by Francesco D’Alessio

There are again, millions of these calm, meditation, relaxing apps in the world! But the best ones offer a level of simplicity, a fast on-boarding and a connection to your day’s productivity.

Here are a few “calm-productivity” Apps that I’ve discovered and tested to help improve the stress levels across your day.

I’ll be covering a few of these apps inside some future videos on YouTube.

1. Noisli

Noisli is something I have started using last week, it’s a great way to create an enviroment around you by solely using sound. Whether you’re productive in cafes or want to zone out in the forest, this app has it all. It’s on iOS (for £1.49) or online — at www.noisli.com for free.

Here’s my full web review:

2. Google Calendar Goals

If BIG + COMPLICATED productivity apps like Evernote, Todoist and Trello scare you. Don’t be worried.

You probably currently like adding any tasks to Apple Notes or even taking to do’s to your Calendar app. I don’t blame you, sometimes these apps can over complicate things.

Download for free (www.google.com/calendar), free on iOS and Android.

Google Calendar, last week, introduced a new feature called “Goals”. This is a way to take your current calendar experience and really add some smarts to it. Goals allows you to add specific time based habits to your calendar, simply input what you’d like to achieve ongoing - eg. Yoga, 4 times a week, in the evenings. Google Calendar takes that information and plots out the best times for you to do this with ease, it allows you to check them off as to dos and also changes them based on your natural calendar input.

3. Proud: To do list blended with a life guru

Proud is a easy to use to do list application, it allows you to add tasks, create lists and manage activities all across your day. But what makes Proud a “Productivity-Calm” app is that it incorporates elements of relaxation and de-stressing functionality.

Within Proud, you can hit de-stress and choose your zone out time, in which it will give you those moments free to relax with light music. Timers within the app allow you to use a “pomodoro technique” alongside key tasks to increase focus and reduce stress.

And finally, a feature that allows you to defer all tasks by a set time, so if I need to - I could defer all tasks by an hour if my meeting ended late. Iif you want a to do list app that cares about your health + well-being give Proud a try, it’s £2.99 on iOS but worth the pennies.

Download: www.useproud.com (iOS, Mac Beta)

4. Sleep Cycle: Wake-up at the optimum time

Sleep Cycle essentially takes the time you’d like to wake you up, and puts a 30 minute radius around it of when it could wake you up. It will then, based on your body movements, wake you up in your optimum awareness.

My partner personally doesn’t like this idea, as she wants that extra 30 minutes, but let’s say your body is in a better state when you wake up 30 mins earlier than it would be if you woke up 30 minutes later... would you do it?

It also tracks other data points such as movement (your sleeping states), timings and also steps across your day. It’s £0.69 on the App Store and free on Android, but worth that money for sure.

Download from their website: http://www.sleepcycle.com/

There you are, four fantastic apps for you to start relaxing with. Embed these into your daily routine for a smoother and stress reduced day!

Thank you for reading :)