5 Apps to Increase Your Productivity

New semester, new you! And you already have a lot on your plate. Your “to-do” list is a mile long. It’s life, and you’re ready and willing to live it to the fullest. But how? How to make the most of every moment—personally, professionally, scholastically.

Time to amp up your productivity … you know, take life to the next level with a productivity app (preferably a free productivity app, right?). But which is the best productivity app for turning your to-do list into “to-done?” 

We’re here to tell you. Be at your best with these top productivity apps for iOS and Android devices. Follow along:

1. Evernote

Evernote is a personal productivity app that lets you collect notes, to-do lists and just about anything else all in one, digital place. It synchronizes all your files to the cloud, and anything you create on your phone will be waiting for you when you log into any other version of Evernote.

Use Evernote as a back-up hard drive to your brain. Add reminders, take notes and collect all the minutia of your life in its portable, auxiliary brain. It even automates email forwarding to the productivity app when you want it. The interface is slick, and, with three different monthly pricing tiers, there are premium options, too, if you demand more power. Price: Free (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, PC, Mac, Google Chrome, and the Web)

2. Pocket

Pocket lets you curate the internet. Face it, there is a ton of information to be found on the internet. Actually, thousands upon thousands of tons. From videos to podcasts to articles, it’s content you want. Sure, you could “bookmark” every url on the planet, but that gets a little clunky. And, honestly, it’s easy to forget why you saved a particular bookmark in the first place. 

Pocket is a productivity app that lets you dedicate cloud storage space to your preferred web content. Download it to your device and review it at your leisure. It offers an intuitive user interface that allows you to adjust font sizes, making content easier to enjoy. Price: Free (Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, PC, Windows, and the Web)

3. Slack

Slack is the team-building hack of personal productivity apps. It lets you communicate with your team members without using email. Users are able to make calls, share files, and connect with other apps with easy third-party integrations. Slack uses a more formal sort of chat interface that allows users to create specific channels for specific projects. Price: Free (iOS, Mac, Android, Web)

4. Clear

Clear is a simple, well-designed, to-do and reminders app that helps organize the important and banal parts of your life—effortlessly. Add new items by typing them in. Easy! Drag and re-order items just as easily. You can swipe right to delete a task or indicate that you’ve otherwise completed an item. Note: Unlike other Apple-based reminder apps, Clear only supports time-based alerts. No location-aware alerts, but, really, isn’t that enough? Anything more would just muddy the simplicity. Price: ~ $9.99 (iOS, Mac)

5. Dropbox

Store (and share, if you like) your files online with Dropbox. This venerable service lets you keep things safely in the cloud. If your laptop gets lifted or your phone takes a dip in the drink, your files are safely stored away from all that agitation. You receive 2 GB of space for free and can access everything from your mobile or desktop platforms. With multiple tiers available, you can customize your Dropbox capacity as needed. It’s easy to upgrade to 2 TB (that’s 2,000 GB of storage!) for ~ $9.99/mo.) Share as you like and control who sees what, when. Price: Free (iOS, Android, Linux, Mac & PC, Web)