These Apps Help You Stop Procrastinating

​These 11 Apps Help You Stop Procrastinating + Increase Productivity

​We all procrastinate from time to time. Here's how to beat the habit for good with these 6 apps that you should download today. #CareerAdvice #Procrastinate #ProfessionalDevelopment

​It’s 2022 and we still can’t make our smartphones do all of the work we don’t feel like doing?

​Sadly, nope. But we can use them to better how we work.

​Whether you’re the person who’s overwhelmed by your hyper-scheduled day or you find that your 10-minute Instagram breaks turn into two-hour social media black holes, everyone could use a productivity boost from time to time.

​Here’s the good news: Like most things, you can do it straight from your phone or laptop. But before we all download an app that we hope will be the quick fix, lets talk about why we procrastinate.

​Why We Procrastinate: The Psychology of Procrastination Habits

Often, we associate procrastination with bad time management or laziness. However, as Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo points out in Psychology Today, procrastination typically has more to do with negative emotions. Specifically, Lombardo explains, our procrastination tendencies manifest to help us avoid negative emotions. ​

​Procrastination often appears alongside two annoying negative feelings: fear of failure or perfectionism.

Perfectionism Procrastination

​In the workplace, we might avoid a certain important task while waiting for inspiration to strike, only delaying the inevitable. When mood or inspiration fails to strike, we end up completing these big tasks in a harried nature and the result is further from perfect than it may have been if you had allowed time and space. 

Boredom Procrastination

​Here's another example of how a negative feeling could cause a procrastination cycle. Imagine you have one weekly task that you hate completing, like data entry. This task brings up negative feelings of boredom. As a result, you avoid this task until the last minute.

​In these cases, procrastination is not an issue of poor time management. Rather, it's an issue of emotional management, and it's a bad habit to get into. 

​How to Break a Procrastination Cycle

​If you suspect that your behavior is based in negative emotions, dig deeper. Give yourself a little self-forgiveness and a lot of self-compassion when combatting these negative thoughts. 

​Meanwhile, here are five steps to help you break your procrastination habits. 

1. Identify the Negative Emotion and Bury It 

​Whether it's boredom, fear, or dread, name it. Know that hard work doesn't hurt. Boredom doesn't kill. Fear is largely useless. However, the stress and anxiety that come alongside procrastination are proven dangers to our mental and physical health. 

​Now, bury all the negative emotions. Instead of the countless hours you'll spend dreading the work you have to do, start to chip away at it instead. 

If you have a large piece of writing to do, break it into pieces. Here's how you could break it up:

1. Day One: Devote one hour to outlining ideas.
2. Day Two: Spend one or two hours researching the subject and finding great sources. Bookmark them.
   
3. Day Three: Block off time to write the first 1,000 words (unless you can write more).
   
4. Day Four: Block off time to finish writing. 
   
5. Day Five: Come back to the piece of writing to edit and finish. Voila!
   

2. Know What Triggers Negative Emotions and Plan for It 

​Whether at work or in your personal life, know beforehand what triggers your negative emotions. Name them and take away their power as soon as possible. By knowing yourself better, you'll have the added bonus of knowing what to say no to. 

​If you're going to dread attending every single meeting, maybe the weekly book club isn't for you, and that's okay. 

3. Know Your Excuses

While saying no more often sounds like a dream, we can't say no to every trigger, especially not at work. Before you enter your next cycle of dread and procrastination, make a list of your best excuses. 

• "I don't have the energy today."
  
• "I need to start within five minutes of having coffee."
  
• "My brain is just not there today." 
  
• "I'll work on it this weekend." (LOL, oh hi, it's me!) 

4. Keep a Realistic Workload

​If you're a regular Career Contessa reader (or if you just searched productivity apps) then you probably love to get things done. You love learning new things and seeking new opportunities. That's awesome but have a glass of reality alongside your ambition.

