They would be no more than elements of a coherent theory if they were not supplemented by specially developed general methodological and, within the framework of individual techniques, practical tools. By following them and applying them in their daily life, everyone will be able to acquire not only useful knowledge, but also create own system setting, assessing and implementing strategic goals. The recommendations, tips, tricks, techniques, as well as time management services and programs collected in this lesson, are taken from various sources, but are universal tools and are equally useful both in terms of time management and: training self-discipline, character, attitude life priorities and goals.

Advice from leading experts in the field of time management

If you turn to someone for advice, then to a person who understands these matters. And even then, you can fully understand the system of views of a particular author only by reading and understanding his works. We have set ourselves the ambitious task of highlighting and briefly presenting the cornerstones of individual methods and techniques.

Stephen Covey

Calling S. Covey an expert in the field of time management can only be adjusted for the fact that time management for him is an element of self-improvement, which, as a whole, leads a person to success. But in this global direction he is a guru, so below are some recommendations from the section of his book “”, dedicated to the 3rd skill - determining priorities.

1. The essence of the skill: do first what needs to be done first. In other words, you should never put off important things until later, no matter how difficult and unpleasant they may be. Remember, every such thing brings you closer to your goal, so make your feelings work for the result. Everything, even the most successful people, are forced to do things that they don’t always like. It's inevitable.
2. You must “depend on your values, not on fleeting impulses and desires.” Moving towards a goal requires motivation and perseverance, so the goal itself should be a priority and important, because you can’t fool yourself.
3. The best advice for time management, according to the author: “Organize and act based on priorities.”
4. The term “time management” is not entirely correct. You need to learn to manage not time, but yourself.
5. Follow the principle of P/RS balance (result/resources+means). Balance means that none of these directions outweighs the other. Simply put, the goal must be commensurate with the effort expended to achieve it. And vice versa: you should not spend a lot of energy for success in an insignificant matter.
6. Use the matrix to identify the things that really matter and focus on them because achieving your overall goals depends on them.
7. Look for opportunities and ways to make your personal and professional life easier. Try, apply, among them there may be those that will contribute to positive changes in your life.

GTD by David Allen

D. Allen's method is useful primarily for its advice on the physical organization of the workspace, as well as recommendations for using various office and other tools to “free” the brain from unnecessary information. About what it should be workplace according to the author of GTD, . Let's look at some more recommendations:

Maintaining a card index. Most minor time delays can be avoided by widespread use of inexpensive office supplies. At simultaneous work with a large number of projects or incoming information - organize a card index. To do this, you can use regular folders in which you need to put all documentation and other materials for the project. They are worth creating even for cases where there is only 1 document.

"43 folders". Simple and effective method for organizing things. You will need 43 folders: 12 for each month and 31 for each day. Their function is to remind you of any major or minor matters planned for every day. Let’s say that at the beginning of May, as a result of negotiations, you agreed to present a report to the client at the end of June and call him a week in advance. For this purpose, a “reminder” document about the event planned for this month is placed in the “June” folder. In addition, records about the call and submission of the report are also placed in the folders corresponding to the 20th and 27th. Each day begins with familiarization with the contents of the folder. Unlike a diary or electronic organizer, they are “insured” against failure and cannot be lost or forgotten.

4 types of to-do lists. D. Allen also offers an improved model. The essence of the idea is to differentiate tasks, highlight priority areas and have a convenient structure. In total you need to maintain 4 lists:

1. Next steps. In this list, you write down the things that you need to do in the near future. You need to edit it by making new entries daily.
2. Projects. Those enterprises that are several related sub-actions, and the implementation of which requires more than one action. Projects need to be monitored weekly to be able to judge the progress of their implementation.
3. Postponed. This list stores projects the implementation of which is delegated to someone or requires the influence of external factors. They also need to be checked systematically (at least once a week).
4. Someday/maybe. From the name of the list it is clear that this is a list of uncertain things to do for the future (run a marathon or start a blog).

