These 4 Apps Will Change Your Life

All of my life, I have been a pen and paper kind of gal. I love crossing things off my to-do list. I love keeping a paper planner for all of my upcoming appointments and things I need to remember. And yes, I am so guilty of overusing post-it notes all over my house so I don’t forget anything. I have a terrible memory so those are essential. But I always wondered, was I organized? Well maybe, but what did it really look like!

To-Do Lists

To start, all those lists for my to-do lists.  Well, it didn’t matter what piece of paper I wrote on.  If a notebook was nearby, it went on there.  If a scrap piece of paper was within an arm’s length of me, I used that.  It really didn’t matter.  I just had thoughts in my head and I wanted to get them on paper.  But the result…I had papers all over with my to-do lists on them.  This wasn’t organized.  This was let’s get every thought down on paper and then spend some time tracking it down when I needed it.

I’ll tell you, the time it was taking me to look for my lists of jotted down notes was getting me nowhere. It was a system that wasn’t working for me.

Paper Planner

When it comes to my paper planner, I really do love it when I’m using it.  You see, I start off great because something inspires me and I keep up with writing in it for days and maybe weeks at a time.  But then what happens?

I slowly get away from it. I forget to write in it and start using my phone’s calendar. Since I always have my phone either on me or nearby, it’s usually easier to add to that calendar instead of finding my planner and jotting things down.

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Post-It Notes

And then the post-it notes.  They helped me to keep track of all the pressing matters that needed my attention but the look of them wasn’t very attractive.  In fact, some weeks looked like a hot mess with post-it notes strewn all over my house.  And you know what they say when you look at something long enough, your eyes start to not see it anymore.  Well, that was happening to my post-it notes.  I was only using the yellow sticky notes and they were becoming part of my everyday look so I started to not see some of them.  Yes, I could have tried using different colors but I knew it would only be time until I got used to looking at those too.

I wanted to find a way to remind myself of certain things without my house becoming a victim to post-it notes.

Paper Clutter

There was one more source of clutter that was getting in the way. One that we all know very well.

I needed a better solution to organizing the papers that came into my home.  From school and the daily mail, I was getting inundated some days.  My fridge doors took possession of all those important papers that needed our attention.  My kitchen countertops housed papers and more papers so I could find something easily when I needed it (well hopefully anyway).

I hated the look and functionality of it though. I was always pushing papers aside on my kitchen counter so I could cook.

Digital Apps

So, with all of these problems, I looked at finding solutions with digital apps.  It would help with the eyesores of seeing my home with all the reminders.  It would help me keep better organized with my to-do list by keeping it all in one place.  Everything I was keeping in my paper planner, I could easily switch to a better system digitally or at least try to use both. And lastly, rid my home of all the paper mess.

I soon discovered some mighty apps that would organize my life so I could minimize the problems I was having.

And I’m going to get into what these apps are and how I use them to keep my life organized each and every day. I truly love them and can’t imagine my life without them now!

LET’S GET YOUR LIFE ORGANIZED

Paper Organization

For my paper problem, I needed a better system that could organize my papers without me physically keeping them.  I don’t mind filing away confidential papers but what about everything else that I may need to look at again but don’t need a physical copy.

For example, at the beginning of the school year, kids typically bring home papers that may be a good idea to keep to reference later if need be.  But where?

I decided to look digitally to find the best app to help organize those papers and not clutter up my home anymore.

The perfect solution to storing paper is Trello. I’ll explain it a little further down.

List Organization

As I mentioned earlier, I love making lists.  As I think of ideas that need to get done, I just jot them down on some random piece of paper or in one of my notebooks.   I like to also do brain dumps in the same manner.  But this system wasn’t working to keep me organized.  In fact, too much time was wasted looking for them.

I needed an app that could keep me organized.  And I found it with Todoist.  I’ll explain it a little further down.

Schedule Organization

Then when it came to keeping my schedule organized, I really do love using a paper planner.  I don’t do well without planning out my day.  My brain needs that structure to know what I need to be working on. I’ve wrestled over the years to find the perfect planner that suited my needs. I first started with bullet journaling but it wasn’t for me.  Creating my own weekly spread every week wasn’t something I was feeling.  Then I tried store-bought planners I found at stores and online. That lasted about four years of experimenting with different planners.  It wasn’t until I decided to make my own printables and use them to create my own planner, did I find the planner for me.

