This year for productivity has been super interesting, we’ve seen the release of Notion’s much anticipated API, new apps to help us work and get things done.

Looking to the next year, what applications will be making that splash and impact in the productivity market.

🌿 These are my thoughts:

1. Magical

Magical is a new calendar application trying to bring the world’s attention back to the calendar as the hub for managing work, meetings, notes and tasks. This calendar app is coming soon and recently raising $3.3M investment funding. Touted as the Superhuman for Calendar.

2. Tempo 2

An impressive start for Tempo in 2021, with eyes on tools like Hey.com and Tempo — people are more aware of their workflows. Tempo helps you batch work on email, to avoid overload and un-intentional checking and browsing.

3. Akiflow

A new form of productivity app called “consolidation tools” arise.

Akiflow is one of these, allowing you to blend tools like Asana, Slack, Google Calendar, Todoist, Trello and more in one hub. Perfect for team leaders or stressed team members using multiple tools and looking to bring them all in one spot.

4. Mem

Taking on the likes of Roam Research and Obsidian in 2022, Mem currently allows you to take notes in a timeline view, add and manage tasks, create meeting notes and use powerful templates and daily notes too. This app is one of the hottest on the list for potential bi-directional linking global popularity.

5. Clover

Imagine that Dropbox Paper and Milanote had a baby. This Whimsical competitor Clover, combines notes, daily notes (for journal, tasks) and “surfaces” allowing you to create visual notes (diagrams, wireframes and more)

6. Coda

With a pricey funding round dropped recently, Coda continues to thrive in the workplace environments as this super flexible workflow/docs tool of the future. It’s very much what Google Docs could have been, if innovation had kept them humble — I see Coda doing well in 2022 in the team market.

7. Evernote

Francesco, are you crazy?!

Evernote hasn’t been doing much. Yes, granted, the last 3 major features — weren't’ anything special, but this momentum Evernote brings fills me with hope that leapfrogging could well be a potential tactic — allowing them to focus on machine learning and notes in 2022.

8. Things

Things 4 could very well be on the horizon in 2022. With the success of Things 3, the future could be even brighter when the 4th edition is released, with a community loving this app, and the potential for a premium subscription model could help Things 4 be the last of the Things releases.

9. Endel

Science playing more of a role in how we use tools, when we use them and what context could very well help the productivity market flourish. The folks at Endel are doing just this with their soundscapes adaptive to your body, weather, location and environment — this level of context could inspire other tools to be more aware of you, and your role at work/life.

10. Microsoft

Yes. Microsoft are finally getting it. At their more recent event covering Microsoft Teams, Office and the hybrid workspace, they progressed massively on what it means to be a remote employee and how important looking after folks during the work day is. With new Headspace additions, and a sense of respect for focus time, new additions look exciting as time goes on.

11. Craft

Notion have a real threat with this personal documents application Craft. Craft is adding features by the week with a real focus on catching up to the Notion-esque approach and with their recent addition of daily notes, it really is blending the experience between Obsidian and Notion so well for newbies.

12. Walling

Again, another flexible application providing constant updates and a really exciting product as the year progresses. Walling is aiming to be a flexible, paper-like project management tool — following in the footsteps of Dropbox Paper but with some edge in allowing you to manage bricks, walls and multi-media in a more flexible fashion.

13. Superlist

Yet to be released, the folks behind Wunderlist want to translate this into Superlist allowing them to be the new tool for managing tasks in a team setting, with privacy and focus in mind — this comes from the brain of Christian Reber, behind Pitch too, so I’m super (no pun) excited for this.

14. Kinopio

With their iOS application almost complete, Kinopio is an interesting one. A creative mind-map that allows you to add notes, link them up in connections and build walls/custom layouts — is an appealing option for students, creatives and visual thinkers of the future — I love the nature of this tool!

15. Motion

A rising star right now, Motion comes as a Chrome Extension gaining plenty of traction as a high-end way to plan your week — like a VA-type application of the future, combining holistic productivity with managing tasks/events. This could very well be something to keep an eye on!