5 apps to improve focus and boost your workflow

Our society has undoubtedly become increasingly fast-paced. More than ever workers and companies have to prove their value and workflow within the market by being faster than competitors.

A race is on.

At the same time, and associated, we have never had such an abundance of distractions and procrastination activities.

As a result, there is a plethora of products and services to improve workflow and increase productivity.

From better workspaces to lo-fi beats playlists, from ergonomic office supplies to motivation posters, from caffeine drinks to micro-dosing hallucinogens, the list is endless and questionable.

Living in a digital age, there isn’t a scarcity of digital solutions either.

In this article, you will find our pick of 5 apps to maintain focus and boost your workflow.

1- Brain.fm

While there are countless work/study/focus music and playlists on the internet for free, none comes close to the music provided by Brain.fm.

Developed based on neuroscience and psychology, the music is designed for the brain to enhance focus, relaxation, meditation, naps, and sleep.

With 5 free sessions, Brain.fm is a must-try. But first, check the rest of our selection of apps to improve workflow.

Curious to know more about Brain.fm? Don’t miss Functional music that gets you focused in 15 minutes – Interview with Brain.fm.

2- Forest

Forest is a simple yet interesting little app. It is essentially a study/work timer.

Forest helps your workflow with a simple visual message: stay focused and grow a forest!

When the timer starts a virtual tree will begin to grow.

If you use the phone or leave the app halfway, the tree will die.

The more you will use it, the more you will be able to grow your own forest, giving a cute visual representation of your productivity and gamifying your workflow.

The best part is that you can use your achievements in the Forest app to plant real trees in the real world!

3- Flowstate

If you enjoy risk-taking or have an appetite for stressful situations, this one is for you!

Flowstate is a writing and note-taking app that will delete everything if you stop typing.

Once you begin a flow, don’t stop! If you stop typing for longer than seven seconds, all progress is erased. Scary, right?!

The only way to secure your work is to make sure you continue to type away until the session is completed.

Once completed, you’ll not only have an incredible feeling of relief but also witness the power of working under pressure.

On another note, it will reduce your constant self-judging attitude towards writing while you do it. Some editing might be needed in the end*

4- Lumosity

While the previous apps help boost productivity while working, Lumosity focuses on the root of the problem: a poorly trained brain.

Lumosity is a personal trainer for your most important “muscle” (the brain is actually an organ).

This cognitive training tool takes scientifically-validated tasks and turns them into fun and easy to learn games.

The app adapts to your unique strengths and weaknesses, sharpening skills such as memory, attention, flexibility, processing speed, and problem-solving.

5- Freedom

If your will power is still not sufficient and the procrastination monster keeps luring you into the depths of dilly-dallying, perhaps its time for Freedom.

The team behind Freedom created a service to allow workflow that operates across all your devices (laptop, phone, tablet, etc).

The app lets you set up a list of websites and apps that get you distracted and schedule “freedom sessions”.

At a predetermined time, each day, Freedom arrives and blocks you from all the sites and apps where the procrastination monster lives.

No one likes to make presentations, that’s why WeTransfer’s Paste was born: we talked to KJ Chun, Head of Product for Paste, to learn how virtual workspaces fill the physical gap.

You are now free to try some or all of these. But don’t forget that the only way to do great work is to love the work you do.