The 14 Best Time Blocking Apps for 2023

In today’s fast-paced world, effective time management is essential for achieving success and meeting deadlines. Time blocking, a structured approach to organizing tasks into dedicated chunks of time, is a popular method for optimizing productivity.

Fortunately, a wide range of time blocking apps is available to assist individuals and teams in implementing this method seamlessly. From comprehensive project management tools like TimeCamp and advanced calendar apps like Fantastical, to simple and user-friendly options like Todoist and Plan, these 12 best time blocking apps cater to various needs and preferences, ensuring mastery of time management.

What Are Time Blocking Apps?

Time blocking apps are digital tools designed to help you manage your time more effectively by dividing your day into designated blocks of time. Each block is assigned to a specific task or group of tasks, allowing you to focus your energy and make the most of your day. These apps help reduce procrastination, minimize distractions, and improve overall productivity by enabling you to create a structured daily schedule.

Most Desired Features in Time Blocking Apps

When it comes to choosing the best time blocking apps, there are certain features that stand out as most desired by users. These features can significantly impact the app’s usefulness and your overall productivity.

1. Ease of Use: An intuitive interface is critical. You don’t want to waste time figuring out how to block your time; the app should make this easy for you.
2. Customization: The ability to customize your time blocks according to your specific needs, such as setting different durations and adding specific labels or tags to them, is invaluable.
3. Notifications and Reminders: Timely reminders and notifications are essential to keep you on track. They can serve as nudges to move you from one task to the next or remind you when it’s time to take a break.
4. Integration: Integration with other tools and platforms you already use, such as calendars, to-do lists, or even project management software, can be extremely beneficial. This allows for a more seamless workflow.
5. Reporting and Analytics: Understanding your time allocation is crucial for ongoing improvement. Look for apps that offer detailed reports and analytics on how you’ve spent your time.
6. Cross-Platform Accessibility: Being able to access your time blocks across various devices is essential for on-the-go adjustments and seamless day-to-day transitions.
7. Task Prioritization: Some time blocking apps offer the ability to prioritize tasks, helping you focus on what really matters and ensuring that critical activities don’t get overlooked.
8. Collaboration Features: For those working in teams, features like shared time blocks, joint tasks, or team analytics can be particularly useful.

TimeCamp

TimeCamp is a free project management tool and time tracker that provides accurate timesheets and comprehensive reports for effective deep work. It is a powerful tool for individuals who desire mastery in managing their time and projects.

With TimeCamp, users can effortlessly track how they spend their time on their computer, allowing them to gain insights into their productivity and identify areas for improvement.

One of the key features of TimeCamp is its automatic time tracking, which eliminates the need for manual tracking and ensures accurate data. This feature is especially useful for professionals who want to have an accurate record of their billable time and create better estimates for their projects. Additionally, TimeCamp integrates with over 50 apps, making it convenient for users to sync their data with other productivity tools they use.

Another advantage of using TimeCamp is its comprehensive reports. These reports provide detailed insights into how time is being allocated, allowing users to analyze their productivity and make informed decisions on how to optimize their workflow. TimeCamp also offers accurate timesheets, which can be useful for tracking work hours and generating invoices.

Fantastical – task management and time blocking app

Fantastical offers advanced features for granular scheduling and task management, making it an ideal choice for those seeking a comprehensive calendar app on Apple devices. With Fantastical, users can easily add events and tasks, view their schedule in full-screen mode, and manage multiple calendars effortlessly. The app also allows users to attach files to their events, ensuring all necessary information is easily accessible across all devices.

One of the standout features of Fantastical is its ability to provide a seamless integration with Apple devices. This means that users can take advantage of the app’s powerful scheduling and task management capabilities across their iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Additionally, Fantastical offers a free plan for basic usage, as well as premium options for those looking for more advanced features and customization options.

