Best Free Productivity Resources

Not everything worth using costs money. Every pick here is either completely free (Anki, Google Calendar, Google Keep, Glasp, the Learning How to Learn course and Cal Newport's Study Hacks blog) or has a free plan you can rely on day to day (Excalidraw, NotebookLM, Tally, Fathom and Focusmate). Paid upgrades exist for some of them, but none of these needs one to be useful.

For learning, Anki schedules flashcard reviews just before you would forget, Learning How to Learn covers focused and diffuse thinking, chunking and procrastination, NotebookLM answers questions only from the sources you upload, and Glasp keeps your web highlights in one searchable library. For planning and capture, Google Calendar handles time blocking and Google Keep catches quick notes. Excalidraw is a free whiteboard for sketching ideas, Tally builds forms by typing as you would in a document, Fathom records and summarises your video calls, and Focusmate pairs you with another person for a silent work session.

Start with the one that fixes your biggest daily friction, use it for a week, and only then add another. A few free tools you actually use beat a long list you signed up for once.