If you’d like to get more done in your day without getting overwhelmed, these free tools may just save your day to day.
You know the saying, work smarter, not harder, especially when you have a ton to do. Now, with working from home (or hybrid arrangements) becoming the norm, that comes with countless distractions that can affect how much you get done in the day. Especially when you realize that you can watch your favorite series on Netflix, that’s just one tab away.
These tools have saved me more times than I can count. They’re accessible, user-friendly, and, most importantly, designed to keep you focused and help you get the work done with a more simple workflow. Did I mention that they’re also free?
Manage Projects Visually With Trello
My favorite task manager for projects is Trello. Trello has revolutionized the way I manage projects. It works through visual card-style boards, which have become a favorite for individuals and teams.
If you’re a freelancer, student, or someone juggling multiple projects, you can take advantage of Trello’s benefits. I like the visual approach as it streamlines and simplifies collaboration. But you don’t need a team to use Trello.
I use it not just for work, but also in my personal life. For example, when I was wedding planning, Trello was a game-changer because of its visually straightforward interface, and helped keep everything organized.
Trello has a drag-and-drop feature that visual thinkers will find very helpful and intuitive. It not only offers labels, priorities, due dates, and checklists, but also supports collaboration with colleagues, friends, and family members.
Another thing I like about Trello is how easy it is to follow the Kanban-style workflow because of its board-style format. With the Kanban board workflow, you focus only on work that’s in progress. Once you complete a task, you can mark it as “review” or “done” and move on to the next item in your backlog. Trello makes this effortless with its drag-and-drop system. You can even choose from templates or create your own.
Improve Writing With ProWritingAid
You’ve probably come across the infamous grammar checker, Grammarly. But did you know there’s a lot more grammar checkers out there?
One strong rival of Grammarly is ProWritingAid.
ProWritingAid is a writing tool that helps you enhance readability, style, and grammar—no matter what level of writer you are. One major advantage it has over Grammarly is its in-depth, detailed feedback tailored for creative and long-form writing. It has a paid version, but the free version is pretty good. Even though it has a 500-word analysis cap per check, it still provides solid feedback on style and grammar.
For example, if you’re using a lot of repeated sentences or if there are readability issues, it will let you know. ProWritingAid also provides grammar checks like Grammarly, but its overuse and readability reports help cut unnecessary fluff and improve writing flow.
You can integrate the tool directly into Google Docs and web browsers, just like Grammarly’s browser extension.
Of course, there are some drawbacks to ProWritingAid. Some features have restrictions in the free version (which is understandable). Its UI is very user-friendly, but the interface may take a little getting used to. Currently, it only supports English (General, British, US, Australian, and Canadian).
So, if you’re looking to improve your writing, and prefer a more detailed writing assistant, this could be a great alternative.
Use an AI Search Engine: Perplexity
Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that’s been dubbed as a powerful alternative to Google (or at least getting there), offering a smarter and more user-focused approach to finding information online. I like using Perplexity alongside Google Search.
It’s great for fact-checking and research because it delivers accurate, current information and provides citations to its sources. However, one thing to keep in mind is that AI can hallucinate—meaning it can still generate inaccurate or misleading information, no matter how advanced it is. It’s just something to be aware of. Still, it’s a great tool if you want to quickly find a source for research papers or articles.
You can also export your search results or share the chat with someone by creating a shareable link.
Perplexity is different from ChatGPT because it’s not just a conversational chatbot—it searches the web to provide real-time information. It’s free with some limitations, but there’s also a paid version. The paid version allows you 200 searches per day, plus you get to upload images and PDFs.
Compared to Google, which works by indexing a large part of the internet, Perplexity offers a more AI-driven search experience with direct answers. It’s a bit like an AI chatbot, just not as conversational as an actual chatbot like ChatGPT. It’s also pretty fast.
Keep Notes in One Place With Google Keep
If you’re like me, every time you have an idea, need to get something done, or want to set a reminder, you write it down somewhere. However, Google Keep can be a simple yet practical note-taking tool designed for efficiency across devices.
Its biggest advantage over traditional notebooks? Seamless syncing across all your devices, including your smartphone.
Some of my favorite features of Google Keep include:
- Color-coded notes for easy organization.
- Voice memos if you don’t feel like typing.
- Sketches, images, and OCR support (which extracts text from images).
- Frequent auto-syncing and collaboration with others.
One thing I love about Google Keep is the search function. Even if I forget to add a title, I can quickly find my notes.
For organization, I use labels like: “Food,” “Ideas,” “Journal,” and “To Buy”. So I can add a label to any note I create and can search by labels as well. There’s a ton more features that keep popping up.
If you’re looking for a simple note-taking tool that doesn’t have complex formatting or overwhelming features (like Notion, for example), Google Keep is good enough and there’s not much I’d change about it.
Intuitive Lists With Todoist
If you’re a fan of to-do lists and want a simple, no-frills task manager, Todoist is worth checking out. Using Todoist long enough helps you build a habit of checking your to-do list and crossing things off. It’s one of the best free tools for staying productive and organized. However, some have tried to replace Todoist with ChatGPT tasks.
Unlike having a physical to-do list, it can’t get lost. It syncs across all your devices and offers features including recurring reminders, calendar integration, adding priority levels to tasks, and you can even automate things like weekly reviews or recurring bills. It’s also a fast way to get an idea bucket going.
Todoist’s free version allows five personal projects, labels and filters, and Smart Quick Add for tasks. The Pro version offers more customization and an AI assistant.
One feature I enjoy is its productivity visualizations. As you complete tasks daily and weekly, Todoist tracks your trends and shows visual stats of how many tasks you’ve completed in a week or month. This can be a great way to get motivated when you’re in a slump.
So which one should you pick? Pick the ones that you are more likely to use—or try them all out. If you’re a fan of visually being able to see all your tasks and progress at any point during your project, Trello is the way to go. If you prefer a traditional to-do list, you can stick to Todoist, or Google Keep for general note-taking. For real-time information, stick to Perplexity.
Whatever the nature of your work, using the right tool can make a big difference. You might just find a new way of getting things done quicker in your daily life.