Julia Morgenstern

J. Morgenstern began her career as an administrator and it was there that she acquired the necessary planning and organization skills. Therefore, she is sure that time management consists, for the most part, in the correct organization of activities. And in order for it to be correct, it offers the following tools:

1. Evaluation. You should start not with the use of any methods, but with an assessment of the time spent and your actions. What prevents you from doing priority things? There may be several reasons: technical (distraction on social networks, email, making calls at unallotted times), external circumstances (tight deadlines, unrealistic schedules, additional responsibilities), psychological obstacles (unwillingness to wait and associated chronic delays, specially created crisis conditions).

2. Time frame. According to Julia, 90% of her clients using to-do lists do not write down the time required to complete them next to the items. This is a mistake: time limits need to be set for any task.

3. 4D technique. If for any reason you are unable to complete a task, you must take one of the following actions:

• Delete. “If something isn’t worth doing now, it might not be worth doing later.” This applies primarily to unskilled activities. Give up such things.
• Delay. Use sorting: lower priority tasks can be put off, freeing up time for more important ones.
• Delegate. You can involve others to complete certain tasks: colleagues, friends, family.
• Diminish. In some companies, productivity improved significantly after weekly one-hour meetings were replaced with 15-minute meetings. This made it possible to “kill two birds with one stone”: it became easier to save time for direct work, and it became easier for employees over a shorter period of time.

4. Priorities. J. Morgenstern talks about the need to develop a big “picture of life” - your goals, global plans. It consists of 3 stages. First: identifying “categories” - the main thing, what is important to you. There should be no more than six (for example, “finance”, “health”, “family”). Second: goals for each “category”. For example, in financial terms it could be a certain amount in a bank account by the time you retire. Third: 2-3 types of activities that lead to the goal (salary, passive income from investment, deposit).

5. SPACE technique. The organization of time and the organization of space are the same, so the author proposes a special planning technique SPACE (from the English space):

• Sort - sort things and things around you.
• Purge - clear time and space of everything you can cope without.
• Assign - assign each thing its place, and each task its time.
• Containerize - define the parameters of each significant activity.
• Equalize - Re-evaluate your system from time to time.

"Eat a frog for breakfast"

B. Tracy calls some unpleasant but important matter a “frog.” He is sure that it cannot be postponed, because in this way thoughts will still return to him, in addition, delay will only aggravate emotional stress. It is worth starting your day by doing this task - this way you will free yourself from the burden of necessity and focus on more pleasant things.

"Elephant steak"

It happens that we are faced with the need to solve some global problem - a complex multi-stage project. And it is not clear how exactly and what should be done, especially if the order is not specified. In this case, you need to divide the work into parts and do them separately (figuratively speaking, eating a whole elephant is much more difficult than eating one divided into steaks). This will not only allow you to begin to implement the task, but will also contribute to a better understanding of it.

Learn to say no

You can get carried away by the movie “Always Say Yes” starring Jim Carrey, but in terms of time management, he is a bad adviser. This does not mean at all that you need to avoid new opportunities, quite the contrary, but it is also wrong to take on too much, even in one area. Sooner or later a person “burns out.” Let us remind you once again that time management is needed not in order to have time to do more, but in order to do what is needed correctly.

Strive for automation

Always look for opportunities to make routine work easier. For example, if you work with email and have to constantly check your inbox, set up notifications about new emails on your smartphone or computer using special services.

Do similar things in a row

If you have to do 2-3 almost identical things throughout the day, do them in a row. The brain “gets used” to such tasks and the next time copes with them faster than if there was a break between them.

Biological clock

In time management, it is worth paying attention not only to time as a physical unit. In accordance with yours, determine the hours of greatest activity and least, and go about your business or give yourself a rest taking them into account. You may have to sacrifice the traditional cup of coffee immediately upon arriving at work, but you will spend a much more productive day.

7 services and programs for planning and time management

Google Keep

Google Keep is an electronic notepad with the ability to create regular entries and numbered lists, the simplest program that supports all mobile platforms, and also has a browser and offline version. This service is useful in the sense that from any device where you are logged into your Google account, you can access all available records; In addition, you can start working on a document from a smartphone while still in public transport on the way to work, and continue in the office from a PC.

