Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty; It is its own reward. Everything else is in god’s hands. ( Mahatma Gandhi )

How productive are you on a scale of 1 to 10? There's only so many hours in a day, so spending your time wisely is of the biggest importance. You can either work more or you can work smarter.

I'm a very result-oriented person and I always explore different ways to improve my performance. Many of these failed the job, but there are some that worked really nice and I incorporated them in my daily routine.  Here I'll write about 4 mobile applications I use to boost my productivity and get rid of anxiety and stress.

1. Evernote

This is absolutely the best application for taking notes, creating daily schedules or basically anything that can be put in written form. And that is almost everything that goes through your head, from big goals to small notes and ideas. 

Instead of piling things memorized in your head, release them on paper (or in this case - app's database) as soon as they come across your mind. Using search you can find any note or part of your note instantly (even the handwritten text!). Web version allows you to screenshot whole webpages and articles and save them as document. You can also record voice messages, share notes with anyone, and stick it on your notification panel so you can write quick notes with only one tap.

2. Smart Audiobook Player

You know how you always say you want to read more books but there's just not enough time? Listening to audiobooks is becoming a trend more and more, and here are some reasons why I recommend you should have specialized player for this purpose. We agreed earlier in the text that it is of most importance that we seize the day and every opportunity we have. So by listening to audiobooks when you are not working on some activity that requires your full attention, you will be able to cross at least 50 books a year of your reading list.  Why read that many books in a year? You read because you want to learn from other people’s experience.

Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others. ( Otto von Bismarck )

When I say you should read whenever you can, you should think of it literally. That means you are listening to/reading books:

• While you are eating
• While you are riding on a subway
• While you brush your teeth
• While you are squatting in the gym
• Running on a forest path
• Making pancakes
• Or playing with your unicorn  

Now, what are some benefits of Smart audiobook player? The feature I like the most is that you can change the playback speed the way you want, and what I found is that you can safely play any book with a speed of 1.5x to 2x (not including fiction, novels and similar topics where you are not aiming for quickly gaining information, but for pleasure).

This alone will double your reading efficiency without sacrificing the quality of absorbing information since your brain will adjust to this speed quickly. If you fall asleep listening a book, app will automatically pause the playback noticing the lack of activity. It also keeps track of your listening history, it will always come back to the part you previously left of, even when you switch between books. You get full version for 30 days of trial and you can buy it for only $2 after. 

3. Sleep Cycle

Sleep Cycle alarm clock tracks your sleep patterns and wakes you up during light sleep. Light sleep is the phase where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. Being woken in a light stage of your sleep cycle has proven to make people feel more energetic and alert upon awakening. By placing your telephone somewhere in the corner of your bed, it will use sound analysis to identify sleep states by tracking your movements. 

So this app basically acts as your ideal alarm clock. If you set alarm for 8am, app will wake you up between 7:30 and 8, when the time is perfect for you. Each morning it generates graph of your sleeping quality so you get instant feedback. 

And ti goes with wonderfully chosen melodies, beautiful and dreamlike but strong enough to wake you up. 

The result is so gentle and lovely it feels like being woken up by a mermaid stroking your hair or a unicorn nuzzling your toes.  

4. Couch to 5k

Credit Australian marathon

 What is really special about this app is how it inspires people to run a 5K. In the first few weeks it alternates between running and walking and than slowly builds up where you are running most of the time, until eventually you are running 5 kilometers or 30 minutes straight 9 weeks into program. 

 C25K has been responsible for getting thousands of couch potatoes up and running.  

It is designed so that you run 3 days a week so it is perfect if you want to combine with your strength or gym training. App also has nice inner messages that get you up and moving when you don’t necessarily have the motivation or know how.  

One happy customer said on their website:

With the help of the Couch to 5k program, In less than seven months, I went from a 47 year old, 104kg, 30 cigarettes a day sort of guy to an 82kg, 0 cigarettes, running 45 to 50 kilometers a week sort of guy. Ten months after finishing C25K I completed my first marathon. Since then I have run another 5 marathons, as well as 9 ultra marathons including three over 100km. 

Maybe you don't have big goals like running a marathon but it's nice to have this sort of navigation where you don't have to think about when to run, when to rest, how much to push yourself. You simply follow these calculated instructions and enjoy the results. 

Try any of these apps and share your experience. What are the ones that helped you boost your productivity?