But, as I mentioned earlier, I slowly lost interest and would forget to write into it.  I’d also misplace it around my house and wouldn’t have the time or the energy to hunt it down.  I never made it a priority of keeping up with it.  I realized I needed something inspiring to keep up with it but inspiration doesn’t always come around when I need it.  So I wanted to look at using a hybrid system that allowed me the use of my planner and a digital version.

That’s when I started using Google Calendar and my hybrid system was born. There’s no going back for me now!

Now, before I explain these apps that changed my life, I have one more app that has helped me.

Urgent Matters Organization

When it came to needing a better system to combat the endless post-it notes, I also looked at a digital app that could serve the same help that my post-it notes did for me but didn’t look so unsightly.  Yes, I love writing and it felt so good to rip up that sticky note and throw it away.  Seeing my post-it notes dwindle down as the day wore on brought me satisfaction but I still needed a better solution.

So, I discovered the perfect app which would remind me of all of my important tasks for the day. And I could say goodbye to those post-it notes. This app is Apple Reminders (but if you don’t have an Apple phone, I also have another solution for you).

Now, let’s get into all of these amazing apps and what they’ve done for me (and will do the same for you).

GET YOUR LIFE ORGANIZED

Trello

Trello is a productivity management app that helps you stay organized by allowing you to snap a photo of any piece of paper and upload it into Trello.  Once in Trello, you create boards, and inside each board are lists and cards.

Trello is very simple to use.  When I have a document I want to keep but don’t need the physical copy, I’ll snap a photo of it with my iPhone, and then upload it into Trello.  From there, I’ll decide what board I want to keep the document in and then choose the list that it fits with. It will then put the new document that I uploaded into the list I picked and add it as a new card.

Here’s an example of this.  We recently were invited to a wedding.  Instead of keeping the invitation on my fridge or somewhere else in my home, I simply took a picture of it and uploaded it into Trello.  I keep it on a board I labeled, Upcoming Events.  This way, if any events come up in the future, I can do the same with them.

Now, when the wedding gets closer, I can look into Trello for the invitation and remind myself of the necessary info.

It’s great! My fridge stays clutter-free and so does the rest of my home with paper.

Trello is like my digital filing cabinet and I love it. If you want to learn more about Trello and all of its amazing capabilities, I have just the thing for you.

Get started with Trello today

Todoist

This app keeps all of my to-do’s organized. Whether I’m picking my kids up from school or waiting around in the doctor’s office, I can easily pull this app up on my phone and see what I have to do this week or in the next upcoming weeks.  I can also add things as I think of them and I love that I can be anywhere as long as I have my phone with me to add it.

When you add a task into Todoist, it will ask when you want to be notified of this task. Todoist will also send you an email every morning with the list of tasks that are due for that day (and any previous tasks that weren’t finished from the day before). Also, If you want to move any tasks that didn’t get finished from the day before (aren’t we all guilty of this), just simply select Reschedule at the top of the page, and everything will move to a different day of your choosing.

Get started with Todoist today

Google Calendar

Now, as I said before, I do more of a hybrid system when it comes to my calendar.  I love having my calendar on my phone but I also like to see things visually too and I’ll never complain about writing things down and crossing them off.

But, when I’m out and I don’t have my planner with me, I rely on Google Calendar to keep my life organized.  I like that I can color code the various segments of my life too.  Whether it’s work, personal,  or family, they can each have their own color so I can easily see at a glance what will take up most of my day.

Another great thing about Google Calendar is that it syncs with other members of your family. My husband and I are synced so we can see each other’s calendars. This way everyone’s on the same page for that day’s activities and events.

Apple Reminders

This app works great to remind you of any tasks that need to get done. And you can have reoccurring events in this app that will show up every week or every day. I like to use this for pressing matters that need my attention and I cannot forget. I can tag each task with a priority ranging from low to high. Adding a high-priority task will allow that task to stay on the front of my phone screen so I’ll see it every time I pick up my phone. Kind of hard to forget those tasks.

Another idea if you don’t have an Apple phone is to text yourself what it is you have to do.  You can also use the voice text if you’re driving or don’t have time to type it and you’ll get your reminder via text.

Then just take a few minutes each day to look through them so nothing is forgotten. Either way, you do it, will alleviate having post-it notes all over the place while never forgetting a task. Sounds like a winner to me.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it.  The four apps I honestly can’t (and won’t) live without.  They each keep my life organized and in control.  And they are always with me wherever I am.  My old system didn’t work for that.

I’m curious if you’ve gone digital with organizing your life or want to give it a try. Do you have any apps that help keep your life organized? Please share them, I’d love to hear what works for you.

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