5 Productivity Apps That Work Great with TimerHaven
TimerHaven provides excellent time management and focus tools, but combining them with the right task managers, note-taking apps, and project tools creates a powerhouse productivity system. This guide reviews 5 apps that complement TimerHaven perfectly, with detailed integration strategies.
The Philosophy: Best-of-Breed vs. All-in-One
Instead of using one bloated app that does everything poorly, we recommend the best-of-breed approach: choose specialized apps that excel at their specific function and integrate them seamlessly.
TimerHaven handles:
- Time tracking and timers
- Pomodoro focus sessions
- Habit tracking
- Meeting planning across time zones
- Quick notes with timestamps
For everything elsetask management, deep note-taking, calendar scheduling, etc.?you'll want dedicated apps. Here are our top picks.
1. Todoist Task Management & Planning
📝 Todoist
Best for: Simple, fast task management with natural language input
Pricing: Free tier available, Premium $4/month
Platforms: Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, browser extensions
What Makes It Great
Todoist excels at quick capture and organization. Type "Buy milk tomorrow at 2pm #Shopping !p1" and it automatically creates a high-priority task in your Shopping project for tomorrow at 2 PM. No clicking through menus.
Key Features
- Natural language processing: Ultra-fast task entry
- Projects & labels: Flexible organization
- Recurring tasks: "Every Monday" or "Every 3 days"
- Priority levels: Visual flags (p1-p4)
- Collaboration: Share projects, assign tasks
- Productivity tracking: Karma points and streaks (gamification)
✅ Pros
- Extremely fast task entry
- Clean, intuitive interface
- Reliable sync across devices
- Great free tier
❌ Cons
- No built-in time tracking
- Limited task dependencies
- Calendar view requires Premium
- Morning: Review Todoist tasks, pick top 3 priorities
- Work session: Use our Pomodoro Timer to focus on one Todoist task at a time
- Track time: Use our Task Timer to log how long tasks actually take
- Review: Adjust future Todoist estimates based on actual TimerHaven data
2. Notion All-in-One Workspace
Notion
Best for: Databases, wikis, long-form notes, and custom workflows
Pricing: Free for personal use, Plus $10/month for advanced features
Platforms: Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
What Makes It Great
Notion is like digital Legoyou build exactly the system you need. Create task databases, link them to project pages, embed calendars, add relational properties. It's incredibly flexible.
Key Features
- Databases: Create custom task managers, CRMs, content calendars
- Templates: Pre-built systems for common workflows
- Blocks system: Mix text, images, code, embeds freely
- Relations & rollups: Link databases (e.g., tasks projects)
- AI features: Writing assistance, auto-fill (paid plans)
- Collaboration: Real-time editing, comments, permissions
✅ Pros
- Ultimate flexibility
- Beautiful, customizable design
- Combines notes + tasks + wiki
- Great for knowledge management
❌ Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Can be slow/laggy
- Offline mode limited
- Easy to over-engineer
- Create a "Daily Plan" template in Notion with your top tasks
- Use TimerHaven's Pomodoro Timer to work through each task
- Log completed Pomodoros in a Notion database (track focus time per project)
- Weekly review: Analyze which projects got the most focus time
3. Obsidian Personal Knowledge Management
💎 Obsidian
Best for: Interconnected notes, research, Zettelkasten method
Pricing: Free for personal use, Sync $4/month (optional)
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
What Makes It Great
Obsidian stores notes as plain Markdown files on your deviceyou own your data forever. Its linking and graph view help you build a "second brain" where ideas connect organically.
Key Features
- Bidirectional links: Connect notes like a personal Wikipedia
- Graph view: Visualize connections between notes
- Local-first: Your files, your control, no vendor lock-in
- Plugins: Massive community plugin ecosystem
- Daily notes: Automatic journaling and time-stamped captures
- Canvas: Visual brainstorming and mind mapping
✅ Pros
- You own your data (Markdown files)
- Powerful linking system
- Extremely customizable
- Active plugin community
- Works offline perfectly
❌ Cons
- Steeper learning curve
- Sync costs extra
- Mobile app less polished
- Overwhelming for beginners
- Use Obsidian for meeting notes during video calls
- Schedule meetings with our Meeting Planner
- Take quick timestamped notes with our Notes Tool during work sessions
- Transfer important insights from TimerHaven notes into permanent Obsidian notes
4. Google Calendar Scheduling & Time Blocking
📥… Google Calendar
Best for: Time blocking, meeting scheduling, calendar management
Pricing: Free with Google account
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android
What Makes It Great
Google Calendar is the industry standard for a reason. It's reliable, integrates with everything, and provides excellent time-blocking capabilities essential for deep work.
Key Features
- Multiple calendars: Separate work, personal, project calendars
- Sharing & permissions: Share availability, coordinate schedules
- Color coding: Visual categorization
- Time zones: Automatic conversion for global teams
- Reminders & notifications: Never miss events
- Integration: Works with virtually every productivity app
✅ Pros
- Completely free
- Universal compatibility
- Excellent mobile apps
- Reliable sync
❌ Cons
- Basic interface
- Limited task management
- Privacy concerns (Google)
- Time block your calendar with specific tasks
- When a time block starts, use our Pomodoro Timer to stay focused
- Schedule international meetings with our Meeting Planner, then add to Google Calendar
- Track habits by marking calendar events complete with our Habit Tracker
5. Toggl Track Time Tracking & Analytics
Toggl Track
Best for: Detailed time tracking, billable hours, productivity analytics
Pricing: Free tier available, Starter $10/month
Platforms: Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extension
What Makes It Great
If you need detailed reports on where your time goes (especially for client billing or self-analysis), Toggl Track is unmatched. One-click start/stop makes tracking effortless.
Key Features
- One-click tracking: Start timer from browser, desktop, or mobile
- Projects & clients: Categorize time entries
- Reports & analytics: Visual breakdowns of time allocation
- Billable rates: Calculate project revenue
- Idle detection: Prompts if you forget to stop timer
- Integrations: Connects to Asana, Trello, Todoist, etc.
✅ Pros
- Extremely easy to use
- Beautiful reports
- Great free tier
- Integrates widely
❌ Cons
- Can feel like surveillance
- No Pomodoro functionality
- Limited free reports