​Try to keep your workload manageable to avoid procrastination self-sabotage. Make sure your to-do lists get shorter by the end of the day, not longer. Know that tomorrow is likely an option to get more done, but it doesn't mean that you should add 12 extra things to your already jam-packed calendar. 

5. Say Goodbye to Guilt and Shame

​Oh, we are so done with this 24/7 productivity merry-go-round. We know the frustration that comes along with the feeling of ineptitude. 

Forgive yourself. In fact, research shows that forgiving yourself for past procrastination habits can prevent future procrastination. ​

So, forgive yourself, like right now. Don't procrastinate on this one. 

​The Best Productivity Apps (to Help You Stop Procrastinating!)

​So—at least until Siri starts writing your expense reports for you (hint, hint Apple)—try these apps specifically designed to keep you from slacking off. Trust us--it's been scientifically proven to work.

1. Notion 

​All of a sudden, it seems like Notion is everywhere—and there's a good reason for it. 

​Since its inception in 2018, it's been used as a tool for teams to collaborate on deadlines, objectives, and assignments for the sake of efficiency and productivity. 

Then TikTok got word of Notion—and they took it to the next level. Go to Notion to download the app and learn basic how-tos. Then, get over to TikTok's #notion hashtag and learn how to do basically anything. ​

2. Focus@Will 

To Get Your Head in the Game

​There’s a reason you rely on your pump-up music to work out: it puts your brain in full productivity mode. Focus@Will works the same way, using the science-backed motivational power of music to improve your focus.

Especially if you work in a distracting open-plan office, the app's calming music—coffee shop background noise, rushing water, “focus spa”—drowns out the distractions so you can hone in on your work. If Spotify’s not cutting it, give Focus@Will a shot. It costs $9.95 a month, but if you don’t feel like shelling out, try selling your coworkers on its group packages.

3. 1-3-5 List

If You Can't Prioritize

​You sign in, see Inbox (1,922), and instantly shut down. Defeating procrastination starts with a simple step: getting started. But what if you have no idea where to start? 1-3-5 List will help you prioritize—you’ll choose one big thing, three medium things, and 5 little things to accomplish every day, and check them off as you go.

​Besides keeping you accountable, its emphasis on prioritization will also keep you from trying to take on your company’s strategic plan, your performance reviews, and send networking emails all in the same day, failing, and then beating yourself up for not getting everything done.

Available on: Any browser, including a Google Chrome extension for free

4. Evernote

If You're in a Group

​You’d think that group projects would motivate us to work harder for the sake of our partners—or to protect our own reputations. Turns out that the opposite’s true, though: research (and all of your nightmare high school group assignments) shows that we give less effort when we work with others.

​Enter Evernote. This desktop and mobile app will keep everyone on the same page: you can write a project to-do list, set reminders for teammates, and create and save “notes” that instantly save to everyone’s devices. Its group notebooks also let coworkers present and swap ideas seamlessly, which will save everyone from saying,” Oh, sh*t, I never got that email.”

​Still recovering from those catastrophic high school assignments? Give Evernote a shot.
Available on: Apple and Android

5. Simple Habit 

To Conquer Procrastination Anxiety

Your major presentation sends you into a cold sweat, so you put it off. As the date draws nearer and you’re still unprepared, your anxiety ratchets up, you keep avoiding it, and... you know how this one ends.

Meditation helps you center your thoughts, calm down, and stop that self-fulfilling cycle of procrastination, anxiety, and more procrastination. With an app like Simple Habit, you can tap into those benefits during a marathon desk session.

​And with its five-, 10-, and 20-minute duration options, Simple Habit provides the perfect low-key option for overscheduled people or those who just feel weird about meditation. Though some of its choices are only available with a paid subscription, it also offers many customized sessions for improving focus, reducing stress, and commuting.