Maniac Time

This program haunts you like a maniac all day. In a good way, of course. From the moment the program is launched, it collects information about open applications and the time spent working with them, which at the end of the working day can be used to analyze the time spent on various activities (percentage and real time). These statistics show how much per day you worked in a text editor, how much in the browser, and how much you were distracted by other applications. If certain time do not perform any actions on the computer, and then return to it - Maniac Time will greet you with a question, where were you and why weren’t you working?

LeaderTask

This program combines several useful functions - calendar, scheduler, organizer, file manager. The wide functionality is complemented by the possibility of individual customization (prioritization), the ability to visualize the presentation or progress of projects, and synchronize your data between devices on different platforms and with Outlook. The developers offer 45 days of free use to evaluate all the advantages of the program before purchasing.

Microsoft Outlook

To many this product is known as an email client, but this is only one of the functions. In fact, Outlook also provides the ability to work with a calendar and planner - quite convenient and understandable for all Office users. Read about using this program as a time management tool in the article by Gleb Arkhangelsky http://www.improvement.ru/bibliot/outlook/01.shtm.

Microsoft OneNote

Another service from the Microsoft Office suite, which has recently been distributed free of charge. The program is not something revolutionary, although it offers quite strong tools: the ability to display a tree-like to-do list, add audio and media files to tasks. Feature - support for handwriting input for tablets.

Miniplane

This service is intended for personal use, created by the authors of Megaplan - a successful corporate planning tool. One of the most famous and functional Russian products. More details about the program in short presentation.

Remember the Milk

One of the most famous GTD programs. In addition to the to-do list/planner, this service is equipped with a number of modern technical solutions designed to relieve memory pressure. Among them: setting up E-mail and SMS notifications about upcoming tasks, managing Evernote notes (which, by the way, can also be used for time management purposes), working with the application in the absence of the Internet, the ability to synchronize with a calendar Google(another independent practical tool, made by analogy with a diary).

AND main advice Finally, based on the logic of the subject of the training: you cannot learn to manage time and at the same time not value your own and other people’s time. Planning should begin with an awareness of how important it is for you specifically, how ready you are for discipline and control. Without this, a one-time reading and attempt to apply individual recommendations or tools in your life will not give a tangible effect. Therefore, we wish you patience, perseverance and, of course, measurable results. Good luck!

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge on the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. For each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question. The points you receive are affected by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on completion. Please note that the questions are different each time and the options are mixed.

The hackneyed cliché “time is money,” although it sounds unoriginal, is by no means meaningless. Ineffective time management causes millions of losses to companies and also reduces the productivity of individual employees and managers. By various reasons to modern man Often there is not enough time to cope with all the tasks. Fortunately, technology comes to the rescue by helping to optimize the hours spent at work and leisure. Forbes Life has compiled 10 of the most useful time management apps that will streamline your daily routine.

RescueTime

An app that will help you maximize the benefits of everyone else on the list. Or determine which of our recommendations are most relevant to you. RescueTime analyzes your day and determines where you spend more and less time. It helps you better understand how your time is distributed and helps organize it. Among its many features, the app sends you reminders if you're taking too long to complete a task, provides detailed reports, and gives you a performance rating. The company was founded in 2007 and was backed by YCombinator, a venture fund that has backed Dropbox, Airbnb and Reddit, among others ( total cost the business of companies directly related to Y Combinator investments exceeds $100 billion).

It's likely that you've already encountered Trello. Developed by Fog Creek Software in 2011, which was later acquired by New York-based Atlassian for $425 million, it presents project tasks in the form of virtual blocks. The interface allows you to quickly determine which tasks have been completed, which are in progress, and which are planned for the future (and when exactly). The developers themselves compare their utility with a real board on which the team writes a plan with a marker.