For those seeking mastery in time blocking and task management, Fantastical provides a robust solution with its comprehensive set of features. Whether you’re a busy professional juggling multiple calendars or someone who simply wants to optimize their daily schedule, Fantastical offers the tools and flexibility to help you stay organized and productive.

Todoist

Todoist is a versatile task management app that offers a user-friendly interface and integrates seamlessly with popular productivity and planning apps. Designed for individuals and teams, Todoist helps users stay organized and focused by allowing them to create and manage tasks easily.

With its intuitive features, users can schedule tasks, set priorities, add labels and filters, and even collaborate with others on shared projects.

One of the key strengths of Todoist is its integration capabilities. It seamlessly integrates with popular productivity and planning apps such as Google Calendar, Outlook, Trello, and Slack, allowing users to access and manage their tasks in one centralized location. This integration makes it easy to sync tasks across different platforms and ensures that users have a comprehensive overview of their to-do lists.

In addition to its integration capabilities, Todoist also offers a range of features to enhance productivity. Users can set due dates and reminders for tasks, add comments and attachments, and track their progress with visual progress bars. The app also provides personalized suggestions and insights to help users prioritize their tasks and make the most effective use of their time.

Todoist’s user-friendly interface and robust features make it a popular choice for individuals and teams seeking an efficient and effective task management solution. Its seamless integration with other productivity and planning apps further enhances its versatility and appeal. Whether you’re a professional seeking mastery in task management or a team looking for a collaborative tool, Todoist is an excellent option to consider.

Plan

Plan is a straightforward calendar app that offers drag-and-drop functionality and flexibility in scheduling tasks and time blocks. It is designed for individuals or teams who desire an efficient and customizable time blocking experience. With Plan, users can easily create tasks and time blocks using the input bar, list view, or calendar view. The drag-and-drop feature allows for easy rearrangement of tasks and time blocks, providing a seamless scheduling experience.

One of the key strengths of Plan is its flexibility. Users can easily adjust their schedules by moving tasks and time blocks around, allowing for better adaptability to changing priorities or unforeseen events. This flexibility is essential for individuals or teams who require a high level of control and organization in their daily routines.

Furthermore, Plan supports collaboration by allowing multiple users to access and edit shared calendars. This feature is particularly beneficial for teams working on projects or coordinating schedules. With the ability to assign tasks and track progress, Plan enables efficient communication and collaboration among team members.

Focus Booster

Focus Booster is a time tracking app that utilizes the Pomodoro technique and offers features like session and break timers, task lists, and reports. This app is designed for individuals who desire mastery in time management and productivity.

The Pomodoro technique is a popular time management method that breaks work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, followed by short breaks. Focus Booster incorporates this technique by providing session and break timers, allowing users to work in focused bursts and take regular breaks to maintain productivity and prevent burnout.

In addition to the Pomodoro technique, Focus Booster also offers task lists, allowing users to organize and prioritize their work efficiently. This feature helps individuals stay focused and on track with their tasks, ensuring that important deadlines are met and objectives are achieved.

Furthermore, Focus Booster provides comprehensive reports that allow users to analyze their productivity and identify areas for improvement. These reports provide valuable insights into time usage, allowing individuals to make informed decisions on how to optimize their work habits and increase their efficiency.

Overall, Focus Booster is an essential tool for individuals who desire mastery in time management and productivity. By utilizing the Pomodoro technique and offering features like session and break timers, task lists, and reports, this app empowers users to work smarter, stay focused, and achieve their goals with greater efficiency.

Planyway

Planyway is a time-blocking app that seamlessly integrates with Trello, allowing users to efficiently schedule tasks and events directly on their Trello boards. With Planyway, users can easily create customizable time blocks, making it easier to allocate specific time periods for different tasks and activities. This app provides a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop functionality, enabling users to effortlessly manage and adjust their schedules. Additionally, Planyway offers syncing capabilities with Google Calendar, ensuring that users can access their schedules across multiple platforms.

