Text editors, printing programs, charts, graphs, and other productivity tools can make a day packed with work go by much easier. Most of the time, software that increases productivity is expensive and tends to be software that most people disregard. But, there just so happens to be a number of excellent productivity programs out there that won’t cost you a dime. The following list pertains to Mac systems, but there are plenty of PC offerings as well (look for a future article detailing these free productivity tools).

FocusWriter – For The Essayist, Novelist, and Journalist In You

FocusWriter takes away all possible distractions. If you’ve ever sat down to write something of any length, you already know just how distracting your desktop, the Internet, and even Microsoft’s Word program can be. FocusWriter removes these distractions by hiding Word’s interface completely. You won’t see any word counting, font options, or any other Word tools when you’re typing using FocusWriter. This is a must-have program for anyone who needs to write distraction-free.

'Dia – Making Charts of All Kinds Simpler'

Charts are one of those things that you will have to create at some point in your life (most likely). There are plenty of complex chart programs available, but you really only need a program that will make creating a flow chart or other chart easy and pain free (after all, who wants to mess around with a chart for hours on end?). Dia provides a user-friendly interface for creating flow charts, diagrams, and many other types of charts. Dia is, of course, free, and this is a favorite tool of business people around the world.

PrinterShare

PrinterShare is included in this list because it’s an extremely original program that this reviewer hasn’t seen anywhere else before. Basically, PrinterShare allows a number of people to share one or two printers (eco-friendly, anyone?). This program comes in handy when you are at home, for example, and you want your colleague to print something for you at work. You can link your computer to your work printer and print away without configuring anything. PrinterShare can also be very useful if you want to send your friend a ticket confirmation (or other document) that needs to be printer – just hit “print!”

Bean – Edit That Text Simply

Bean is a writing tool that’s popular amongst professional writers and essayists – heck, you can even use Bean to polish up that pamphlet before you send it out. Simply, Bean is a text editor that doesn’t come with lots of bells and whistles, just a basic editing tool to make your text shine. A simple interface and plenty of help along the way make Bean even more appealing.

All Free and All Great

Every single one of the programs here is free to use, compatible with your Mac system, and will help you boost your productivity level. If you need some help making sure that you are productive day in and day out, check out one of the programs listed here.