Drowning in emails? Stuck in endless meetings? Discover the AI tools that can give you back hours in your day – most with free options to get you started.
Remember when mobile banking seemed a bit scary, and now you can’t imagine queueing at a branch? AI productivity tools are having their mobile banking moment. They’re becoming as normal as using spell-check or setting up an out-of-office. Let’s explore how AI productivity tools can give you back those precious hours in your day.
1. Tame Your Inbox with AI
Ever calculated how many hours you spend in your inbox? The average professional spends 28% of their workweek managing emails. Here’s how AI can help:
AI Productivity Tools for Email Management:
Shortwave
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- What it does: Turns your Gmail into a super-organised task manager
- Free tier: Yes, generous free plan
- Paid from: £8/month
- Time saved: ~1 hour/day
- Best for: Gmail users who treat their inbox as a to-do list
Front
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- What it does: Groups your emails, social messages, and texts in one smart inbox
- Free trial: 14 days
- Paid from: £12/month
- Time saved: ~45 mins/day
- Best for: People managing multiple email accounts and messaging channels
Quick Win: Start with Shortwave’s free tier – it takes 10 minutes to set up and you’ll notice the difference immediately.
2. Make Meetings Work Harder
We’ve all been in meetings that could’ve been emails. But when you do need to meet, these tools help you get more value from every minute:
Best Meeting Assistant Tools:
Otter.ai
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- What it does: Real-time transcription and meeting notes
- Free tier: Yes, 300 minutes/month
- Paid from: £8.33/month
- Time saved: ~30 mins/meeting
- Best for: Anyone who needs to reference meeting discussions later
Fireflies.ai
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- What it does: Records, transcribes, and creates searchable meeting notes
- Free tier: Yes, 800 mins/month
- Paid from: £10/month
- Time saved: ~45 mins/meeting
- Best for: People who attend lots of online meetings
Quick Win: Use Otter.ai’s free tier for your next three meetings. You’ll never scribble meeting notes again.
3. Automate the Small Stuff with AI Productivity Tools
Those little tasks that eat up your day? They’re perfect for automation. Here’s how to get started:
Best Task Automation Tools:
Make.com
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- What it does: Connects your apps to automate repetitive tasks
- Free tier: Yes, 1,000 operations/month
- Paid from: £9/month
- Time saved: 2-3 hours/week
- Best for: Connecting different apps and automating workflows
Zapier
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- What it does: Creates automated workflows between your apps
- Free tier: Yes, 100 tasks/month
- Paid from: £19.99/month
- Time saved: 2-4 hours/week
- Best for: Beginners to automation – very user-friendly
Quick Win: Start with one simple automation using AI tools: sending Slack/Teams messages for new calendar events.
4. Let AI Manage Your Calendar
Double bookings? Awkward meeting times? Too many meetings? Let AI sort it:
Best Calendar Tools:
Reclaim.ai
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- What it does: Automatically schedules your tasks and protects your focus time
- Free tier: Yes, core features included
- Paid from: £8/month
- Time saved: 1-2 hours/week
- Best for: People who struggle to find focus time
Cal.com
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- What it does: Open-source Calendly alternative with smart scheduling
- Free tier: Yes, unlimited events
- Paid from: £10/month
- Time saved: ~30 mins/day
- Best for: Anyone who schedules lots of meetings with external people
Quick Win: Set up Reclaim.ai’s free tier to automatically block focus time in your calendar.
5. Speed Up Document Work
Wrestling with PDFs? Drowning in paperwork? These tools can help:
Best Document Processing Tools:
Adobe Acrobat AI
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- What it does: Edits PDFs, extracts data, and summarises documents
- Free tier: Yes, basic features
- Paid from: £7.99/month
- Time saved: ~1 hour/day
- Best for: Anyone who works with PDFs regularly
DocuSign CLM
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- What it does: Automates contract workflows and document processes
- Free trial: 30 days
- Paid from: £10/month
- Time saved: 1-2 hours/document
- Best for: People who handle lots of contracts or signed documents
Quick Win: Try Adobe’s free online tools for your next PDF task – no installation needed.
Getting Started: Your First Week with AI Tools
Monday
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- Set up Shortwave for your Gmail
- Let it sort through your existing emails
- Spend 10 minutes learning the shortcuts
Tuesday
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- Install Otter.ai
- Use it in your longest meeting of the day
- Compare your normal notes to Otter’s transcript
Wednesday
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- Create a free Make.com account
- Set up one simple automation
- Watch it work its magic
Thursday
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- Connect Reclaim.ai to your calendar
- Let it find your focus time
- Notice how much calmer your day feels
Friday
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- Try Adobe’s free PDF tools
- Process that document you’ve been putting off
- Calculate how much time you saved
The Bottom Line
Starting with AI productivity tools doesn’t mean doesn’t mean rebuilding your entire workflow overnight. Pick one tool from this list – preferably one that tackles your biggest daily headache – and start with its free tier. Once you see how much time you’re saving, you can explore more options or upgrade to premium features.
Remember: The goal isn’t to use AI everywhere, but to let it handle the repetitive stuff so you can focus on what matters. Even saving 30 minutes a day adds up to 125 hours a year – imagine what you could do with that time!
Found this helpful? Share it with a colleague who could use some time back in their day.
Or book some time in for a free chat about how you can use Ai in your life or business.