Key Features of Planyway:

• Integration with Trello: Planyway integrates seamlessly with Trello, allowing users to incorporate time-blocking directly into their Trello boards.
• Customizable Time Blocks: Users have the flexibility to create and customize time blocks according to their specific needs and preferences.
• Syncing with Google Calendar: Planyway syncs with Google Calendar, ensuring that users can access their schedules across different devices and platforms.

Planyway is an ideal solution for individuals or teams who rely on Trello for task management and want to incorporate time-blocking techniques into their workflow. Its intuitive interface, seamless integration, and customizable features make it a valuable tool for improving productivity and effectively managing time.

TimeBloc

TimeBloc is a collaborative time-blocking app designed to enhance team productivity and streamline scheduling by allowing users to schedule tasks, meetings, and events together.

With TimeBloc, teams can easily coordinate and allocate their time effectively, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals.

One of the key features of TimeBloc is its shared calendars, which allow team members to view and access each other’s schedules. This eliminates the need for constant back-and-forth communication and ensures that everyone is aware of each other’s availability.

Real-time updates also ensure that any changes to schedules are communicated instantly, preventing any confusion or missed deadlines.

In addition to scheduling tasks, meetings, and events, TimeBloc also allows for task assignments, ensuring that responsibilities are clearly defined and assigned to the appropriate team members. This helps to improve accountability and ensures that tasks are completed in a timely manner.

TimeBloc is available for both web and mobile platforms, making it accessible and convenient for teams on the go. Its user-friendly interface and intuitive design make it easy to navigate and use, even for those who are new to time-blocking apps.

Overall, TimeBloc is a powerful tool for teams looking to optimize their productivity and streamline their scheduling processes. By allowing for collaborative time-blocking and shared calendars, TimeBloc ensures that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals, ultimately leading to increased efficiency and success.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is a widely used and intuitive calendar app that allows users to easily create events and time blocks, providing reminders, notifications, and integration with other Google apps for seamless scheduling and organization.

• Simplified Event Creation: With Google Calendar, creating events is effortless. Users can simply click on the desired date and time, add event details, set reminders, and invite attendees.
• Efficient Time Blocking: Google Calendar’s time blocking feature enables users to allocate specific time slots for tasks or activities. This helps in prioritizing and dedicating focused time to important work.
• Seamless Integration: Google Calendar seamlessly integrates with other Google apps, such as Gmail and Google Drive. This allows users to attach files or documents to events, view event details within emails, and easily access relevant information.

Google Calendar’s user-friendly interface and intuitive features make it a go-to tool for individuals and businesses looking to manage their time effectively. Its ability to create events, time blocks, and reminders, along with its integration with other Google apps, provides users with a comprehensive solution for scheduling and organization.

Whether used for personal or professional purposes, Google Calendar offers a seamless and efficient way to stay on top of commitments and maximize productivity.

Sling

Sling is a comprehensive scheduling and time tracking app specifically designed for businesses, offering features such as shift planning, time clock, and team communication. With Sling, businesses can efficiently create and manage employee schedules, ensuring that shifts are properly assigned and conflicts are avoided.

The time clock feature allows employees to easily clock in and out, accurately tracking their working hours. This not only helps with payroll management but also ensures compliance with labor laws.

Additionally, Sling provides a platform for team communication, allowing employees to easily collaborate, share updates, and stay connected. This fosters a productive and cohesive work environment.

Toggl Track

Toggl Track is a popular time tracking app that provides users with accurate data on their work hours and productivity. It is a powerful tool that helps individuals and teams optimize their time and improve their efficiency. With Toggl Track, users can easily track their time spent on different tasks and projects, helping them identify areas where they may be wasting time or where they can improve their productivity.

The app offers a range of features that make time tracking simple and convenient. Users can create projects and tasks, assign tags to track specific activities, and easily switch between tasks with just a few clicks. Toggl Track also provides detailed reports and insights, allowing users to analyze their time usage and make informed decisions about how to better manage their time.

