15 Tools For Getting Things Done

Tools are the lifeblood of getting things done in a stress-free way. In this post, we will look at the top cost-effective tools that are essential for anyone who wants to practice GTD for increased productivity and improved time management.

Getting Things Done

Due to the growth of new economy sectors, the post-pandemic environment requires fostering creativity at work more than ever.

Yet, it might be a challenge to keep up high productivity levels and maintain work life balance without applying automating tools and tech solutions, which help us get things done.

Aside from checking all boxes in your to-do list, GTD implies that planning can be successfully processed into building your own productivity system. In its turn, it brings:

  • elevating business on a budget
  • improving focus and sharpening attention-related skills
  • implementing ready-to-use time-saving strategies for work optimization
  • keeping tabs on multiple projects without extra effort.

The market responds to the demand for increased productivity by offering tools developed with GTD approach in mind. Below, we list 15 top tools for getting things done in the most important work categories.

Time Management

clock moving

TMetric

Striving for excellence, we cannot ignore time tracking. It brings clarity and precision in what we do with our work time. Hence, it is essential throughout all stages of work, from planning to completion. With TMetric, things can get done in an easy way.

It is a time tracking app available also as TMetric Chrome extension that takes a result-oriented approach and allows users to achieve the level of impeccable projects and time management.

The app functionality enables you to keep an eye on multiple projects stress-free by bringing automation to a huge number of admin tasks:

  • project time calculation
  • differentiating billable and non-billable hours
  • integration of time tracking in other apps
  • monitoring the project budget.

How it assists in GTD: Using a single-purpose solution is a sure way to achieve a specific goal. In the case of TMetric, it is an achievement of best time management, which makes it a top tool for getting things done in terms of better time tracking, invoicing, and project management.

Task Planning

schedule and target

Remember The Milk

Knowledge workers operate online where they are exposed to constant distractions urging them to check numerous notifications, which creates extra challenges for getting things done.

The solution is simple: just navigate a day with a task planner. Remember the Milk is one of the time-tested planner apps for improved time management. It will:

  • create a clear road map for the coming day
  • be compatible with mobile, computer, Gmail, Outlook, and others
  • sync all your devices
  • send reminders unobtrusively
  • enable you to share tasks with team members.

How it assists in GTD: Remember The Milk became the synonym of efficiency in planning as it guarantees to keep you on track for any kind of task. Use it before you start feeling overwhelmed.

Graphic Design

rotating sculpture

Canva

Canva app stands for ease and perfection in creating visuals instantly. Using the intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can design and publish anything using Canva's graphic design and video editing tools.

Going pro plan means a user gets access to over 100 million premium photos and 610000 brand templates. And they also launched their Video Suite. Its top feature list includes:

  • layouts for presentations, social media posts, videos, logos, invitations, etc.
  • option for sharing
  • storage of all the creations with the option of further editing.

How it assists in GTD: It is a leader in the market of graphic editors that makes the workflow of any complexity more productive and smooth.

Social Media Management

a girl with colored smoke on the beach

All Hashtag

One of the important business and creative goals that creators set is not to be lost or feel a lack of promotion in the pool of similarly-themed content. Hashtags are a handy tool to achieve these goals without extra effort.

All Hashtag app features:

  • subject-based hashtag generator
  • hashtag counter
  • hashtag creator
  • hashtag analytics.

How it assists in GTD: It enables you to align with the demands of your business niche and reach the relevant audience.

SocialPilot

When it comes to bringing a complete social media management experience to the table, no one does it better than SocialPilot! From content automation to analytics, this tool makes the task of building a social presence for your brand a cakewalk.

SocialPilot aces as one of the most proficient Facebook marketing tools managing multiple Facebook accounts from one integrated space. Scheduling highly customized posts that get you the right exposure and engagement is no hardship at all.

Some key features of SocialPilot:

  • Creating a single image, album, or carousel posts
  • Tagging other Facebook profiles in your post
  • Customizing posts with graphics and emojis
  • Boost posting
  • Inserting call-to-action buttons in the posts
  • Specific audience targeting

How it assists in GTD: When you get the power of automation in your hands, all your activities regarding social media management will be streamlined. That'll give you some extra to concentrate on strategizing and planning your next move to gain traction online for your business’s success.

