When you're your own boss, or when you're rushing on a report
that's due tomorrow, distraction can be your worst enemy. These distractions
may involve replying to text messages or social media IMs, and emails moments
after they're sent, checking your Facebook news feed, or simply just chatting
with your colleague about a trending showbiz personality, keeping your mind
focused on your work can be very challenging.
There are lots of productivity apps you can find on the Web that
can help you boost your productivity at work; however, they tend to be locked
to specific operating systems, which makes it annoying to find the right tools.
Online websites, however, works on a wide variety of computers, making them
highly useful regardless of the device you are using.
Below are five websites that will help you get rid of those
distractions and to help you achieve your task goals on time.
The concept of the Magic Work Cycle is this simple -- people work better and more efficiently if they go for thirty minutes of work followed by thirty minutes of play. This means you work for half and hour solid without allowing non-critical distractions to stop you, then spend another half hour doing zero work or whatsoever. This gives you more time to respond to emails and texts, check your social media accounts, or even fit in a small game.
The Magic Work Cycle website lets you time these thirty-minutes
bursts automatically. When one cycle is over, a sound plays, and the next cycle
begins immediately afterward. This is a great way to prevent you from getting
burnouts because of working on straight hours. However, if you disagree with
the idea of a 30-30 cycle, or if it doesn't fit your workflow, you can always
change the times for each cycle by adjusting the appropriate sliders, between
one minute to two hours.
Coffitivity is a brilliant app that plays that ambient coffee shop noise to get your creative juices flowing. Several studies have shown that "coffee shop buzz is good for your creativity and productivity," thanks to providing "just the right amount" of background noise.
It's a pretty realistic recreation of a coffee shop's vibe, complete
with clinking cups and background chatter. The website comes with three long
audio tracks recorded from within a cafe; a softer morning tone, a more
bustling lunchtime rush, and the "scholarly sounds" of a University
campus cafe. You'll get all of that coffee shop buzz without having to fight
for a seat or buy lattes all day.
If you're particularly enjoying the sounds, Coffitivity also
comes with a premium plan at $9 a year. This offers three more cafe audio
scenes: Paris, Brazil, and Texas.
stickK works in a simple way -- first, you need to tell it what goal you would like to achieve. Then, you have the option of assigning a trusted referee, such as a friend or family member, to make sure you're on the right track in achieving your goal. If you even want to dare yourself, you can even instruct stickK to take money from your bank account and donate it to charity should you fail to reach your set goal. This can either go to a randomly assigned charity or a charity that supports a cause you're against, such as a rival political party. Most of the time, assigning a monetary penalty for failing a task increases its success rate by three times. So, if you're really desperate in achieving your goal, no but's and if's, then this might be what you need.
A word processor can also be a good tool in blocking out all other distractions on your computer screen. If this is what you need, then you can try ZenPen. It may look like a simple word processor at a glance, but when you click on the fullscreen button on the left, ZenPen will cover the entire screen with the page. This means you can type away without looking at browser tabs or apps calling for your attention.
Aside from blocking out other visual distractions, ZenPen also
has other neat features for you. There's a word counter if you're trying to hit
a goal, an option to invert the colors for a black page with white text, and
the ability to save what you typed on it.
Do you enjoy doing endless quests and jobs in video games, but once you need to get your real work done your video game productivity fails you? Maybe what you need is to turn the projects you have in the real world into a game. This is what Habitica (formerly known as HabitRPG) does, where performing real-world tasks and habits helps you earn in-game rewards.
All you need is to tell Habitica what you'd like to get
accomplished. Perhaps it's something you'd like to do everyday, like a draw
picture or something with a set deadline (finish an assignment due in two
weeks). Habitica then keeps track of which tasks you've set for what
timeframes. If you complete a challenge that you've set for yourself, you can
log on and check the box to tell Habitica you accomplished it. Habitica then
rewards you with money and experience to help you improve your character. If
the deadline passes and you didn't check the box, your character takes damage.
Perhaps the best features of Habitica are the groups.
Like-minded people with a common goal in mind can band together in a group.
People can cheer one another, make friends and chat, and even set goals for the
entire community to try to complete individually.
