Top 16 'Mental-Clutter-Clearing' Software to try for Automating the Annoying Parts of Your Job - Goh Ling Yong
We've all been there. It's 3 PM, you're staring at your screen, and you feel like you've been running a marathon, yet your most important task for the day remains untouched. What have you been doing? Answering emails, scheduling meetings, chasing down files, copy-pasting data from a spreadsheet to a report... the list of small, repetitive, and frankly, annoying tasks is endless. This isn't just "work"; it's mental clutter.
This low-grade, administrative friction is the silent killer of productivity and creativity. It doesn't require deep thinking, but it consumes vast amounts of our mental energy and focus. Each time you switch contexts from your main project to find a password or format a document, you pay a "cognitive switching tax." By the end of the day, you've paid that tax a hundred times over, leaving you drained and with little to show for it.
But what if you could outsource that friction? What if you could build a digital assistant, tailored to your exact needs, that handles the annoying parts of your job so you can focus on the work that truly matters? That's not science fiction; it's the power of modern automation and productivity software. Here are 16 of the best "mental-clutter-clearing" tools that can help you reclaim your focus and automate your way to a more streamlined workday.
1. Zapier
If you've ever thought, "I wish this app could just talk to that app," Zapier is your answer. It's the ultimate digital glue, connecting over 5,000 different web applications to create automated workflows, or "Zaps," without needing to write a single line of code. It operates on a simple "When this happens, do that" logic.
Zapier eliminates the mental load of manual data transfer and repetitive follow-ups. Instead of remembering to copy a new lead from a form into your CRM and then add them to an email list, you build a Zap that does it instantly and flawlessly every time. This frees up your brainpower from "process management" and lets you focus on strategy and execution. As we often discuss here on the Goh Ling Yong blog, reducing cognitive load is the first step to unlocking higher-level thinking.
- Pro Tip: Create a Zap that monitors a specific keyword on Twitter or a news RSS feed. When it finds a match, it can automatically send the link to a designated Slack channel and create a task in your project management tool to review it later. This automates your industry monitoring.
2. Calendly
The endless email chain of "What time works for you?" is a classic example of mental clutter. Calendly eradicates this completely. It's a smart scheduling tool that syncs with your calendar and allows others to book a meeting with you by simply clicking a link and picking an available slot.
You set your availability rules once—for example, "I only take meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 1 PM and 4 PM"—and Calendly handles the rest. It automatically checks for conflicts, adds the event to both your calendars, and can even send reminders. It removes the back-and-forth negotiation, saving you countless emails and the mental energy of coordinating schedules.
- Pro Tip: Use Calendly's workflows to automate meeting prep and follow-up. You can set it to automatically send a pre-meeting email with the agenda 24 hours beforehand and a post-meeting email with a link to a feedback form one hour after the meeting ends.
3. Asana
"Who's handling that?" "What's the status of this project?" "Did I forget to follow up?" These questions are mental clutter gremlins. Asana is a powerful project and task management tool that provides a single source of truth for your team's work, making everything visible, tracked, and accountable.
By centralizing tasks, deadlines, dependencies, and communication, Asana removes the need to keep a running to-do list in your head. You can see at a glance what you need to work on, what your team is doing, and where potential bottlenecks are forming. The automation rules within Asana can automatically assign tasks, move projects to the next stage, and notify stakeholders, eliminating manual project admin.
- Pro Tip: Use the "Portfolio" view to get a high-level overview of the health of multiple projects at once. This is perfect for managers who need to track progress without getting bogged down in the minutiae of every single task.
4. TextExpander
How many times a day do you type your email address, a common reply to a customer, a specific code snippet, or your company's address? TextExpander is a simple but profoundly effective utility that lets you create custom keyboard shortcuts (snippets) for frequently used text.
This isn't just about saving a few seconds of typing. It's about reducing the mental friction of repetitive tasks. Instead of searching for that "canned response" document, you just type ;reply1 and a perfectly formatted, multi-paragraph response appears instantly. It ensures consistency, reduces errors, and keeps you in the flow of your work without interruption.
- Pro Tip: Create snippets for complex URLs you frequently visit, meeting agenda templates, or even common formatting characters like Markdown syntax. Your fingers will thank you.
5. SaneBox
The modern email inbox is a war zone for your attention. SaneBox is an AI-powered assistant that fights on your behalf. It analyzes your past email behavior to determine what's important and automatically filters unimportant messages (like newsletters, CCs, and notifications) into separate, less urgent folders like SaneLater or SaneNews.
