7 tools that help us defeat procrastination
When else to talk about productivity and the proper organization of work processes, if not on Friday? Once we already raised this topic and listed seven useful techniques that help to stay in good shape and systematically deal with business. And everything would be fine, but only in order to properly introduce them into your life, again, you must first overcome laziness - buy diaries and calendars, calculate something, track something.
Fortunately, in the courtyard of the twenty-first century, and for any occasion, somewhere there is some miracle of technology that is ready to take at least part of the work upon itself. This also applies to anti-procrastination techniques. Under the cut, we have compiled a list of solutions that have accumulated over the past year, which are either based on the methods we have examined or are well combined with them - in short, they can help in the difficult task of self-organization. Long live STR!
Gone
A simple and harsh solution for procrastinating in the best traditions of the school “swallow a frog”. The application suggests compiling a list of urgent matters and deleting them as they progress. Everything would seem standard, but there is one “but”: as the service honestly warns, added tasks will be automatically deleted exactly after 24 hours. So - now or never. Information on completed and outstanding tasks over the past week is stored in the profile, making it possible, with a sense of shame and remorse, to evaluate your productivity post-factum.
Effortless
A similar idea with Gone, but in a much softer implementation. Effortless offers you a set of simple text timers that you can attach to the top panel of the screen. You yourself estimate the duration of this or that task and click on "Start", after which the system starts the countdown. The time pressure effect is also triggered here, only the emphasis is not on the threat of harsh consequences, but on a constant, rigorous reminder of the passing time. If several tasks are set, the service allows you to pause them and change the order; in case the user doesn’t fit in any way, the save button “Add five minutes” is provided. This method is difficult to attribute to any particular technique, but it can work well in tandem with flowtime, to determine or adjust the length of sessions.
Space
Of course, the best way to keep up with everything and achieve more is to forever abandon Facebook / Reddit / Habr / Twitter / another virtual black hole, but whom we are deceiving. The creators of the Space service think soberly: they do not try to make you tie, but only slightly reduce the dose. This is done simply - at some moments of your stay on the specified site or in the application, the screen is temporarily blocked, inviting you to distract and take a couple of breaths. It should be noted that the system itself selects these moments and not even randomly: the frequency of interruptions is determined on the basis of the same neurological data, which are usually used to seat people on applications. In fact, this is a kind of Pomodoro inside out - just as continuous activity helps to enter a state of flow, a forced stop allows you to exit it.
Instant
If you're ready to face the truth, Instant will be happy to provide you with a Google Analytics-like report on how your life goes. At the moment, data is being collected on: the use of the phone and specific applications, sleep, moving from location to location and physical activity (for those who have the appropriate devices). On the basis of these data, nice graphs and charts are compiled, average values are calculated and trends and patterns are tracked. You get the results not only in the form of reports, but also short messages with deserving, according to the system, excerpts that can motivate you. For those who adhere to the “must, should, want” system, such information will be useful.
Butleroy
Congratulations, you now have a personal butler robot, his name is Roy. He doesn’t mix you a cocktail, but he completely assumes the organization of leisure and small obligations. The application is convenient in that it can build a schedule on its own based on the most approximate data, such as “twice a week in the evenings” or “any weekday until the end of the month” - you do not even need to specify specific dates. If you make plans with other Roy’s employers, he won’t forget to compare your schedules to choose the best time for everyone. So far, the algorithm takes into account only factors such as time and priority, but in the future, the creators intend to connect additional criteria - for example, the weather for outdoor entertainment. This is also a good help for those who practice the “must, should, want” approach,
Forest
It's not hard to get distracted when you have a dozen games in your pocket, friends pinging on different channels and the entire World Wide Web at once. Forest is designed for those who too often reach for the phone. The idea of the application is transparent - for a long stay in the application where you can do nothing but admire the pleasant green design, you are rewarded, for trying to switch to others - they punish you. The capricious trees that grow and grow stronger are the rewards, the more time you spend with them (or, in other words, away from other mobile entertainment). If you remember the “do not break the chain” technique, then you can easily recognize its gamified derivative here: when the forest has already grown, it’s a shame to cross out your own efforts.
Noisli
The idea of creating the right audio atmosphere for productivity is also gaining popularity. Unlike focus @ will, this application offers to use not the music, but the sounds of nature for concentration. It turns out that they can not only relax. The service has a collection of noise, which, according to the developers, focus, but do not attract attention. You can experiment with options from different categories, create playlists and combinations, and even try to connect other methods at the same time - for example, the notorious timer for Pomodoro.
