Productivity Apps & Tools
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Although the Stanford CTL does not endorse any particular app or company, our student staff has compiled the following list of free and low-cost apps to promote focus, organization, and motivation.
Apps and websites for preserving focus
- Forest: This mobile app prevents you from using your phone by growing a tree on your screen. If you navigate away from the app, the tree dies and you must start over.
- SelfControl: This application for macOS allows you to block distracting websites for a designated period of time and display the amount of blocked time remaining on your screen. You can also select specific websites to whitelist and block everything else
- StayFocusd: Lets you pick how much time you can spend on a website before itʼs automatically blocked. There is also a “nuclear” option that blocks the same websites (or only allows whitelisted websites) for a certain amount of time.
App and websites for managing tasks and lists
- Google Keep: This Google Account app lets you write, record, and search notes, and stores them on the side of your browser window for easy access.
- Todoist: Helps you keep your to-do lists in order. You can organize your lists by category (for instance, a to-do list for each class) and even create recurring tasks.
Apps and websites for writing focus
- Fighterʼs Block: Asks you to type in a word count goal for a piece of writing and then select a “fighter” character to defeat a designated antagonist. Once youʼre writing, you must continue to write, or your characterʼs health will decrease and the game will end.
- Squiblerʼs The Most Dangerous Writing App: This website is designed to turn off the internal editor and encourage text generation. You must type for the set number of minutes you select, and if you stop typing for 5 seconds, your words will fade and you wonʼt be allowed to continue (although you can easily download what youʼve written).
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Productivity Apps & Tools
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