In the middle of the semester, students and staff can easily lose concentration and efficiency while finishing their work. So this week, the Feather staff present to you a collection of mobile and computer apps that help to increase your productivity. These are productivity toolkit aids:

Coffitivity: background noise generator

Although well designed tools can evidently raise people’s productivity, the most basic and vital factor of increasing productivity is improving an individual’s own concentration. Because no tools can function without the presence of a skilled worker.

It may sounds bizarre, but Coffitivity is actually an app that generates noise. In fact, it is scientifically proven that an ambient background noise actually improve an individual?s concentration and creativity. Coffitivity covers up all the distracting sounds around you with a rather ambient and peaceful “noise” that does not contain any “meaningful” sound that drags users? attention.

Coffitivity is available on web, iOS and Android platforms.

Workflow: An app that makes apps

Workflow is a powerful automation tool that allows you to combine a series of tasks into one action. It?s an app designed for users to build their own “mini apps”. The developers adopted the idea of “action blocks” to simplify the process of creating such “mini apps”.

Workflow provides around 150 action for users to string together. You can let it text your parents about your location, make a GIF out of the pictures in your photo gallery and post it on Instagram, get the lyrics of the song your are playing and more. When finished creating, you can even post a shortcut on your home screen to make it even more convenient.

In addition, the app allows users to share their productions with each other on the “Gallery”, so they don?t need to build the commonly used “workflows” over and over again. Since Workflow is a highly flexible app, there are no designated ways to use it. It is on each of you to explore your own ways to take advantage of it.

Sunrise: gorgeous and versatile calendar

Sunrise is a calendar combined with a “to-do” list, a weather forecast application, a reminder and GPS. Users can sync it with their Google, Facebook, email, iCloud and LinkedIn account to gather information and important events, from your teacher?s birthday to a foreign friend?s traditional holiday. At the same time, Sunrise also syncs flawlessly between various devices and platforms, including iOS, Android, Mac OS and PC. which allows users to switch from device to device without losing any information.

Timeful: Calendar app helps changing your habit.

Timeful is a rather intelligent calendar app that adjusts itself in order to change users? habits. When you tell Timeful the good habit you wants to have, it’s algorithm, according to the developer of this app, “will make suggestions when to schedule them. As you use Timeful, it gets to know you and builds a better schedule”

Hopefully these app will be helpful to all the readers. However, there is one important idea we all have to keep in mind: apps help us to work more efficiently; prerequisite is, we have the determination to work.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @TobyPan.

For more features, read the March 12 article, Students travel to Southern California, explore university options.