To complete this list would probably be a warning that the main component of any methodology is the desire to change something in life and no application will do this for you. But we will do smarter and end it with a standard invitation to share our findings in the comments - suddenly somewhere there is still an automatic generator of motivation, which we do not know about.
Fortunately, in the courtyard of the twenty-first century, and for any occasion, somewhere there is some miracle of technology that is ready to take at least part of the work upon itself. This also applies to anti-procrastination techniques. Under the cut, we have compiled a list of solutions that have accumulated over the past year, which are either based on the methods we have examined or are well combined with them - in short, they can help in the difficult task of self-organization. Long live STR!
Gone
A simple and harsh solution for procrastinating in the best traditions of the school “swallow a frog”. The application suggests compiling a list of urgent matters and deleting them as they progress. Everything would seem standard, but there is one “but”: as the service honestly warns, added tasks will be automatically deleted exactly after 24 hours. So - now or never. Information on completed and outstanding tasks over the past week is stored in the profile, making it possible, with a sense of shame and remorse, to evaluate your productivity post-factum.
Effortless
A similar idea with Gone, but in a much softer implementation. Effortless offers you a set of simple text timers that you can attach to the top panel of the screen. You yourself estimate the duration of this or that task and click on "Start", after which the system starts the countdown. The time pressure effect is also triggered here, only the emphasis is not on the threat of harsh consequences, but on a constant, rigorous reminder of the passing time. If several tasks are set, the service allows you to pause them and change the order; in case the user doesn’t fit in any way, the save button “Add five minutes” is provided. This method is difficult to attribute to any particular technique, but it can work well in tandem with flowtime, to determine or adjust the length of sessions.
Space
Of course, the best way to keep up with everything and achieve more is to forever abandon Facebook / Reddit / Habr / Twitter / another virtual black hole, but whom we are deceiving. The creators of the Space service think soberly: they do not try to make you tie, but only slightly reduce the dose. This is done simply - at some moments of your stay on the specified site or in the application, the screen is temporarily blocked, inviting you to distract and take a couple of breaths. It should be noted that the system itself selects these moments and not even randomly: the frequency of interruptions is determined on the basis of the same neurological data, which are usually used to seat people on applications. In fact, this is a kind of Pomodoro inside out - just as continuous activity helps to enter a state of flow, a forced stop allows you to exit it.
Instant
If you're ready to face the truth, Instant will be happy to provide you with a Google Analytics-like report on how your life goes. At the moment, data is being collected on: the use of the phone and specific applications, sleep, moving from location to location and physical activity (for those who have the appropriate devices). On the basis of these data, nice graphs and charts are compiled, average values are calculated and trends and patterns are tracked. You get the results not only in the form of reports, but also short messages with deserving, according to the system, excerpts that can motivate you. For those who adhere to the “must, should, want” system, such information will be useful.
Butleroy
Congratulations, you now have a personal butler robot, his name is Roy. He doesn’t mix you a cocktail, but he completely assumes the organization of leisure and small obligations. The application is convenient in that it can build a schedule on its own based on the most approximate data, such as “twice a week in the evenings” or “any weekday until the end of the month” - you do not even need to specify specific dates. If you make plans with other Roy’s employers, he won’t forget to compare your schedules to choose the best time for everyone. So far, the algorithm takes into account only factors such as time and priority, but in the future, the creators intend to connect additional criteria - for example, the weather for outdoor entertainment. This is also a good help for those who practice the “must, should, want” approach,
Forest
It's not hard to get distracted when you have a dozen games in your pocket, friends pinging on different channels and the entire World Wide Web at once. Forest is designed for those who too often reach for the phone. The idea of the application is transparent - for a long stay in the application where you can do nothing but admire the pleasant green design, you are rewarded, for trying to switch to others - they punish you. The capricious trees that grow and grow stronger are the rewards, the more time you spend with them (or, in other words, away from other mobile entertainment). If you remember the “do not break the chain” technique, then you can easily recognize its gamified derivative here: when the forest has already grown, it’s a shame to cross out your own efforts.
Noisli
The idea of creating the right audio atmosphere for productivity is also gaining popularity. Unlike focus @ will, this application offers to use not the music, but the sounds of nature for concentration. It turns out that they can not only relax. The service has a collection of noise, which, according to the developers, focus, but do not attract attention. You can experiment with options from different categories, create playlists and combinations, and even try to connect other methods at the same time - for example, the notorious timer for Pomodoro.
To complete this list would probably be a warning that the main component of any methodology is the desire to change something in life and no application will do this for you. But we will do smarter and end it with a standard invitation to share our findings in the comments - suddenly somewhere there is still an automatic generator of motivation, which we do not know about.