5 Android Apps To Help Make Better Use Of Your Time

11 Apr 5 Android Apps To Help Make Better Use Of Your Time

Time. It’s something we never seem to have enough of.

Time is now one of our most precious commodities, which is becoming ever more scarce in a digital world that constantly demands our attention.

If you’re eager to manage your time better, your smartphone (while sometimes aiding in time wastage e.g. Angry Birds) can actually help you manage it better. Of late, a number of time management apps have crept into the Google Play Store, that turn your Android device into a time management machine.

Check out our list of the best time management apps for Android!

Astrid Tasks (Free)

If you’re struggling to keep up with everything you have to do, Astrid Tasks is a great task manager come ‘To Do List’ manager. The app allows you to create reminders, lists, subtasks and widgets, however, one of the best features of Astrid Tasks is the collaborative element.

You can use Astrid Tasks to collaborate on projects with friends, family or teams. You can divide up tasks between team members, and receive a notification when a team member completes their assigned task so you always know the status of a project. This means less time wasted on keeping tabs on team members, and a more effective way to collaborate on a project.

The app provides free cloud backup, and allows you to sync your tasks or lists across your tablet, smartphone and the web, so you can access it anywhere.

 

WaToDo! ($1.53)

For those of you passionate about the GTD (Get Things Done) approach to productivity, WaToDo is the perfect time manager app for you.

The app allows you to create tasks and assign them to projects and contexts, as well as supporting unlimited sub-projects, repeating tasks and alarms. You can assign priorities to tasks to ensure you complete the most important ones first, as well as assigning a task as ‘Next Action’ so you can keep the productivity ball rolling and know exactly what you need to do next.

The app also allows you to attach notes to each task just in case you need to associate some extra information to a task, and of course it includes the default task management feature of repeating tasks. For those tasks that require multiple actions, you can group them into a sub-project, as well allowing you to group tasks by Due Date or Priority.

The app has made full use of a colourful, clean interface which helps you get through what you need to without a fuss or confusion.

Now Do This (Free)

 

If you find yourself easily distracted or under pressure to complete something, the last thing you want is the million things you still need to do running through your head.

Now Do This offers a simple, minimalistic and focused way of attacking your to do list, so you can get what you need to, done as soon as possible. The app forces you to set yourself one task to focus on at a time, which you must complete before moving on to anything else. All you see on screen in the app is the activity you are focusing on and a ‘Done’ button. That’s it.

Tasks can be sorted into lists, so once you’ve finished one task, you can move onto the next one on the list. Possibly the only downside to this app is that it deletes the task once completed, so if you’re planning to repeat the task you will have to enter it in again. The simplicity of Now Do This makes tackling a massive to do list a lot less overwhelming, helping you to focus on one thing at a time and get things done.

 

Toggl Timer (Free)

 

If you operate using the old adage “Time is Money”, you’ll love Toggl Timer.

Perfect for those trying to track billable and non-billable time, Toggl Timer offers not only a timer to record how much time is spent on each task or project, but offers great organisational and reporting features.

To start the timer is as easy as a click of the button. You may be thinking, well, “what if I forget to click the timer button?” A record of the time spent isn’t lost forever, you can manually enter the time in later so your report of time spent is up to date.

In terms of organising your data, you can assign multiple tags to each time entry, as well as breaking down your activities into one of a three stage hierarchy (client, project, task). Toggl Timer also allows you to nominate whether each task is billable, which separates non-earning tasks.

To give you a complete look into how you are using your time, Toggl Timer breaks down your activity by day and the web version of the app provides you with charts so you can visually assess the time you’ve spent and make changes accordingly.

Toggl Timer is available as an app for your desktop or Android and iOS device, as well as on the web and works both offline and online. It syncs to the cloud when you are connected to the internet, so you can rest assured no matter how you access Toggl Timer, you’ll have an updated view of your logged time.

 

Dr. Timer ($1.89)

Like with Toggl Timer, Dr Timer offers a stopwatch to measure how much time you spend on a project. The app also provides you with reports in the form of tables and charts, which can be sent to you via email and exported to CSV.

However, what sets Dr Timer apart is the ability to add notes to each session, with the notes being searchable. You can add an image and audio to a note as well, which will be handy if you want to keep track of something you wrote on the board during a meeting or a screenshot of what you’ve accomplished so far for a web development project.

To make it quick and easy to record time spent of tasks, Dr. Timer also comes with a widget you can add to your phone’s home screen, so you’re time management efforts are ready to go whenever you are!

There is a free version of the app (Dr Timer Jnr), which lacks the function of sending your reports to mail and exporting to CSV but offers everything else mentioned above.

Anything We Missed?

We’d like to hear about any fantastic time management apps you are using, so let us know in the comments!