A music service that uses neuroscience research to help you focus and reduce stress. By selecting a soundtrack, it brings the brain into a state of maximum productivity. In order to increase efficiency, before you start using the program, it will conduct a short survey - for example, it will find out whether you tend to think logically or abstractly. Launched in 2012, the startup raised about $3.5 million in just one year, according to CEO Will Hanshall.

Clear

One of the simplest and most minimalistic checklists on the market, which has become almost a cult since its release in 2011. Clear integrates into the system in a form convenient for you and does not provide any functions other than compiling a list and crossing off completed tasks from it. The design is also not cluttered with unnecessary colors and layers. Only the essentials. A modern analogue of a paper list and a pen in your smartphone. The application is sold by one of the largest independent developers in the UK, Realmac Software.

If the minimalism of the previous solution is still not enough for you, try 1-3-5 List. A slightly more functional application allows you to distribute tasks by importance. You will have one main task (big thing) for the day, and the rest will have to be categorized as medium and small. The application helps not only to not forget anything, but to set priorities and manage your time accordingly. The developer is a small American startup Bonify.

Unlike many time management utilities, Loop doesn't just create a to-do list for the day or week, it aims to create habits. The application has a minimalistic but functional design. Some of the most useful features are the ability to track your progress on a calendar and graph, as well as get information about the sustainability of your habits. Despite the fact that the program was created by an independent development team that does not even accept donations, Loop has quickly gained a leading position in Google tops Play.

"The most annoying alarm clock ever." This is how descriptions of this application from the Korean developer Delight Room usually begin, while the official website greets with the slogan “sleep if you can.” The Alarmy alarm cannot be turned off or snoozed without complying with the program conditions. For example, you might have to solve a math problem, shake your phone, or even stand up and take a photo of a certain room. An indispensable assistant for those who cannot deny themselves the pleasure of sleeping “another 5 minutes.”

It's essentially a widget that visualizes your daily plan as a chart on your watch face. Tasks are highlighted in different colors, and a running arrow clearly demonstrates how long you have left to sit at a meeting or how many minutes later you need to run out to the next meeting with your partners. Unfortunately, the application is only available for Android. However, it was developed by the startup Laboratory 27, founded in 2012 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, which specializes specifically in this mobile platform.

Surely reading email takes up an unreasonably long amount of your time. And even more - answers to letters. The popular application Sanebox makes mailboxes smarter: using artificial intelligence it separates the “important” incoming emails from the “unimportant” ones. The first ones come to you immediately, and the second ones remain in the daily digest, which you can scroll through in your free time. The utility integrates into your existing mailbox and works with most popular services, so you don’t have to give up your usual Gmail interfaces or the native iOS app. The developer is another US startup that its head Stuart Roseman launched in the very early 2010s. According to the small team, they found the money for development on their own, and the costs are covered by the cost of the program itself.

Even if you use all the applications on the list, this is unlikely to provide you with the opportunity to read the latest longreads at any time. Instead of sacrificing your productivity throughout the day, download Pocket, the creation of IT mastodon Mozilla Corporation, released in 2007 (the company's annual revenue for 2017 was more than $560 million). The utility allows you to postpone materials that interest you - be it articles, videos, or podcasts - “for later”. When you've dealt with everything, just open the application and select something from the generated list.

Artjoker

Everyone dreams of managing time. But if it is not yet possible to build a time machine, and if anyone knows how to do it, they still won’t tell us, then everyone can master the “time management” technique. And in today’s article I will tell you about a couple of dozen useful services that will simplify the process of “getting everything done.” They are all free, so download, install and try!

To make it more convenient, I divided the long list into 3 categories:

• planning services (allow you to create to-do lists and link them to date and time)
• services for notes (so as not to keep everything in your head and not a single brilliant idea don't forget)
• controller services (helping to discipline oneself)
• additional services (something that did not fit into the first two categories, but is also useful for time management)

Services for planning:

1 Any.DO

This service is one of the most popular schedulers. In addition to the fact that it is very convenient to make to-do lists, it also sorts them into folders (personal and work) and sets the start of the work week. Any.DO synchronizes with your mail and allows you to create tasks from emails. Features also include the ability to take notes and reminders.

