Get things done with these productivity apps

Wasting time? Guilty.

I battle distraction on a daily basis: A funny video on Snapchat. An interesting article on Twitter. An inbox full of e-mails. Then Twitter again. After liking five pictures on Instagram, I finally got to writing this post.

Sure, if you unplug it will help avoid online distractions, but your phones can also be a helpful productivity tool for simplifying tasks and organizing your work and personal life.

Don’t have a system in place for getting things done? Let me tell you how I manage to stay productive and get massive amount of $hit done.

Evernote

Evernote allows you to store all your thoughts, ideas, and plans in one place — instead of keeping them on a post it note, scrap paper or dare I say on your head— where they're bound to be forgotten, you can add everything from text and photos to webpages and audio files.

When you feel like one of those bits of information would come in handy, you can find it easily from your smartphone or computer.

Cost: Free (basic level)

Available on: iOS, Android


Pocket
 
If you’re wasting time reading articles, watching videos or browsing the web, when you really should be working— but don't want to lose the site, the  app lets you save directly from your browser, and return to it later (that’s once you’re finished with your tasks, of course).

Similar to Evernote, Pocket syncs across all platforms, including your phone, tablet and computer so you can view it anytime on any device, even without an internet connection.

Cost: Free

Available on: iOS, Android


Forest

Forest tracks your productivity and lets you visualize your progress in the form of a tree. If you stay focused for 30 minutes, the tree blooms fully; if you leave the app during that time period, the tree dies.

The goal is to eventually have a forest of trees that represents the hard work you put in.

Cost: $0.99

Available on: iOS, Android


Buffer

Have you ever read an article on your laptop and wanted to share it? Buffer makes it easy to share on multiple feeds at once or to schedule future posts.

Price: Free (basic level)

Available on: iOS, Android


Google Drive

Google's cloud storage service, Drive, integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Google ecosystem so you can easily upload and download any file, and share files to collaborate. The sharing settings have an easy folder structure with quick access to recent files and details, built-in viewing of documents, PDFs, photos and videos that make for a versatile cloud storage tool on whatever mobile operating system you use.

Cost: Free

Available on: iOS, Android