Toggl is a simple work hour tracking tool, and I use it to understand how much time I spend on which tasks, like writing, emailing, or researching. That way, I hold myself accountable and prevent myself from just surfing the web. The app also lets you set up your own Pomodoro or 52-17 timer intervals, so it could replace 5217 for you. I personally prefer using both because 5217 activates DND on my phone, and I tend to fill out Toggl after the fact these days.
I'm also testing Google Calendar as a replacement. I try to plan my day ahead by creating blocks of time that I dedicate to certain tasks. Since newsworthy events rarely come in at predictable times, it’s pretty hard to keep up with the schedule and I find myself readjusting it too often. Depending on your job, this system might work much better for you than for me, though.
Toggl is available for the desktop, the web, and Android and iOS, so you can use it across all of your devices. There are paid subscriptions that give you deeper statistical insights and improved calendar management, though all of the basic features are free if you only need it for yourself or a team of up to 5 members.
There are tons of To-Do list apps out there, but I personally enjoy TickTick's free feature set. It allows me to break up bigger projects into smaller subtasks by adding checklists to individual to-do items. I generally don't use TickTick for articles, but for bigger tasks that need to get done outside of the day-to-day hustle, so I don't lose track of them, such as taxes, follow-up emails, or my freelance video projects.
Alternatives include Microsoft To Do, Todoist, and Google Tasks. The latter is integrated with Gmail and Calendar, and might be particularly interesting as a temporary solution since it's the simplest and most limited tool available, providing you only with the basics.