The program is available as a mobile application for iOS and Android, as well as a Chrome browser extension, as well as a PC version.

2 Todoist

Nice design, user-friendly interface, and interesting features make this application an excellent alternative to the previous service. Among the features: setting priorities for each task, the ability to break one large task into a number of subtasks. Synchronization with Gmail is also available, which is very convenient.

What I especially like is the ability to create lists of books you want to read, movies, shopping, and you can also add your own categories.

3 Google Calendar

It may seem like everyone uses it, but I was surprised to learn that many people still ignore it. That's why I included it in this list. So, if you still don’t use this service from the Google good corporation, then you should start, and here’s why. Firstly, it is very convenient to carry out long-term planning of affairs, months in advance. Secondly, you will never forget about important meetings and matters, since Calendar will send you SMS notifications in advance. And also, like any Google product, Calendar is synchronized with all services. In addition, you can create collaborative calendars, which is very convenient for team planning.

4 Wunderlist

This application is more suitable for time management in the personal sphere, although it will be very convenient at work. Features include the ability to view other people's public lists, share your own lists, comment, and plan both travel and projects. You can set tasks for other people (provided that they are also users of the service), and not just for yourself. The Wunderlist app is available for both PC and mobile users.

5 GTasks

A simple service, not as intricate as points 1, 2 and 4, but quite useful. If you strive for simplicity and minimalism, then you may like it. Here you can set tasks for yourself, share them with friends, and set reminders. There is a version for Android and iOS

Services for notes:

6 Google Keep

I like everything about this application: from the interface, reminiscent of sticky notes on the wall, to the simplicity of the functionality - nothing superfluous. I use it to write down my thoughts: briefly, so that I can look at them and immediately remember them.

7 Evernote

It seems like you can do absolutely anything here! And notes are only a small grain of this entire volume of functions. Here you can write articles, add multimedia files, and even link information to a location so that you can then carry out a convenient search. In general, Evernote is such a mastodon among all time optimization services.

8 Skitch

Another great service from the creators of Evernote. Allows you to take pictures on which you can then write as much as you want with your own thoughts. Skitch is suitable for those who prefer to draw rather than write.

9 ColorNote

An alternative to Google Keep that allows you to quickly take notes, each of which can be set as a reminder. ColorNote will be convenient for those who like stickers and bright colors.

10 OneNote

This service is from Microsoft, in which each note can be tagged with a thematic tag, for example: call, discuss with your boss, remember for an article, etc. Those who have not made friends with Evernote may like OneNote.

Controller services:

11 RescueTime

A program that allows you to control how effectively you spend your time on the Internet. In addition to time spent completing tasks, RescueTime can also calculate non-productive time. Very convenient when we are constantly distracted by social media or news sites. And so, I saw time wasted for nothing, and next time you will be more disciplined :-)

12 SelfControl

A program that prevents you from accessing entertainment sites in working hours. In SelfControl, you independently determine “harmful sites” and the ban period. What’s convenient is that if you decide to break the ban, you won’t succeed, the program will be strict with you and will never let you in.

13 Focus Booster

There is such a time management technique, the Pomodoro method. The essence of it is that you define a series of tasks that you plan to complete, and break it down into 25-minute segments, with a 3-5 minute break after each. These segments are called “tomatoes”. After every fourth pomodoro, it is strongly recommended to rest for 15-30 minutes. And so as not to get confused in the “tomatoes,” Focus Booster will give you signals that it’s time to work or rest.

14 Toggle

This is a time tracker that allows you to control the time spent on a particular task. There is a free version in which you can connect up to 5 people to projects. Toggl is useful because you will clearly understand how much time you spend on each type of work, and knowing this information, you can understand what and where to optimize.

15 ManicTime

Another program that counts the amount of time spent on each activity on the computer. The site, of course, needs to be redrawn, but many people praise the ManicTime program itself.

