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Being a busy does not always mean you are being productive. If you feel that you’re often missing out on important tasks and 24 hours is not enough, don’t fret–you’re not alone. There are now a range of apps that can help shave minutes and hours off your tasks and still leave enough time to  meet a friend for happy hour.

Here is a list of the top 5 must-have mac productivity apps that you will help improve your productivity and increase your daily awesomeness with ease:

1. Noteworthy+ – Coming up with an idea while working on a different task has its drawbacks: (1) you lose focus on what you do; and (2) you lose the idea that you just thought of. If you’re anything like me, you would want to write down that idea without losing focus on what you do. In this sense, the Noteworthy+ app is just perfect. It sits conveniently on the menu bar so you can access it easily and functions like a dropdown note taking app.

Each note can be organized into notebooks with each notebook showing the number of notes contained in it. Each note, on the other hand, can be customized–change font style, size and color, add bullet entries, and even images. Notes can be searched through the search bar on the navigation window and a simple click will put it up. Windows are resizeable which makes it even more perfect when you don’t want the entire note to take up your screen.

While the Noteworthy+ app is easily accessible via the menu bar, keyboard shortcuts are very minimal and can’t be customized. This is a big drawback since a lot of users are not always ready to reach out for the mouse or navigate through their trackpad especially if they are busy typing away when a “bright idea” dawns on them. The “Back” button sits inconveniently at the bottom of the app and does not even look like it’s going to take you back. Being familiar with icons used in other apps, the back buttons on this app looks more like the Stop button on my CD player or stereo.

2. Postbox 3. Email, when left unorganized, can be a festering sore. If you’re all for productivity and simplifying your email user experience, check out this app. Postbox replaces the native email app available on your Mac and organizes your messages in a snap. It integrates with Gmail and does so with grace–all Gmail labels are supported, send and archive your messages in one click, add detected dates in your Gmail calendar (and sync it with BusyCal), and support for Gmail keyboard shortcuts is built in. You don’t have to fret if you’re not a Gmail user because it also supports other POP and IMAP emails.

Other email clients allow you to create signatures, Postbox allows you to create Canned Responses so you don’t suffer from carpal tunnel-inducing copy-paste keystrokes. Threaded view and powerful tagging features allow you to keep track of your most important emails. Integration with Dropbox makes sending large files a breeze while integration with Evernote (provided you have it installed on your Mac too), allows you to send snippets of email and save them as notes.

The native email mac productivity apps supports Exchange (if you use Outlook on your office computer or other devices), however Postbox does not. And when you’re doing big tasks, Postbox tends to slow down , unless you have a lot of memory running on your device. Searching through their knowledge base will reveal that Postbox is built for power email users. Some of its more powerful features require a bit of tinkering and admittedly, for non-tech buffs like me, that would mean spending days and extra time figuring things out. If you’re an ordinary email user (like myself), then you’re better off with the native app.

3. BusyCal. BusyCal is a big improvement from the native mac productivity apps calendar app. It syncs perfectly with Google Calendar and offers a more aesthetically pleasing interface. Entering time is pretty easy too. For instance, you can enter “5:15pm” directly or type in “515p” and get the same results. If you have appointments for 2pm, type in “2p” and you get 2:00 pm in your calendar.

You can also opt to show your own sticky notes, weather forecasts, moon cycles, holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. You can even assign colors for each event so you can go really pink with your personal appointments and go yellow when planning your daughter’s birthday. What’s really cool about this app is that you can sync it with other devices–like your spouse’s iPhone so you can share your schedule and to-do’s hassle-free.

While the monthly view is more pleasing than iCal, the weekly view gets a bit disappointing especially if you want your workday to start on a Monday–yes, it always starts on a Sunday and there’s no way to get around with that. The gray background for the weekends also diminishes the blue-gray Today background. A single license will cost you $50, but a family license is only an extra $30 at $80. So if you’ll be sharing it with the kids the family pack is the better way to go.

4. LogMeIn. Unless you use cloud storage, leaving a crucial file on your office computer can be a real hassle. But if you have LogMeIn on your office computer and at home you can remote access your office computer, login, and access your file. You can then choose to send it over to your email, share it with yourself or others or do anything you want with it like you’re just sitting in front of your PC.

One thing about LogMeIn that sets it apart from its competitors is that it runs from your browser.

It is free to use for multiple PCs–including your Mac–but you might need to upgrade to a paid version if you need to access more functionality like file transfers and full application control. For instance, you can use your Adobe Creative Suite (CS4) from your office computer even if you’re timezones away from it but when it comes to streaming music from your office computer, that’s where it all ends. Premium features also include a diagnostic toolkit that will allow you to assess the health of the remote computer although if you simply need access to files, you can well do away without it.

Since LogMeIn runs on your browser, you need to download a Firefox plug in to gain access. If you are using Internet Explorer there are some security settings you’ll need to bypass.

5. Time Out. Being productive does not mean sitting in front of your computer and typing all day. Sometimes, it actually helps to take micro breaks to just rest your eyes, take a breath and sip a cup of coffee–and Time Out is a free Mac application that allows you to do just that. It fades out your computer, signaling the time for you to “Time Out” and stretch. The interval usually depends on what you set. The screen does not totally fade out–it just turns opaque so if you’re deep into writing your next email, you can still finish it out. You can even postpone breaks when you’re really in a groove and want to finish that proposal.

If you’re a new user, you might get a little confused because Time Out does not have a tutorial or user instructions available. This is a bit disappointing since it takes a lot of trial and error to get things figured out. Technical support is non-existent and a menu seems lacking.

Taking time out while working on your computer is good for eye health and lowering stress levels. Time Out can be a welcome addition so you can refresh yourself before starting into work again.

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