Sleep Management

words good night appearing on the screen

Pillow

However much a creator can be absorbed by their work, everybody needs to shoot for a healthy number of hours per night.

Though there is not a set amount of mandatory hours working equally well for everyone, a sleep routine is very important. Pillow sleep management app can be a great solution for building a sleep routine to stay focused and become more productive.

It features:

  • audio recordings and heart rate analysis
  • sleep report
  • alarm tuned to wake you up at the lightest stage of your sleep cycle.

How it assists in GTD: Since sleep deprivation makes us feel like every task is a fire drill, including a reliable sleep management app like Pillow in the list of digital helpers can help us feel energized and focus on what matters.

Content Idea Generator

brain drawing

Portent

You can use Portent Content Idea Generator to create a list of content titles based on proven marketing techniques for improving the digital health of the webpage and increasing the click rate.

By entering your subject matter, the Content Idea Generator will:

  • generate creative titles
  • provide practical tips on how to go viral.

How it assists in GTD: You can use this app to find catchy titles for your next blog, podcast, or video to improve social engagement and, possibly, come up with new ideas.

Swipefiles

It delivers crafted time-tested marketing ideas to grow your creator business. Adopting the strategies that have been implemented before could give you a strong competitive advantage.

Finance Management

a girl with a kite on the beach

YNAB

One key trend worthy of notice is that knowledge workers' financial streams are becoming more diverse over time as they start side projects and increase their profitability.

To keep things getting done, they will require tools to manage money, and the You Need A Budget app is a good solution for finance management.

It features:

  • access to budget-related information in real-time
  • setting budgeting goals
  • a high level of privacy and 24/7 support
  • free resources for better finance management.

How it assists in GTD: This is an app that combines perfectly functioning software with an efficiently working method of clever budgeting.

Mental Health

a girl performing as mental health image

Calm

Modern productivity and pressure on achievement emphasize perfecting the work-related routine and accomplishments of all the tasks rather than investing the energy in wellbeing and work-life balance. How many times did you trick your mind into working without breaks with a promise of rest sometime later?

Unfortunately, it results in ignoring mental health. To combat the risk of decreased productivity and burnout, there is Calm.

It features:

  • introducing mental health issues in 6 categories
  • timed meditations available on a free version
  • a high level of customization.

How it assists in GTD: It allows you to have a less work-focused life and concentrate on prioritizing self-care and minimizing the risk of burnout.

Video and Channel Analytics

charts on the pink background

VidIQ

VidIQ is the tool to get an analytical overview of video content performance. This instrument also delivers an insightful analysis of competitors' data in terms of SEO (titles, tags, and descriptions), which makes this software ideal for those whose business relies on presentation through YouTube channels. It features:

  • creation of video icons
  • ongoing channel auditing
  • analysis of keywords
  • reports on competitors' strategies
  • free access to its basic functionality

How it assists in GTD: This is an app that enables users to get direct access to useful tips and provides insightful analytics for making the social media audience hassle-free.

Content Curation

words content curation and firworks on the background

Missinglettr

A Missinglettr account transforms your content into engaging social media posts and helps you optimize your distribution by finding the best influencers in your niche, making it one of the best tools for content creators who can produce great content in minutes. It features:

  • changing the models to generate campaign material to match users' content creation style
  • design marketing-related materials
  • charge audience
  • it allows free usage for planning 50 posts from one workspace.

How it assists in GTD: This is one of the best apps assisting productivity geeks in building a strong social media presence.

Innovative Task and Project Management

Notion

It is an end-to-end productivity platform marked with flexibility and ease of implementation. There are many benefits to using Notion. In particular, this legendary tool will help you organize your work in one place, so you can easily track your progress and keep under control things of importance like:

  • ideas
  • schedules
  • tasks
  • projects.

Notion aims to be a unique workspace for you and your team. To get access to a full feature set, Notion offers tiered pricing plans that include Personal Free, Personal Pro, Team, and Enterprise.