To give you a better understanding of Toggl Track’s features and capabilities, here is a table highlighting some key aspects:

Toggl Track is an excellent choice for individuals and teams who want to take control of their time and boost their productivity. Its user-friendly interface and powerful features make it a valuable tool for anyone looking to optimize their work hours and achieve their goals efficiently.

RescueTime

RescueTime is a productivity tracking tool that provides users with insights into their digital habits and helps them make data-driven decisions to improve their efficiency and focus. This app offers a range of features and benefits for individuals seeking mastery over their time management skills.

• Automatic Tracking: RescueTime automatically tracks the time spent on various websites and applications, giving users an accurate picture of how they allocate their time.
• Detailed Reports: The app generates detailed reports that show users their daily and weekly productivity levels, as well as the specific activities that consume the most time.
• Focus Time: RescueTime allows users to set goals and establish focus time, during which distracting websites and applications are blocked. This feature helps individuals stay on track and achieve their desired level of productivity.

With RescueTime, users gain valuable insights into their digital habits and can make informed decisions about how to optimize their time. By identifying time-wasting activities and implementing strategies to eliminate distractions, individuals can enhance their productivity and achieve mastery over their work.

RescueTime is a powerful tool for anyone seeking to improve their efficiency and focus in the digital age.

Clockify

Clockify is a time tracking tool that allows users to track their activities and gain insights into their time utilization. It is a powerful solution for individuals and teams who want to increase productivity and effectively manage their time. With Clockify, users can track time spent on different tasks and projects, set goals, and analyze their time usage through detailed reports and analytics.

To provide a deeper understanding of the features and capabilities of Clockify, here is a comparison table showcasing its key attributes:

Clockify offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and use. It provides a comprehensive set of features that cater to the needs of both individuals and teams. With its powerful time tracking capabilities and advanced reporting features, Clockify is an excellent tool for anyone looking to improve their time management skills and maximize their productivity. Whether you are a freelancer, a small business owner, or part of a large organization, Clockify can help you gain control over your time and achieve your goals efficiently.

Timely

Timely is a time tracking software that offers various features and integrations to help individuals and teams efficiently manage their time and increase productivity. With Timely, you can track your time automatically, create detailed timesheets, and analyze your productivity patterns.

Here are three key features of Timely:

• Automatic Time Tracking: Timely automatically tracks the time you spend on different tasks and projects, eliminating the need for manual time entries. This feature ensures accurate time tracking and allows you to focus on your work without the hassle of tracking time manually.
• Detailed Timesheets: Timely provides comprehensive timesheets that give you a clear overview of how you have spent your time. You can view your timesheets by day, week, or month, and easily identify areas where you can improve your time management.
• Integrations: Timely integrates with popular project management tools like Trello, Asana, and Jira, allowing you to seamlessly sync your tasks and projects. This integration ensures that you have all your time-related information in one place and makes it easier to plan and prioritize your work.

Forest

Forest is a time blocking app with a unique twist – it combines time management with environmental consciousness. The app encourages users to stay focused and productive by planting virtual trees that grow in real time as they work.

The concept behind Forest is simple yet effective. When you start a work session, you plant a virtual tree, which will continue growing as long as you stay focused and don’t exit the app. However, if you succumb to distractions and leave the app, your tree will wither away.

Forest not only helps you stay on track with your tasks, but it also provides a visual representation of your productivity. By completing work sessions successfully, you can grow a lush forest and track your progress over time. Additionally, Forest has a gamified element, allowing you to unlock different species of trees and even plant real trees by accumulating virtual coins.

With its focus on both personal productivity and environmental impact, Forest appeals to individuals who desire mastery over their time while also promoting sustainability. It is available for both mobile and desktop devices, making it accessible and convenient for users on the go.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)