This means your primary inbox only contains messages that genuinely require your attention. It’s like having a personal assistant who pre-sorts your mail, clearing away the noise so you can focus on the signal. You no longer have to waste mental cycles deciding if that promotional email is worth opening right now. You can review the filtered folders once or twice a day when you have downtime.
- Pro Tip: Use the
SaneBlackHolefeature. If you drag an email from an unwanted sender into this folder, you’ll never receive an email from them again. It’s the most satisfying unsubscribe button ever invented.
6. Loom
Sometimes, a five-minute video is worth a thousand-word email. Loom is a tool that lets you easily record your screen, camera, and microphone to create instant, shareable videos. It's perfect for giving feedback, demonstrating a process, or providing a project update without needing to schedule a live meeting.
Loom clears the clutter of convoluted written explanations and unnecessary sync-ups. Instead of trying to describe a bug in an email, you can record yourself reproducing it. Instead of a 30-minute meeting to walk through a new design, you can send a Loom video that your team can watch on their own time. It promotes asynchronous communication, which is a powerful way to protect your focus time.
- Pro Tip: After recording, Loom automatically generates a transcript and allows viewers to leave time-stamped comments and emoji reactions. This makes feedback specific and easy to act on.
7. Notion
Information sprawl is a major source of mental clutter. You have notes in one app, project plans in another, and company documentation in a third. Notion is an all-in-one workspace that combines notes, tasks, wikis, and databases into a single, highly flexible platform.
By consolidating your work into one place, Notion reduces the cognitive load of app-switching and searching for information. You can create a team wiki, a personal task list, a content calendar, and a CRM all within the same tool, with everything interlinked. Its powerful database features allow you to create customized views of your information, so you only see what's relevant to you at any given moment.
- Pro Tip: Use Notion's database templates to get started quickly. Create a "Master Task List" database and then create different "Linked Views" of that database on different pages—for example, a "Today" view on your personal dashboard and a "High Priority" view on your team's project page.
8. Otter.ai
Trying to actively participate in a meeting while simultaneously taking detailed notes is a recipe for doing both things poorly. Otter.ai is an AI-powered transcription service that records and transcribes your meetings in real-time.
This simple service is a game-changer for mental clarity. You can be fully present and engaged in the conversation, knowing that a searchable, accurate record is being created automatically. After the meeting, you can quickly review the transcript, highlight key action items, and share it with attendees. No more "I think someone said..."—you have the exact record.
- Pro Tip: Connect Otter.ai to your Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams account, and it can automatically join and transcribe your scheduled meetings, even if you can't attend.
9. Password Managers (LastPass / 1Password)
The cognitive load of trying to remember dozens of unique, complex passwords is immense. A password manager like LastPass or 1Password is a non-negotiable tool for clearing this specific type of mental clutter. It securely stores all your passwords in an encrypted vault.
You only have to remember one master password. The tool then automatically fills in your login credentials on websites and apps. It can also generate incredibly strong, unique passwords for every new account, dramatically improving your security. It removes the friction and anxiety associated with logging in, turning a constant small annoyance into a seamless, automated action.
- Pro Tip: Use your password manager to store more than just passwords. Secure notes, credit card information, and software licenses can all be kept in the vault, creating a single, secure place for all your sensitive digital information.
10. Clockwise
An open, fragmented calendar is an invitation for distraction and inefficient work. Clockwise is a smart calendar assistant that optimizes your team's schedule to create more uninterrupted blocks of "Focus Time."
It automatically rearranges your flexible meetings to the least disruptive times, resolves conflicts, and color-codes your calendar so you can see your week at a glance. It’s an automated time-management system that defends your most valuable asset: your attention. By automatically building focus time into your schedule, it removes the need for you to manually block off time and fight for your own productivity.
- Pro Tip: Enable the "auto-pilot" feature to let Clockwise continuously find the best schedule for you and your team as new events are added, ensuring your focus time is always protected.
11. Grammarly
Worrying about spelling, grammar, and tone while you're trying to write is a form of multitasking that hinders your flow. Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that goes far beyond a simple spell-check, offering real-time feedback on grammar, punctuation, clarity, and tone.
It works in the background across most of the places you write—email, documents, social media—acting as an automated proofreader. This allows you to focus purely on getting your ideas down, knowing that Grammarly will catch most of the small errors. The "tone detector" is particularly useful for clearing the mental clutter of wondering, "How will this email sound to the recipient?"