Whenever you’re staring down a high-stakes deadline, log into Simple Habit. Chances are you’ll find just the stress-killing session you need.
​
Available on: Apple and Android

6. Mindly 

To Master Your Mental Mess

​You never mean to procrastinate, but your mind is so cluttered with to-do lists and deadlines and reminders to call mom that you just can’t make sense of it all...and so you start watching cat videos.

​With Mindly, you can take back control of your brain. The app helps you organize your thoughts in a more three-dimensional—and less-soul crushing—manner than a to-do list. Through the app, you create an infinite number of circles and interconnect related ideas. You can edit these little bubbles, change their colors, and even add emojis to them.

​So next time you’re feeling scattered, download Mindly to spring clean your brain.

​Available on: Web, Apple, and Android

7. Momentum

For Some Morning Motivation

​All of the productivity blogs recommend beginning each day with a goal (or a mantra, if you’re the meditating type). But if you’ve battled insane traffic and arrived in absolute chaos in your inbox, you might not be able to set a goal besides surviving the day. Momentum encourages you to start each day with intention instead.

​This desktop extension lets you set a daily goal that’ll appear on your homepage, set against super inspirational backgrounds of scenic views and motivational quotes like, "Deal with the big while it is still small.”  

​When you’re feeling that 3:30 sag, use that message as your metaphorical coffee break. Once you do finish your task, you get to manually check your goal off the list. You'll even get a “Way to go!” in return. Cue the warm and fuzzies.

​If you respond badly to pressure—even when you need it—use Momentum for some lower-key inspiration.

Available on: Chrome ​

8. Freedom

For the Serious Situations

​Whether it’s Reddit or Refinery29, we’ve all got our weak spots. And sometimes, like when we’ve got something due by end of day and are still unconsciously drifting over to Twitter, Freedom (formerly Stay Focused) plays the bad cop. This Google Chrome extension locks you out of your favorite attention-sucking sites for a set amount of time—and with its Nuclear Option, you can’t undo it when your temptation starts to rise.

Of course, you can only take advantage of Freedom once you accept that you’re powerless to stop your Twitter addiction. But don’t worry downloading Freedom will let you finish your project faster, which leaves more time for Pinterest. Win-win to us.
​
Available on: Web and Apple 

9. Toby

To Take Back Control of Your Browser

​If I tracked the amount of time, I’ve spent clicking between my nine open tabs before settling on the one I need, I’d probably quit. When projects keep popping up, all of the extra tabs create clutter that compounds our stress. So, we shift back and forth, back and forth, between tabs until we want to throw our laptops through a wall.

​Sound familiar? Get Toby, stat. This Google extension reorganizes your browser—and your life—by storing your active tabs aside in customized folders, so you can focus on one window at a time without losing progress in your other windows. Conquer Google Chrome, conquer your life.

Available on: Chrome ​

10. Pomodoro Keepers

To Avoid the Mid-Afternoon Crash and Burn

​Four straight hours of work sounds overwhelming. Eight 25-minute bursts—each with a quick break—seems a little more manageable, right? But when we're sucked into a project, we ignore our hunger and natural energy cues until we’re too conked out to accomplish one more thing.

That’s where Pomodoro Keepers come in. These timers split your working time into 25-minute increments—or “pomodoros”—with a pre-scheduled five-minute break in between. After four pomodoros, take a longer 15-minute break. A few of these cycles and soon enough, the day’s over and you feel just as refreshed as when you started.

Available on: Apple ​

11. Calm

To Sleep, Meditate, and be Specifically Unproductive

In the words of every basketball coach ever, sometimes the best defense is a good offense. That's where Calm comes in. Instead of helping you streamline and sync calendars, Calm helps you to disconnect and recharge your battery—before it's completely depleted. ​

​Calm can help users improve their sleep, reduce stress, calm anxiety, improve focus, or decompress. All of these things are actually productive, because we need to turn ourselves off in order to operate. So, calm the "hustle harder" voice and take a train ride through Ireland with Cillian Murphy. I do it every night. 

Available on: Apple and everywhere ​