Apps to Keep You Productive This Semester

By Cain Hernandez
Blog Content Contributor

Despite constantly having my smartphone on my me at all times, I never utilize any of its functionality. Aside from checking my emails, I have yet to take advantage of the millions of apps available to keep you productive and punctual. Even the stock apps like calendar and reminder, which are made to make your life easier, sit in a folder hidden from all the other time wasting apps which occupy the majority of my time. I’ve decided to finally make a change, by practicing time-management and efficiency. Planners aren’t really my thing, so I went to the app store and installed numerous applications related to productivity. These are the select few that I feel will help not only myself, but others who want to defeat the constant procrastination that resides in us all. 

Rare Candy
iOS
$1.99

The developers of Rare Candy came up with a really interesting way to fight procrastination. Aptly named after the rare candy in Pokémon games, Rare Candy is all about “leveling up” so to speak. A habit forming app, Rare Candy tracks how many hours you put towards a single task. When you reach a certain amount of time spent working on something, you gain experience points, like a video game which in turn will give you achievements and keep you invested.

Only $1.99 on the app store, Rare Candy is worth the try.

Productivity habits & daily goals tracker
iOS
Free, Upgrade $3.99

Here’s another app focused on forming or breaking habits. The app opens with a list of topics, like health and fitness to hobbies and social. Within each of those topics are habits. For instance, if you go into social, you will find habits like “time with family” or “call mom or dad.” Of course, you can also write your own topics and habits, tailored to your specific lifestyle. Once you have all your habits down, the “Today” tab will list you all the things you have to get done for that specific day. Productivity also tracks your streaks on every individual habit, so you can see you progress.

Azendoo
iOS, Android
Free

Azendoo is a task collaboration app that syncs with other well-known apps like Evernote, even going as far as syncing files between multiple cloud based services. You can plan tasks with your team, have discussions in real time, and get updates on what they are working on. So next time you have a group project with flakey team members, collaborate with Azendoo.

Freedom
iOS, Android, Windows, Mac
Subscription Based

I’m not quite sure if this app is worth the monthly subscription of $2.42 for a year, but the concept is really interesting. Basically, Freedom blocks distracting apps and websites on your phone or computer. It helps you manage your distractions so you can get your work done on time. Features include: assigning block lists to your devices, blocking custom websites and apps and even blocking the entire internet. If that wasn’t enough, Freedom even comes with a scheduler that will automatically block apps or the internet at whatever times you have set. Pretty intense, huh? But for the chronic Procrastinators out there, Freedom might just be exactly what you need.