Organizational Apps – Best Apps to Increase Your Productivity

I am a list person; grocery lists, to-do lists, no fly lists – okay so maybe not that last one, but lists are an important part of my life and without them I would be an absolute mess trying to remember everything I need to purchase from the store or what assignments I need to complete for class and by when. This is a blog based around mobile apps, and if by chance you missed the title of this post you might be wondering “what do apps have to do with lists?” There are several hundreds of applications on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store dedicated to increasing productivity, many of those through the use of lists. I am here to tell you which apps I find the most useful and pleasing to use.

1. Sunrise Calendar [Available on iOS, Android, and Desktop] [Cost: Free]

Ever wish you could hire a personal assistant who could keep track of every appointment, every meeting, every event in your life and make sure you remember to attend them? With Sunrise's incredibly affordable cost of “free” you won't have to worry about paying some assistant, just head over to your app store of choice and press “install”! Sunrise is the what the stock iOS and Android calendar app could be if they were on steroids. What makes Sunrise great is the ability to connect a multitude of different accounts across the web to your calendar. Gmail, Evernote (which is mentioned later in this blog), LinkedIn, Facebook, and many other web services. Linking these accounts helps to automatically create events as they occur. The developers are constantly implementing additional services to the app with every update. This combined with the beautiful user interface makes it my favorite calendar app. Sunrise was recently purchased by Microsoft which is quite the endorsement.

2. myHomework [Available on iOS, Android, and Desktop] [Cost: Free w/ In-App Purchases]

Many colleges around the United States including UNI are now finishing up their fifth week of classes. If you are a college student and are anything like me, now is the time when assignments are starting to pile on and it can be a little overwhelming to remember which assignments are due for which class. MyHomework is an application that acts as a digital student planner. MyHomework allows you to enter in which classes you are currently taking and then log what has been assigned in which class. The app allows you to enter when an assignment is due, the priority this assignment has in your school life, and allows you to set a reminder alert to go off at a time determined by you. MyHomework is a fantastic way to stay on top of your schoolwork and get that much closer to a 4.0!

3. Evernote [Available on iOS, Android, and Desktop] [Cost: Free w/ Optional Premium Membership]

Now that we've talked about linking Evernote with Sunrise and using myHomework as a way to keep track of assignments due in your classes, it's time we talked about Evernote and how it can help you keep notes in those classes. Throw away the pencil and paper and move into the digital age with Evernote's sophisticated note taking technology. Evernote allows you to take notes on one device and sync it across several other devices instantly. Like Sunrise, the user interface is what really jumps out to me with Evernote. It is simple to use and looks incredible as well. Evernote will help you take better notes and keep better track of those notes and just be more productive in general.

4. Clear [Available on iOS] [Cost: $4.99 w/ In-App Purchases]

In this day and age, simplicity is key, and the developers behind Clear have created possibly the simplest to do list app in the app market. Available exclusively on iOS, Clear uses a gesture based design that allows users to input any list that they need to remember. Be it a shopping list or to do list, Clear has got you covered. Swipe down on your screen to create an item, swipe to the right once you have completed that item or swipe left to delete it, tap and hold to move an item up or down on the priority scale. What makes Clear unique is that because of this gesture based interface, there are no buttons which makes for a very unique but fun user experience.