5 Best Apps for Time Management

Are you on the hunt for the right time management app? Me too! As a content writer and author, I often juggle multiple projects and deadlines. My chronic health issues also require me to make the most of my limited bandwidth.

I tested some of the top-performing time management apps to see which ones helped me most. While I can't tell you which apps are best for you — nor is USF an official partner/endorser of any apps listed here — these are my personal favorites:

• Tiimo: Best for visual scheduling and routine setting
• Finch: Best for self-care goals
• Forest: Best for focus sessions
• Asana: Best for managing assignments
• Freedom: Best for serious smartphone blocking

Tiimo

Tiimo is a visual planner that helps you organize and manage your time.

• You can easily schedule a daily routine using calendars, to-do lists, focus tools, and reminders.

• Tasks can be one-time or recurring.

• Tiimo's countdown clock shows you how long you have left on your current task block.
• Tiimo's AI-powered co-planner helps you organize your work into tasks and subtasks.
• Tiimo is aesthetically pleasing, with a cartoonish interface and emoji-coded tasks.

What Does Tiimo Cost?

I tested the free version of Tiimo, and I see no need to pay for the upgraded version.

My Experience with Tiimo

Sticking to a routine can be tough, which is why I appreciated Tiimo's ability to make recurring schedules. For example, I divided my days into blocks of time (e.g., morning routine, work with built-in breaks, lunch, work with built-in breaks, evening routine). Since it can be hard to both start and stop tasks, I especially liked Tiimo's reminders, which let me know when it was time to take a break or move to the next task.

Finch

Finch is a gamified goal-setting app designed to foster a healthy self-care routine.

• Finch gives you a baby cartoon bird who grows bigger as you accomplish your self-care goals: "Taking care of your 'birb' goes hand-in-hand with taking care of yourself," as the app says.

• Completing self-care goals earns you "rainbow stones," which you can use to decorate your bird's house, buy them clothes and accessories, or send in-app gifts to friends.
• You can add goals in customizable categories like movement, hygiene, connection, sleep, and productivity.
• The app also provides breathing exercises, journaling prompts, and soothing soundscapes. While not as robust as an app like Headspace, the activities are a fun intro to basic mindfulness. (I especially enjoyed the colorful “Rainbow Grounding” exercise, which encourages you to find colors in your environment.)

What Does Finch Cost?

I tested the free version of Finch and see no need to pay for the upgraded version.

My Experience with Finch

Good time management includes making room in your day for self-care. But TBH, even when I have extra time, I often forget to prioritize healthy habits. That’s why I loved this app. It has a cozy, whimsical vibe (fans of Animal Crossing will love it) and instills self-care habits in a gentle way. It never made me feel bad if I forgot a day.

Forest

Forest is a focus app that grows a virtual forest when you spend time away from your phone.

• Forest works like a Pomodoro timer with a leafy reward.
• You choose a tree to digitally plant and select how long you want to focus (from 10 minutes to two hours). If you avoid your phone for the length of your focus session, your seedling grows, but if you open a new app, the tree dies.
• You can also use Forest to block specific apps or hold joint focus sessions with friends.

What Does Forest Cost?

I was satisfied with the free version of Forest, but the paid Plus plan (typically around $5.99/month depending on your region) offers a nice perk: You earn digital coins that you can use to plant real trees via the nonprofit Trees for the Future.

My Experience with Forest

I loved choosing which type of tree to grow, planting the seed, and watching it blossom into a full-grown cedar or cypress by the end of the season. The more you focus, the more trees you grow — building a virtual forest that serves as “a visible record of how you spend your time,” as the app says.

Asana Personal

Asana is a work management app that offers plans for individuals, teams, and organizations. The Personal tier is designed to help individuals organize their projects, track goals, and meet deadlines.

• Asana Personal is ideal for people trying to manage multiple responsibilities — like a loaded class schedule or a combination of school, work, and self-care.
• You can organize big responsibilities into Projects. For example, I set up four color-coded Projects: Content writing, Creative writing, Marketing, and Self-care.
• Within each project, you can add tasks and subtasks, write brief descriptions, and set deadlines. For example, “Write article on time management apps” is one of my tasks under Content writing, and the steps to complete it are subtasks.
• Recurring tasks can be easily automated.

What Does Asana Personal Cost?

Asana Personal is free, and for individual use, there’s no reason to upgrade to a higher tier.

My Experience with Asana Personal

For me, Asana stood out from the crowd of work-management apps thanks to its accessible, user-friendly interface. Asana isn’t exactly cute or gamified, but if you’re looking for a seamless, utilitarian approach to work management, I’d highly recommend it.

Freedom

Select a session length, and Freedom will block you from using apps and/or the internet on your phone for the duration, essentially turning your smartphone into a flip phone.

• You can choose what you want to block (one app, several apps, specific websites, or the whole internet) and for how long.
• Start a spontaneous session if you feel yourself getting distracted, or schedule sessions that automatically recur at the same time each day.
• In Freedom’s Locked Mode, you can’t stop an app-blocking session once you’ve started it.
• The app syncs across devices.

What Does Freedom Cost?

Freedom costs $3.99/month, or $40/year.

My Experience with Freedom

Setting automatically recurring “internet-free” sessions on my phone kept me from mindlessly scrolling past my bedtime and helped me focus during deep work periods. Freedom’s “locked session” feature was the most beneficial because it forced me to resist impulsive phone checking. Overall, this is a more powerful tool than built-in app limits, which can be easily ignored, and for me, it was well worth the cost. 

Take Your Time Management to the Next Level

If you need more personalized help to manage your time or reduce your phone use, USF has your back! Explore more time management resources or drop by our Center for Student Well-being for advice from an expert.