Note: Before you dive in, I want to be transparent with you that some links below are affiliate links. That means if you purchase an item through my link, I will earn a commission. You won’t be charged any extra money. In fact, you may even get discount deals through my links. So, if you believe in my work and want to support me, I’d appreciate you using my links. I only promote products I trust. Enjoy!

I’ve divided the list of tools in the following four sections:

Work Optimization

Health Optimization

Writing, Blogging and Branding

Learning

Work Optimization

Evernote is my go-to note-taking app. I use it to capture my fleeting thoughts, keep personal documents, and write notes from books or courses. The best part is that even when I write notes on paper, I can scan the page from Evernote mobile app and the text magically becomes searchable! That means when I search Evernote, it also detects and searches through my written notes. Evernote is a lifesaver.

Whether you work in a team or have personal projects (or goals), Trello is one of the best tools for organizing, managing and getting things done. It requires zero skills to get started and is utterly easy to use.

I manage all my Design Epic Life related work through Trello.

Another option for organizing projects or life (which I also love) is Nozbe. It has a different style, so it really comes down to your preference. I’d recommend you try it for free and stick with the one you understand and like better than other apps.

Wunderlist is an amazing, easy-to-use task listing app. While I use Trello to manage the big picture of ‘Design Epic Life’, I use Wunderlist to manage the tasks at hand. I could use just one app if I wanted to but two separate apps keep tasks clear and tidy (plus it keeps me sane).

Slack is the ultimate tool for team collaboration and chat. Got a team project? Use slack (not Facebook Messenger or any casual chatting app out there — please!). It keeps conversations organized and provides easy file sharing features. It’s continuously evolving with apps and bots so hop on!

Workflowy lets you organize your thoughts. It’s best for breaking down big ideas into small chunks so you can focus on one at a time instead of feeling overwhelmed. I use it to structure my blog posts before writing them. You can use it for pretty much anything that requires thinking.

If you have a Google email, you probably use Gmail to check your emails. Inbox is an app from Google that makes checking and processing emails much more convenient. The best part is that it turns emails into tasks which you can check off, pin or delete in an instant which is great for feeling the reward of getting things done.

You know how hard it is to focus on work when you have all the distractions of the internet poking you. Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on your willpower to focus. You can simply block distracting websites until you finish your work using FocusMe. It runs on Windows, Mac and Android.

Freedom is an alternative to FocusMe. The noticeable difference is that it runs on Windows, Mac, and iOS. So if you have an iPhone, it’s a great option but if you keep an android, FocusMe is a wiser option. And if you want a free alternative for blocking websites (for Mac) you may use SelfControl.

The free version of Rescue Time lets you track how you spend your time on the internet and gives you detailed report which you can use for self-evaluation. On upgrading, you can also set ‘focus time’ to block distracting websites. It runs on every device except iOS.

If you struggle to focus, try the Pomodoro technique with the Tomighty app. Here’s the gist of Pomodoro: When you have a big task or series of tasks, break the work down into short, timed intervals (called “Pomodoros”) that are spaced out by short breaks.

If you’re a student, an entrepreneur, a programmer or a creative person; you must give focus@will a try. They have the best sounds and music to help you become productive and have a laser-sharp focus at your will. Tune in and get things done whenever and wherever you want.