Additional services:

16 Pocket

A convenient service for bookmarking interesting articles. In Pocket, you can create thematic tags for each bookmark. It is useful for time management because it allows you to keep everything interesting articles in one place, and in the free time you have, you can sit down and re-read everything on the topic of interest.

17 Google Mail Checkers

To avoid checking your email frequently, you can install the Google Mail Checkerst extension in your browser, which will display the number of new messages in the top panel. This will save you time between constantly switching windows.

18 Active Inbox

Another extension for working with mail. With Active Inbox, you can manage emails more efficiently by prioritizing them, and also mark the status of emails (in progress or awaiting a response).

19 SpeakIt!

Quite an interesting service that converts a text file into speech. SpeakIt! It doesn't work perfectly, but sometimes it can make life a lot easier.

And finally, a universal and indispensable tool:

20 Notebook

The digital world is good, but there should be a piece of old school :-) Nothing can replace a good old notebook in which you can draw from the heart, write down hundreds of thoughts, scribble, and express yourself in every possible way on the pages.

What services do you use?

Time management is a difficult but essential skill for a successful person. It is impossible to keep all the ideas in your head, correctly distribute goals, analyze your schedule and make adjustments to it.

Time management apps make this process easier. They make tasks and deadlines clear, do not allow you to forget important things, carry out analytical work and give tips.

This article presents 11 time management programs that can be used on mobile devices, computers, and browsers.

This task scheduler is very popular due to its rich functionality, pleasant interface and free access. In Tick Tick, tasks are arranged into lists, which you can create as many as you like.

It is convenient to divide them into professional, household and personal. The architecture allows you to represent a task as three levels nested within each other: list, goal, checklist. Another option is a list that works like a goal: until all its items are completed, the goal will remain unfulfilled.

Why you should try:

• Can be used for free.

• There is a habit tracker.

• Intuitive design with swipe controls.

• Available on 10 platforms with instant syncing.

• View statistics.

• Google Tasks and Calendar are supported.

2. TMetric

• TMetric website

TMetric is an application for accurate time tracking that helps monitor team productivity and analyze project profits.

The application provides complete information about employee attendance, working days, number of hours worked and paid, level of activity, overtime. A detailed reporting system allows you to track project costs and analyze income.

TMetric has flexible settings for the vacation module, where you can easily create company vacation policy rules, quickly send vacation requests and control missed days.

Why you should try:

• Easy to use time tracking app.

• Integration with 50+ popular services such as Jira, Asana, Trello, GitLab.

• Available on all platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

• Free plan for a team of up to 5 people.

Smarter Time is a multi-platform service for managing things from any device. This time management app has nice graphics and automatic activity tracking. Thanks to it, the user receives categorized analytics by day, week, hour, and for the entire tracking time.

Why you should try:

• Colorful and convenient type of analytics.

• Can be used with mobile device, and from a computer.

• A sleep tracker helps you recuperate properly.

• The functionality of creating and tracking goals promotes the formation of productive habits.

This is the most original appearance application in this rating. In Sectorgraph, tasks are arranged on the dial according to the time that needs to be allocated to them. The arrow shows when you need to finish working on one thing and start another. It is especially convenient that the clock can be added as a widget directly to the main screen of the device.

Why you should try:

• Original execution and quick access to the task diagram.

• Supports time management according to the GTD (Getting Things Done) principle.

• Synchronization with Google calendar - tasks and events migrate to the widget automatically.

• Seamless integration into Android Wear.

The program is currently only available on devices with operating system Android.

One of the popular schedulers with an exemplary set of functions. Wunderlist works on different platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, OS X, Windows, Linux, Chromebook, Kindle Free, browsers. The program supports integration with Slack, Microsoft Outlook, Dropbox, Zapier and is therefore suitable for effective time management in business.

Why you should try:

• Covers almost any platform.

• You can share access with other people and discuss tasks in the comments.

• Converting emails into tasks.

• Notifications via email and push.

• Large list of free features.

