Android for free
6. Podcasts: Learn Something New
I’m a life-long learner. I get so much joy in learning new things, so I just had to find a way to get a daily dose of education into my system. And I’ve realized that one of the best ways to keep learning is by listening to podcasts.
Next time you want to inject a little more wellness in your day, listen to a podcast. They’re great alternatives to listening to music while on a walk, run, or commute anyway. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone!
What apps, programs or extensions do you use to help you stay focused and get ish done? Let me know in the comment section!
Available on: Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher for free
Ready To Become A Productivity, Mentally Clear, Hella Grateful Goddess?
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