Best Apps for Productivity (without Burnout)

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As we get started in 2023, I think one of the best way to set yourself up for success is to, well, upgrade your app game!

so, today I’m going to give you my top apps for productivity (without burnout)

01. notion.

If you didn’t think I was going to start with my fave, Notion™, you must be new here. “Hi, my name is Ellyn and I love Notion™.” 😂

Notion™ is, by far, my all-time favorite productivity app. Why? Because it does everything.

Over the years, I kept getting more and more exhausted with having to look in a bajillion different places for all the different notes, tasks, appointments, ideas I’ve jotted down, etc. Notion™ saves the day because it is all-in-one.

I can keep track of tasks, track habits, keep tabs on my clients, plan projects, outline goals, write a novel, etc. all inside of the Notion™ platform. But other beautiful thing that is such a game changer when it comes to productivity without burnout is the fact that I can sync things between views.

If I have a view I really like for goals, I can turn it into a template and use it on every single goal I decide to pursue.

If I have a workflow for creating YouTube videos or blog posts, I can turn it into a series of tasks that populate every time I click “YouTube video” inside of my content creation system.

If I want to take notes on something and be able to quickly access that note from the project it’s related to (or the part of my life it pertains to), I can quickly set-up a relation so that information is right there.

Between the fact that you can use databases, templates, and you can sync blocks across multiple views, Notion™ not only organizes my whole life so I only have to look in one place over the course of the day. And it’s a game changer.

Here’s an example! I have a table that I call “My Week in Hours” that is synced from my main goal page to all my subsequent goals so that I can ensure that I don’t have too much on my plate. This table not only keeps track of my approximate sleep, work, biz hours, and self-care time per day, but it also factors in how much time I want to spend per goal and if it’s practical for the number of hours I have in a week.

02. Zapier

Zapier has been blowing up my YouTube ads lately, but it’s funny because I’m already such a massive proponent of it! Zapier is an automation tool for all the menial little tasks that you don’t want to have to do manually. And if you have a business, you definitely should be using it (or something like it!)…

Zapier allows me to connect apps, website, and tools that I use in my business seamlessly and without me having to do all of the manual leg work. For example…

These are just some of the automations—or Zaps—I have set-up inside of my Zapier. I use it to do things like:

• Add new members that join my Mighty Networks community to my Notion spreadsheet of members

• Add subscribers to my burnout memberships to my subscriber segment in my email client, Flodesk

• Add Facebook leads to my Email client (which isn’t something I use anymore, but was invaluable when I was testing FB Ads)

• Add opt-ins from Interact (which I use for my What’s Your Burnout Type Quiz) to my email client, Flodesk

• Add Stripe payments to my Finance tracker in Notion to help me more easily keep track of my finances

• Automatically upload new Zoom recordings into Google Drive (so Zoom doesn’t harrasss me all the time about being out of storage)

I’m constantly adding new automations as well to my Zapier. It’s saved me hundreds of hours of lost time doing stupid menial tasks and I literally can’t recommend it enough!

03. Google Calendar

I have always liked how easy it is to work inside of Google Calendar. Not only can you easily add new calendars to it, but you can easily synchronize it with different applications. THis is one of those times when it pays dividends in time saved to have a tool that is super popular because a lot of apps connect to it.

For example, I run my membership community out of Mighty Networks. I love that I can synchronize my entire events calendar to my community to my Google Calendar and that I can then link that calendar to my scheduling platforms. That way, clients who schedule calls never pick times that conflict with my membership events because, well, they can’t.

I also love how seamlessly it syncs to Zoom. I can just select Zoom as my video-conferencing platform and it creates a new meeting without me even having to go to another website. And the ability to quickly invite email contacts to said meetings? Priceless.

Lastly, Google Calendar has an integration on Notion Automations that syncs your Google Calendar with your Notion database meaning that it makes it even easier for me to keep tabs on any appointments, meetings, etc. I have that day just by looking inside of Notion.

04. Mailbird (or the windows mail client)

If you have multiple different email accounts and get irritated AF by having to go into those accounts one by one to answer and check your emails? Ya, me to! That’s what actually led me to using these two apps…

Firstly, the Windows Mail client. I’m not a Mac computer user, so if you are, I’m sorry. I don’t know that life. But the Windows Mail client is where I started. I actually really liked this for an extended period of time. I was paying for Superhuman, which is excellent, but too expensive for what it does. The Windows Mail client did 90% of what Superhuman did, but it was free and came on my computer.

The only limitation I found to the Windows Mail client is:

• I can’t use my Email signature that I made on Wisestamp

• The hotkey options are limited. I need and want the ability to easily archive mail with a single key and it didn’t have that

• It is glitchy

The glitchy-ness is actually what led me to explore Mailbird. Mailbird can be as expensive as Superhuman but you can also get a lifetime license, which is what I did. Similarly to Windows Mail, you can put all of your email accounts in one place. It has easy hotkeys (just click E to archive). I also can use my custom wisestamp email signature inside of Mailbird too. The only caveat to Mailbird is that you can’t set an out-of-office. IT’s the one thing I don’t like about it.

But the takeaway here is that having all my email in one place is a game change and has become a necessity in my life. Like, as much of a necessity as having two monitors. That’s saying something.

05. canva

This is another one that, if you’re a business owner, you should definitely check out Canva! It puts digital design at your finger tips and the abundance of free and pro templates, fonts, etc. are completely unparalleled. But my favorite thing about Canva and why I consider it one of my best productivity apps? One word: templates.

I have everything—literally everything—templatized in my Canva account. In the same way that I’m obsessed with this feature in Notion, I’m obsessed with this feature here too. Because it saves me so much time to go in and just open up my templates for my podcast show notes pages, Pinterest images, YouTube covers, presentations, and more.

Not only do these images look awesome—at least I think so—but it makes it so easy to create. My brand colors and font are in Canva, which makes it easier. AND, if and when I get ready to hire a VA or assistant to help with some of this stuff, they can easily just jump into the templates I’m using to maintain the same aesthetic.

06. Spotify

This one, in my opinion, is perhaps my most powerful tool for stress relief and focus. Why? Because music does help set your state. Plus, I’m the kind of person that cannot get into a focused state without a little bit of music playing in the background (instrumental only—if it’s got lyrics, I’ll sing along!).

Spotify has a seemingly endless amount of playlists for productivity, calm, and even stress relief. Whatever I feel like I’m needing that day, including binaural beats for focus, I search for on Spotify and I have a state-setting playlist right at my fingertips. Plus, if you work in an environment where things are happening that are triggering your stress, how wonderful is it that you can just headphone and block it out?

Plus, you can have it on your phone, your computer, or use it on your browser. So, your favorite stress-relieving, focus-inducing podcasts can come with you wherever you area. And the more quickly we can get into those focused, stress-relieving states, the better for not only our productivity but to keep us on track.

so…those are my fave apps for productivity (without burnout)!

What do you think? Do you have any others to add?
Drop a comment below!