• Lists with sharing and discussion (up to 25 participants in the free version).

• Attaching files, photos, tables.

• There is an API for writing your own extensions and add-ons.

Any.do is a veteran that combines the functions of a planner, calendar, reminders, and to-do list manager. The long presence in the niche of this time management application has helped the developers create an impeccable design with easy operation. Any.do allows you to stay up to date and adjust your plans anywhere using your smartphone, laptop, tablet or smartwatch.

Why you should try:

• Great functionality in the free version.

• Reminders by time and geolocation.

• Easily sync data between mobile and desktop devices.

• Sharing access to lists and tasks with assignment functionality.

This is a good time management and productivity tracking program that works on all devices, including PC systems - Linux. The application suggests dividing user activity into categories: work, leisure, communication, shopping, etc. They have subcategories where tasks are ranked by productivity. For example, texting and browsing news on Facebook may be identified by the user as either a waste of time or as a useful process for gaining social capital. For each type of activity, you can set time limits and restrictions.

Why you should try:

• Flexible settings for the “usefulness” of classes.

• Automatic tracking of time spent, taking into account the importance of the activity.

• Detailed statistics by day, week and month.

• Alerts that the current task has expired.

• Block distracting sites.

• In the corporate version, you can study team productivity and use individual recommendations to improve efficiency.

A convenient program for maintaining to-do lists, access to which can be shared with other users. The functionality of the time management application supports arranging tasks by importance, sorting through filters and shortcuts, and voice reminders. Using the Todoist-karma service, you can visually study your personal productivity.

Why you should try:

• Colorful productivity graphs based on the user's daily and weekly progress.

• Rich functionality of the free version.

• Integration with dozens of third-party services for storage, scheduling, and task automation.

• Collective access to tasks.

• You can set deadlines and add recurring goals in simple language. For example, “at 6 pm on Tuesday” or “every day at 3 pm.”

This application is based on nonlinear planning technique. Developers say “no” to calendars, dates, deadlines and everything that users who find it difficult to force themselves into specific boundaries cannot stand. Keep It Green is not designed for task management, but rather for habit development and self-motivation. And he has many fans.

The program colors habits depending on how the user copes with them. Green - everything is going well. Yellow – more attention needs to be paid. The Reds are shamelessly abandoned.

Why you should try:

• A special approach to developing regular habits. Perhaps it will be more effective for you.

• Minimalistic and intuitive interface.

• Visual planning without a calendar.

• Automatic calculation and suggestion of priorities based on habits.

• Visual statistics.

10. Toggle

Loyal users of this time management app are drawn to its ease of use and free use. The basic version includes shared access to tasks (up to 5 people), weekly reporting on one or more projects, daily activity, export of results to CSV, PDF. The application integrates with dozens of programs for project management, business, web development, and information storage.

Why you should try:

• The functionality of the free version is sufficient for personal use.

• Easily track time spent on projects and tasks.

• Dividing tasks by project, client, and cost of work helps you learn how to earn more.

• There is a public API for transferring data, extending functions, and embedding the application into personal projects.

This is a simple and free time tracker that can be used to track personal habits and for work. The program shows how much time it takes the user to complete certain tasks, and also calculates the salary for the time worked, taking into account a pre-specified rate. Organic design without overloading elements, easy navigation, flexible application settings, the ability to leave notes and tags for projects make the user experience pleasant and useful.

Why you should try:

• Convenient organizer and scheduler with support for export to CSV and XLS.

• Data on productivity and time spent at work can be studied for a day, month, year or other period.

• Google Calendar plugin.

We continue our review of interesting, useful and, if possible, free online assistants. Today we will talk about those services and applications that help us manage time (our own and that of our employees) and be more efficient. Let's consider the simplest “to-do” sheets, and complex systems allowing you to store documents and coordinate work with employees. After all, every service has its own user, isn’t it?

