Jeff Flowers on August 6, 2017 0 Comments You already use your phone for basically everything – staying in touch with friends and family near and far, sharing photos, checking out news headlines and celebrity gossip, and scrolling through endless cute animal videos on Instagram. But, are you using your phone to get and stay organized? Using mobile apps and online programs to add some organizational flair to life can be helpful for those of us whom organization and time management doesn’t exactly, um, come naturally. So, if you’ve been relying on Post-Its and an ancient day-planner to keep track of important dates, events and emails, now’s the time to make some major changes. There’s a whole world of productivity apps out there that are designed specifically to help you manage your time, make your life easier, less cluttered, and more organized. Here are a few of our favorites. 1) RescueTime If you work from home, RescueTime can help you seriously increase your productivity. This program records ALL your digital activity — everything from the time you spend on emails, to Excel spreadsheets, to Facebook — so that you can keep track of exactly how you use your time during the day. And, no.. this app can’t access your private info, such as passwords or credit card information. RescueTime can even pinpoint your most productive days of the week and peak times during those days. This productivity app may take some getting used to at first, but trust us: once you’ve used RescueTime for a while, you can’t help but improve some of your bad digital habits. Download: Google Play: Free Download Apple iTunes: Not Available. Amazon Kindle: Free Download 2) Wunderlist This free mobile app is essentially the best way ever to keep track of your to-do list. With Wunderlist, you can successfully organize and share various lists – grocery, work, regular to-do’s – and receive various reminders for tasks and dates. This app syncs across all devices, and you can even share list with others. We love Wunderlist for its simplicity, effectiveness, and easy-to-use functionality. Download: Google Play: Free Download Apple iTunes: Free Download Amazon Kindle: Free Download 3) Mint No list of productivity apps is complete without including Mint. This app is undeniably one of the best ways to keep track of your budget (and keep your spendthrift ways in check!) Essentially, Mint keeps tabs on all your transactions, after you enter all your credit card and banking info, and then it sorts your purchases into various categories – Entertainment, Education, Shopping, Personal Care, Bills & Utilities, etc. Aside from helping you to formulate a budget and then stick to it, Mint can help you set financial goals and increase your savings! Are you the last smartphone user on the planet who still isn’t using Mint? It’s time to change that! Download: Google Play: Free Download Apple iTunes: Free Download Amazon Kindle: Not Available. 4) Evernote It’s an oldie but a goodie – Evernote is another great way to make to-do lists and jot down reminders throughout the day, and this app also allows you to store photos with messages, sketch down diagrams, and record audio. If you had to only select one productivity app for organizing purposes, we would strongly recommend going with Evernote, due to its handy-dandy, all-in-one capabilities. Download: Google Play: Free Download Apple iTunes: Free Download Amazon Kindle: Free Download 5) Things Things is one of the best time management tools out there, bar none. If you’re one of those people that becomes easily overwhelmed at the sheer size of your to-do list (hey, that’s all of us from time to time!), Things might just become your new best friend. This app works by breaking down all your tasks into small, achievable bits. All you have to do is type in everything that needs to get done, and Things will present you with a master checklist – you can put a time limit on certain tasks, group tasks into categories, and rank tasks according to importance. Once you get into the habit of using Things on a daily basis, you’ll be amazed at how much more streamlined your task list (and, by extension, your life!) feels. Download: Google Play: Not Available. Apple iTunes: Free Download Amazon Kindle: Not Available. 6) Cozi Cozi is a fantastic app for the whole family! This productivity app essentially acts as the command center for all your family members’ activities and schedules. Through Cozi’s calendar feature, simply input everyone’s appointments, after-school activities, and more – then set reminders so that no one misses their dentist appointment or ball game. There’s even a recipe box to keep all your go-to recipes in one place, in addition to a photo journal tool. Cozi is super easy to use, yet life-changing! Download: Google Play: Free Download Apple iTunes: Free Download Amazon Kindle: Free Download 7) Pinterest No, Pinterest isn’t just for organizing all your favorite baby clothing items and home décor (though it’s certainly great for those reasons, too!) This app is also a great way to de-clutter, keep track of all your ideas, and file away must-have items for later. For example, you could make boards for recipes you want to try (or recipes you’ve tried and want to keep in mind), finance or budgeting ideas, DIY decorating or gardening ideas, or party planning. And speaking of party planning, if you’re throwing an upcoming event with other people, it’s time to make use of Pinterest’s “Group Board” function – you can create and share boards with other users, and trade ideas. Regardless of whether you want to group and label inspiration and ideas, compile a virtual to-do list, or cut clutter, Pinterest is super-helpful. Also, click here to follow us on Pinterest. Download: Google Play: Free Download Apple iTunes: Free Download Amazon Kindle: Free Download 8) HomeZada Keeping up with your home’s maintenance can be tiresome, to say the least. Why not let an app do the job for you? HomeZada helps you keep track of regular maintenance for all your appliances and also reminds you when something is due for a checkup. There’s even a feature called “Home Inventory”, which lets you make a list and upload photos of all your household items. Pretty nifty! Download: Google Play: Free Download Apple iTunes: Free Download Amazon Kindle: Not Available. These are just some of the best productivity apps available out there that can help you declutter and stay organized! What are we missing here? List your favorite productivity apps down in the comments below.