The best part is that it can be connected with your time tracking solutions, so you'll never have to worry about logged work time.

How it assists in GTD: Notion is a great tool for organizing your thoughts into notes or even full documents. You can even start with an outline and create a document from it. It's very flexible.

When you have to monitor multiple tasks and projects, Notion will be a reliable tracker of how fast and efficient you are in moving toward goal accomplishment.

Task Management

abstract with bubbles

Todoist

This super-intuitive planner lets you set goals and turn them into actionable steps.

By exploring its rich functionality, users can:

  • make to-do lists
  • add templates to their workflow to optimize checklist routine
  • add emails as tasks
  • include recurring tasks
  • organize complex projects in terms of showing only tasks you already started, etc.

It also allows adding comments and files so everyone can see what went into each project/task without having to ask questions every single time something goes wrong (which is going to save you and your team some serious time).

How it assists in GTD: By taking a proactive approach to goal setting and task management, you get a competitive advantage in project management. Pack task management into time tracking with a click to create proper time and resource allocation for the prevention of open goals in your schedule that might lead to overload and mismanagement.

Note-taking for brighter ideas

man holding a star

Evernote

Evernote is another tool that helps users stay organized by keeping important information in one place. Note-taking app Evernote can become a valuable tool for getting things done and saving time in many ways. Its versatility helps users manage tasks by:

  • saving searches
  • implementing note templates
  • creating text or image notes
  • making PDF annotations
  • integrating with your calendar.

Its functionality includes a collaborative notebook, which makes it easy to organize any number of ideas in a clear outline to produce a productive project concept.

How it assists in GTD: It's worth noting that Evernote also integrates with a lot of apps so it's easy to see when things are due without having to switch between programs. You can use a tool for reaching multiple management goals. You can store ideas for learning and issue-solving to save the pain of missing something important.

Project Management Suite

collaboration symbol presented as hands over the dashboard

ClickUp

The best way to get things done is to use the supreme tool for project management. We've tried a lot of productivity apps, but ClickUp is the one that has won hearts. Its implementation makes it easy to collaborate across teams.

Specifically, this project management suite helps you prioritize and organize your work by:

  • setting up task lists and projects
  • uploading files and notes
  • situating deadlines
  • creating reminders so your team knows when something needs to get done.

How it assists in GTD: ClickUp is great for managing projects because it allows you to assign tasks to your team members and track their progress as well as deadlines for each task.

Integrate your favorite project management suite in a time tracker to communicate a boundary on work and, thus, maintain a work-life balance at best.

Product Management

Chisel

As a product manager, you are responsible for leading the development and launch of new products. This includes defining the strategy and vision for a product, as well as working with cross-functional teams to bring it to market.

With so many moving parts and stakeholders involved, it can be a challenge to keep everything organized and on track. That's where Chisel comes in.

Providing a central hub for all product-related information helps product managers stay organized and keep their teams on the same page.

Chisel provides all-around product management support with features like:

  • Roadmap creation in no time
  • Effective team alignment
  • Systematized task tracking
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Customer feedback collection

How it assists in GTD: Chisel is the best product management tool out there as it keeps you organized and gets things done. Whether you're working on a small team or a large organization, Chisel can help you streamline your work and achieve your goals more efficiently.

So, if you're looking to make your product management role more efficient and effective, consider trying Chisel. It offers a Free beginner plan.

Calendar with Time Blocking Options

animated calendar for getting things done

Google Calendar

Sometimes it is hard to get things done due to a lack of clarity. In particular, a badly organized calendar can make you a prisoner of all the unnecessary meetings and unstructured days.

The best features of Google Calendar include:

  • neat calendar view
  • simple appointment of meetings
  • instant and easy search for data inside the calendar
  • unobtrusive reminders of scheduled activities
  • option for creating multiple calendars
  • integration with time tracking.

How it assists in GTD: Creating intentions and setting goals will not be enough for making well-informed decisions. The solution is to add a calendar with time blocking options, – it is when the magic starts to happen.

To stop more and more meetings from invading your work day with their unclear agenda, you can connect a time tracker like TMetric to your Gcal.