5 Tools/Apps to Beat Overwhelm and Boost Productivity
Some of these tools bring clarity to your thoughts, some calm your mind, and some are fun! In their unique way, each of these tools can help you beat overwhelm and boost productivity.
#1 — Your browser window, a nifty notepad
I agree that the browser window is a strange choice for a writing pad 📝 . It’s somehow my favorite pick to jump-start any project.
In case you don’t know, entering the following command in your browser window and pressing Enter turns your browser into a quick notepad:
data: text/html, <html contenteditable>
It’s a basic notepad. No social sharing, no auto-save to the cloud, no frills at all. When you close your browser window, poof! All that you wrote is gone.
Then why use it all?
Being basic takes the pressure off performance, especially when there’s a lot going on in your mind. When you don’t know where to begin, the crudeness of this tool is welcoming to the unstructured thoughts. You can quickly jot down any to-dos, random thoughts, worries, or half-baked ideas.
It’s simple to use and it’s free. Most times, as I keep writing in this space, my unstructured thoughts start to evolve into more structured writing. When that happens, I know its purpose has been fulfilled. I copy and paste things to Notion, the next tool in my toolkit.
#2 — Notion, your second brain
This tool is designed to be an all-in-one workplace for one and all.
It brilliantly removes the typical categorization of our lives into personal and professional stuff. Merging the two is a powerful offering. You can plan a marketing campaign as well as family travel in the same workspace. Everything is as separate or as connected as you want it to be. You can link documents within documents, create databases within databases, share them with others, or keep things private.
I use Notion for writing articles, creating to-dos, tracking habits, creating a content calendar, jotting down random thoughts and ideas, writing book summaries, saving recipes, tracking homeschooling projects, journaling, and so on.
My partner, who’s a product designer uses it for creating proposals, roadmaps, design systems, and user research databases. My kids use it for their research-based projects, taking notes, maintaining their reading list, and so on. People even use it to create websites!!
In spite of being so powerful, Notion has a minimal interface. None of the features shout for the user’s attention. You discover and learn its capabilities as and when you need them.
Notion is a web-based tool like most modern tools these days. You can install the desktop app here or simply use the browser version.
If you use Notion as I do, it’s the best digital tool you can use to beat overwhelm in your life. You can see a glimpse of your mind in front of your eyes in writing. Avid users rightfully call it their second brain.
#3 — Forest, the app that helps you stay focussed
This app is for those who keep getting distracted by social media notifications, emails, messages, so basically all of us 😜. It has a simple motto, ‘Stay focussed, stay present’.
It has a beautifully designed timer based on the Pomodoro Technique, which is about allocating yourself intervals of 30-45 mins to stay focussed on the task at hand. But what makes this app unique is its noble cause of planting trees 🌲!
This is how it works — When you need to focus on a task, open the Forest app, select a virtual tree to grow, and start the timer (10 mins up to 120 mins). Get on with your task on your desktop and leave your phone alone.
If you can’t help looking at your phone screen, you’ll see smartly crafted messages like ‘Don’t look at me’, ‘Leave me alone!’, ‘Go back to your work’. All meant to keep the digital distractions at bay.
Your virtual tree grows if you stick to the session. Over time, you can build an entire forest. If you get distracted and use your phone for checking out your WhatsApp or responding to an email, your tree dies.
I know it’s a virtual tree but I still don’t want to be a tree killer. There must be many more who share the same sentiments as the app has 40 million users as of Mar-2022!
Users earn credits from each focus session. They can use those to plant real trees. Forest works with Tree for the future, a non-profit organization that helps farmers of South Africa by growing thousands of trees.
#4 — Calm, recharge your mind
Calm is a sleep-and-meditation app. It’s one of the most popular mindfulness apps. It provides access to a huge variety of zen content like bedtime stories, anxiety relief, sleeping better, reducing stress, teaching meditation etc.
Although it provides a lot of guided meditations for all ages, I use its unguided meditation for 10–15 mins each day to catch a power nap!
Give yourself a 10–15 min break from work to deep breath, meditate, or sleep. It helps your racing mind relax and recharges you to perform at your best.
#5—Wordle, your little win of the day
Chances are that you have already done your wordle for the day. If you didn’t, you’re thinking of doing it right away! Wordle is a simple, fun, web-based word game that makes it irresistible to not play it every day. New York Times bought it for millions of dollars soon after its release.
In case you don’t know about the game, you need to guess a five-letter word in six tries. Each time you get a correct letter in the wrong place, it shows up as yellow. A correct letter in the correct place shows up as green. Here’s an example:
A fun brain teaser in the middle of a busy day is a stressbuster. It helps you secure a quick win for the day. As luck plays a role in decoding the word of the day, it doesn’t crush your spirits even if you lose! People love sharing their experiences with friends and family. My younger child, who’s 10-year old is ranking the top in our family so far!
“Overwhelm happens when you think you need to figure out everything all at once.”
—Unknown