So, 15+ resources for planning and time management.

http://nowdothis.com - a minimalist service for one to-do list. Enter your list into the window, and the service prompts you to click the “Done” button after completing each task. Suitable for those who have a clear and understandable plan, and who at the same time like to tick off completed items. Not suitable for those who have a flexible schedule and a floating to-do list.

http://www.plan-your-time.com/to-do/— here you can also make your to-do list, checking off completed ones. In addition, the service calculates how much time is spent completing each task. But if you need to pause between tasks or swap tasks, the list will have to be compiled again.

http://todolist.ru is also the simplest online service for compiling several to-do lists. You can make lists several days in advance. The functionality is also quite limited - just lists, like in a paper diary, and nothing extra. But it's free.

http://todoist.com— a convenient task scheduler with an online version and for different gadgets. You can set goals and plan specific steps to achieve them. You can create joint tasks, delegate and control their execution. Interesting feature– the service considers the so-called “karma” - the user’s productivity. The minimum set of functions is free, you will have to pay for advanced ones, but essentially Google does the same thing for free (read on).

https://www.google.com/calendar/render is a calendar that is with you all the time, on any device – mobile or desktop, yours or someone else’s. The calendar can remind you of a planned event, not only for you, but for all participants - via email and SMS. Like other Google services, the calendar is free.

https://calendar.yandex.ru- well, you understand :)

http://miniplan.ru from the creators of Megaplan. Combines to-do lists, an electronic calendar with reminders, and a cute interactive clock where you can add your to-dos. The miniplan is free and suitable only for personal planning - that’s why it’s mini.

http://yaware.ru— online time and productivity tracking system. Suitable for those who work on the Internet. You add to the system sites that you visit for work (or not for work :)), defining them in the category of useful, useless and neutral. The system tracks how much time per day you spend on each resource and provides a report at the end of the day. In this case, only the time during which you actually work with the resource is taken into account; the system simply ignores open and unused tabs. The site offers free access to tracking your own productivity and paid packages with advanced options for tracking employee time. There are applications for smartphones.

http://motivateclock.ru- a similar program. Download and install on your computer; there is a version only for Windows. The program is free, for personal use only, there is no corporate option.

http://www.leadertask.ru is another similar service, an electronic diary that works online, on smartphones, from a computer and even from a flash drive. It also makes it possible to coordinate plans with the team, synchronize tasks across different devices and so on. There is a free version for personal use, several paid packages, and a boxed version for corporate clients.

https://www.wunderlist.com/ru— cloud service for data storage and task distribution. This is a system of to-do lists and a set of tools for working with them. You can set tasks, divide them into subtasks, set deadlines, link tasks together, set reminders, share your tasks with other people, and so on. The service is suitable for both personal planning (free) and business purposes (for money), and is synchronized between different devices.

http://evernote.com/intl/ru/- a service that has now gained wild popularity. This is a program and web service for storing large volumes of notes, and notes can be of any format - text, images, audio, video, with attached files. In addition, the service works as a project management system, helping not just to store a bunch of information, but to organize it and, if necessary, share it. Opens everywhere - online, from computers and phones, and synchronizes your information. There is a minimal free package and paid versions with advanced functions (for example, in a paid account you can collect an entire electronic library or video library). Evernote comes with some nice auxiliary services - for example, Skitch, which we're talking about. And if you wish, you can connect Google mail and Google calendar.

https://getpocket.com— a browser extension, similar in functionality to Evernote, but not for notes and files, but for web pages. You save all the pages that you cannot look at right now - it turns out to be a plan for reading in the future. Inside the service there is a convenient function for clearing pages of junk - advertising, unnecessary links, etc. This helps save time and read only useful content. For money you get a search, a tagging system and a generation function electronic library(if the authors of the articles you tagged decide to delete them, the articles will still remain in your pocket).

http://worksection.com- a system that combines file storage with time planning. You can save files in any format for free. For an additional fee, you get a calendar with reminders and advanced functions: timer, time tracking, finance, etc. You can also work on projects with the participation of assistants. The service allows you to set tasks and monitor their implementation, take into account the efficiency of employees’ working time, calculate costs, organize group chats, etc.