- Pro Tip: Use the Grammarly for Windows/Mac desktop app. It allows you to use its suggestions in virtually any application, not just your web browser, ensuring your writing is polished everywhere.
12. Hazel (for Mac)
Is your desktop or "Downloads" folder a chaotic mess of files? Hazel is a powerful automation tool for macOS that watches folders you designate and automatically organizes files based on rules you create. It’s like having a personal housekeeper for your computer.
You can set up rules to automatically rename files, sort them into subfolders by date or file type, add tags, and even delete old files. For example, Hazel can watch your Downloads folder, and any PDF it finds can be automatically moved to your "Documents/Invoices" folder. It tackles digital disorganization at the source, preventing the mental clutter that comes from a messy workspace.
- Pro Tip: Create a rule to automatically move screenshots older than 30 days from your Desktop to the Trash. This keeps your main workspace clean without you ever having to think about it.
13. Superhuman
For many, email is the single biggest source of professional mental clutter. Superhuman is a premium email client designed for one thing: speed. It rebuilds the email experience from the ground up with a focus on keyboard shortcuts, speed, and powerful features that help you get to "inbox zero."
Features like "Snippets" (similar to TextExpander), instant "Undo Send," and "Remind Me" (which brings an email back to your inbox at a specified time) are all designed to reduce the time and mental energy spent managing email. Its minimalist interface and blazing-fast performance help you process your inbox with intent and then get out, rather than living in it all day.
- Pro Tip: Master the "Split Inbox" feature. You can create separate, prioritized streams of email (e.g., "VIPs," "Newsletters," "Calendar Invites") to process different types of messages in dedicated batches.
14. Freedom
Sometimes the best way to clear mental clutter is to proactively block it out. Freedom is an app and website blocker that prevents you from accessing your biggest digital distractions. You can create blocklists of specific sites and apps and then start a session for a set period.
When a Freedom session is active, there's no way around it. This removes the need to rely on willpower alone to stay focused. It automates your discipline, creating a distraction-free environment where deep work can happen. It eliminates the constant, low-level mental battle of "Should I just quickly check Twitter?"
- Pro Tip: Schedule recurring Freedom sessions to align with your most important work blocks. For example, you can set it to automatically block social media every weekday from 9 AM to 12 PM.
15. Make (formerly Integromat)
Similar to Zapier, Make is another powerful no-code integration platform that helps you automate workflows between your apps. Where Make really shines is in its visual interface and its ability to handle more complex, multi-step scenarios.
You build your automations on a visual canvas, dragging and dropping modules and connecting them. This can make it easier to visualize and troubleshoot complex workflows. If your "annoying task" involves multiple conditions, routing, and data transformations, Make provides the power to automate it without needing a developer. It's a fantastic tool for clearing out the really intricate, manual processes that eat up your time.
- Pro Tip: Use Make's "Router" module to create different paths for your data based on certain conditions. For example, you could process new form submissions and route them to different sales team members based on the submitter's country.
16. Slack
Wait, isn't Slack a source of distraction? It can be, but when used intentionally, it's a powerful tool for clearing the clutter of internal email. By moving team conversations into dedicated, topic-specific channels, you drastically reduce your inbox noise.
The real power comes from its integrations and workflows. You can pipe notifications from dozens of other tools (Asana, Google Drive, your CRM) into relevant channels, creating a central command center. Slack's Workflow Builder lets you automate routine processes like requesting feedback, submitting IT tickets, or onboarding new team members with simple, form-based commands right within Slack.
- Pro Tip: Create a private channel called
#Me-Onlyor#My-Links. Use it as a personal scratchpad to send yourself links, notes, and reminders throughout the day, consolidating your fleeting thoughts in one searchable place.
Your Turn to Declutter
Automation isn't about setting up a complex, robotic system that runs your life. It's about being intentional. It's about identifying the small, recurring points of friction in your day and finding a simple tool to smooth them over. The goal is to free up your most valuable, non-renewable resource: your mental energy.
Don't feel overwhelmed by this list. The key is to start small. Pick the one task that annoys you the most—whether it's scheduling meetings, organizing files, or fighting with your inbox—and try the tool designed to solve it. A single, well-placed automation can save you hours each month and, more importantly, create the mental space you need to do your best work.
Now, I want to hear from you. What are your go-to tools for clearing mental clutter and automating the annoying parts of your job? Share your favorites in the comments below
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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