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Madza
Madza

Posted on • Originally published at madza.hashnode.dev

17 Essential Tools to Boost Your Productivity πŸš€πŸ”₯

In today's fast-paced world, there's a vast array of productivity tools at our disposal, designed to simplify our lives and enhance our efficiency.

However, with so many tools available, it's easy to get lost in the sea of options, leading to decision fatigue and inefficiency.

In this article, I've handpicked a list of 17 tools to address specific productivity challenges you may face from screen recording, keyboard shortcuts, and clipboard management to working with Regex, terminals, DB entries, APIs, and more.

I've included direct links, descriptions, and visuals so that you can get an initial impression of each tool right away.


1. FocuSee (Sponsored)

FocuSee is a screen recording tool that automatically zooms in on the video, tracks cursor movement, and adds a nice background, without the need for manual editing.

5 most useful features of FocuSee:

  1. Automatic zoom: FocuSee automatically zooms in on the most important part of the screen, making it easy for viewers to follow along.

  2. Cursor movement tracking: FocuSee tracks the movement of your cursor and keeps it in focus, even if you're moving it quickly or erratically.

  3. Nice background: FocuSee adds a nice, blurred background to your videos, making you look more professional and polished.

  4. No manual editing required: FocuSee automatically polishes your videos for you, so you can spend less time editing and more time creating.

  5. Easy to use: FocuSee is very easy to use, even for beginners. Simply click the record button and start recording your screen. FocuSee will do the rest.

FocuSee

2. Keypirinha

A powerful keyboard launcher that allows you to quickly access applications and files by typing. It's highly customizable and can boost your productivity.

Keypirinha

3. Ditto

A clipboard manager that extends your clipboard's functionality, making it easier to manage and reuse copied items. It saves time and enhances your workflow.

Ditto

4. Fancy Zones

A Windows Management tool by Microsoft that helps you organize and manage open windows on your desktop for improved multitasking.

Fancy Zones

5. Typora

A markdown editor that offers a distraction-free writing experience and real-time preview. It simplifies the process of creating markdown documents.

Typora

6. Ray.so

A tool for creating beautiful code snippets in no time with instant sharing capabilities. It makes sharing code snippets a breeze.

Ray.so

7. GradientHunt

A curated collection that allows you to easily access and use beautiful gradients, enhancing your design and development projects.

GradientHunt

8. Hyper

A cross-platform terminal built on Electron. It is highly customizable and extensible, with a wide range of themes and plugins available.

Hyper

9. Sourcetrail

A code visualization tool that aids in codebase exploration, making it easier to understand complex projects.

Sourcetrail

10. RegExr

An online tool for regular expressions, helping developers create, test, and debug regular expressions.

RegExr

11. Beekeeper

A SQL editor with a clean interface, making database management and SQL query writing more efficient.

Beekeeper

12. Lucidchart

A wireframing tool for UI/UX design. It simplifies the creation of diagrams and prototypes.

Lucidchart

13. MindMup

An online mind-mapping tool that aids in brainstorming and planning, helping you organize your thoughts and ideas.

MindMup

14. Swagger

A tool for API documentation, making it easy to create and maintain documentation for your APIs.

Swagger

15. Insomnia

An API testing tool that streamlines the testing of REST and GraphQL APIs. It simplifies the debugging process.

Insomnia

16. f.lux

A screen light adjuster that reduces blue light from your screen, helping reduce eye strain and improve sleep quality.

f.lux

17. Bitwarden

A password manager that securely stores your passwords and makes it easy to manage login credentials. It enhances security and convenience.

Bitwarden


Writing has always been my passion and it gives me pleasure to help and inspire people. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

Connect me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and GitHub!

Visit my Blog for more articles like this.

Top comments (78)

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fredlag profile image
fredlag

Thanks for the share Typora is my favorite tool. That boost a lot my productivity. I have create a weekly template to be more efficient. You can find the description of this template here

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madza profile image
Madza

Thanks a lot for the insight and for sharing the template! πŸ‘πŸ’―

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gorkemcetin profile image
GΓΆrkem Γ‡etin

Thanks for this list. I have never heard some of them before. Since you mentioned Beekeper, I thought it could be interesting to add Retable to this list - it's an Airtable alternative but with a one-time payment. You can also add addons on top to boost with several features. There are several developers connecting Retable with 3rd party APIs to store lots of company data.

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madza profile image
Madza

Thanks for the valuable addition, Gorkem! πŸ™πŸ’–

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giovannimatteo1 profile image
Giovanni Matteo

good article

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madza profile image
Madza

Thank you so much, Giovanni! πŸ™πŸ’–

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jd2r profile image
DR • Edited

Fantastic list! I'll mention Obsidian and StackEdit as free alternatives to Typora, both of which I love working with πŸ™Œ

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madza profile image
Madza

I'm using StackEdit a lot myself too! Thanks for the valuable additions! πŸ™πŸ’–

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sammiee profile image
sammie

Thanks for sharing, that's what I need.
I would like to share a tool I'm using servbay.dev. It helps me boost a lot my productivity by offering a seamless, graphical, one-click installation experience for local web development environments.

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madza profile image
Madza

Thanks for the addition and for checking out the article! πŸ‘πŸ’―

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srinivasan-thirumani profile image
srinivasan

Very Informative, Thanks for sharing.

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madza profile image
Madza

My pleasure, thanks for checking it out! πŸ™πŸ’–

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liyasthomas profile image
Liyas Thomas

Since you mentioned Insomnia, we're building Hoppscotch - an API request builder for the web.

GitHub logo hoppscotch / hoppscotch

πŸ‘½ Open source API development ecosystem - https://hoppscotch.io

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madza profile image
Madza

Both equally awesome products! πŸ‘πŸ’―
Mentioned you guys in the previous article about open-source πŸ™πŸ’–

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avelino profile image
Thiago Avelino

recommended Rio Term, he's fantastic

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madza profile image
Madza

Thanks a lot for the valuable addition! πŸ™πŸ’–

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dannickbedard profile image
Dannick Bedard

I can't live without ditto! πŸ˜…

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madza profile image
Madza

A solid clipboard manager is useful indeed! πŸ‘πŸ’―πŸš€

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shoptinhyeuvn profile image
Shop tΓ¬nh yΓͺu shoptinhyeu.vn

Thanks a lot for share

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madza profile image
Madza

My pleasure, thanks for checking out! πŸ‘πŸ’―

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tymur_minhaziiev profile image
Tymur Minhaziiev

Everyone should use Ditto, this is the most useful tool here.

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madza profile image
Madza

Agree, very useful indeed! πŸ‘πŸ’―

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zag495 profile image
Zag

Hey, can u tell me like why we need a markdown editor?
It is not for Programming surely?

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madza profile image
Madza

Markdown editor is great for tech bloggers and people who write documentation!
Its UI is more straightforward compared to IDEs and Code editors so that you can focus on the writing.

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rolandixor profile image
Roland Taylor

Great article! To help fellow power users, do you mind adding which platforms these apps support? I don't think all of these are cross-platform.

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madza profile image
Madza

Thanks for the recommendation, mate! πŸ‘πŸ’―
Out of those you have to install - Keypirinha, Ditto, and FancyZones are for Windows, the rest are cross-platform or web apps! πŸ˜‰

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rumendimov profile image
Rumen Dimov

I really like the last one. I have been using KeePass but Bitwarden is worth the try.

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madza profile image
Madza

Happy to hear that, Rumen! πŸ‘πŸ’―

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thepeete profile image
thePeete

Beekeeper looks nice

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madza profile image
Madza

Indeed it is, loving the UI πŸ™πŸ’–