5 best time management apps

Time management is a fantastic skill to have, but it needs to be learned and developed. Tools can help though, and that's where time management apps come in.

From a timer that can help you work and enjoy a break better, to reminder apps that can help you make the most of your time, to an app that can help you work out where your time goes, we have a suite of savvy software that will help you improve your time management techniques.

Manage your work/break balance with Be Focused - Focus Timer

A crucial part of time management is knowing when it's time to take a break. Taking regular breaks can keep you fresh and make you more productive in the long term. We have an app that can help you do just that — the free Be Focused app helps you get things done by breaking up individual tasks into discrete intervals, separated by short breaks.

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This is based on the theories behind Francesco Cirillo's "Pomodoro Technique." This technique, developed in the 1980s, sees a timer is set for 25 minutes during which time you work intensely, then when the timer goes off you take a five-minute break.

You can use Be Focused as a simple Pomodoro timer, by just hitting the go button on the 25-minute timer and working until the timer ends, or you can tailor the work/break times to suit you. You can also specify different timer settings for different tasks.

This app also offers a chronometer — a ticking clock — a sound that you can activate during your working periods. The frequency of this ticking can be customized within the app to suit your taste. Some people find the sound of a rapidly ticking clock can encourage them to work faster and get more done in less time.

Be Focused - Focus Timer is available for download on the Apple App Store.

Get location-based reminders with Google Keep

Google Keep is a fab app available for iOS and Android devices that allows you to capture, edit, share, and collaborate on typed and drawn notes, and voice memos. However, what we're particularly interested in for time management is Google Keep's ability to give you location-based reminders.

This functionality is available in other notes apps, as well as plenty of to-do list type apps, but it's usually a paid-for, premium feature, whereas Google offers it for free.

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This means you can receive a reminder to collect your dry cleaning when you're in the vicinity of the store, or nudge yourself to ask about your child's homework at school pick up, therefore saving you the need to make a separate trip, or having to make an extra phone call or send an email.

It's simple to set up such reminders. You just need to create a new note, tap the bell-shaped alerts icon at the top right of the screen, then choose "Select place." You can then search for the location where you want to be reminded of something. You can also tie these reminders to shopping lists you've created within the Google Keep app, so you can set up a reminder that contains essential shopping items to alert you when you hit the supermarket.

Google Keepis available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Manage — and delegate — household tasks with OurHome - chores, and rewards

To-do lists for work- and study-related tasks are super useful, but there's another area of your life where you can try and improve your time management — household management. OurHome is an iOS and Android app that's designed to help you organize your family.

Once you've set up your household members in the app, you can assign and schedule tasks and chores for both yourself and anyone else you live with, whether that's your partner, children, or even housemates. Delegation doesn't come naturally to all, so having an app that helps you share out household tasks, taking the burden off you, can free up your time in a meaningful way

Credit: Screenshot / Apple

You can simply assign tasks and set related reminders, but if you have younger children you may want to take advantage of the app's ability to set up goals and rewards as a way to incentivise chores. As well as the ability to set tasks by email or SMS, OurHome offers a shared family calendar and a "Groceries" tab with a shared shopping list function.

This is a nicely designed app with cute, kid-friendly graphics, a straightforward interface, and best of all, it's free to use, and you don't even have to put up with ads. This comes recommended.

Our Home is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Sort your tasks by importance with Prioritize: Organized To-Do

Writing a to-do list is 101 when it comes to organization and time management, but it's one thing to create a list, and another thing to act on it. There are hundreds of to-do list apps available, but we've found one that we find helps when it comes to managing your time — and it's completely free.

Prioritize: Organized To-Do automatically organizes all of your to-do tasks you need to complete based on the Due Date and Priority level that you assign to each task. This concept means you can structure your activity based on what needs to be done soonest, rather than wasting time on a less important task and then rushing to catch up.

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As you create your to-do list, you can set the priority level to Very High, High, Medium, Low, and Not Important. This means when you view your to-do list you see the more important task at the top for an at-a-glance look to help keep your time management on track.

This ad-supported app has a simple user interface and works intuitively. You can use this to create very basic priority ordered to-do list entities, or take things further to create reminders, set due dates, add notes, and set regular tasks to repeat.

Organized To-Do is available for download on the Apple App Store.

Find out where your time goes with Toggl Track: Hours & Time Log

If you're looking into time management solutions because you don't understand where all your time goes, experimenting with a time tracking app could help you answer that vital question. There are a lot of time tracking apps available, most aimed at business people who want to track their billable time. The app we're featuring, Toggl Track, can be used for that, but it can also be used to help you discover what's taking up your time generally.

You can quickly create time entries either by starting the in-app timer and giving that period a name or retrospectively adding entries using the handy add button. Toggl Track will then show you a simple snapshot of your day or week with its "Reports" functionality. You can analyze your Reports in the app or export them via CSV.

Credit: Screenshot / Apple

You can also connect your calendar app to Toggl Track to see all of your calendar events and time entries in the app itself. This means the app can send you notifications before events start. Connecting your calendar also means Toggl Track instantly creates time entries based on your calendar events.

If you don't want the hassle of opening the app every time you want to create a timed entry, Toggl Track boasts Siri integration. Via your iPhone's Shortcuts app, you can set up the ability to ask Siri to "Start Time Entry" in the Toggl Track app.

Toggl Track: Hours & Time Log is available for download on the Apple App Store.