There’s no way around it; gamification works when it comes to improving productivity. In fact, one study found that 90% of employees say that gamification absolutely improves their productivity, which is why Forest is such an excellent tool when it comes to time management.
Admittedly, it’s very basic. With a simple timer/stopwatch tool on the home page, you’ll “plant a tree” when you start work, with the animation growing leaves and branches the longer you work. If you don’t come back to the app regularly, the tree will slowly die, leaving you with a sad forest of withered greenery. You can even unlock different species of trees and build out a diverse forest.
There is no desktop interface for Forest, largely because it very much operates as a mobile game more than a full-on time management solution. Still, these kinds of gamification features have been proven to contribute to productivity in a real way, so if you need a push, it could seriously help.
Forest is free to use, but there is a Pro version that costs $3.49 per month, adding more detailed reporting, data export capabilities, and the ability to create an allow list for certain apps. Even better, you can contribute to planting real trees when you work with this plan. Going green while being productive, you’re living the dream!
