Modern life can be chaotic. In between work, volunteering, family schedules, studying, doing chores, meeting friends and simply trying to survive, we all need things to help us stay organised. Often, however, the things we use to organize our lives only add to the chaos. App developers have been working hard to tackle this problem, and they have come up with some amazing solutions. Below is a list of some of the best apps to help you organize your life.
Dropbox
You use Dropbox like a file folder on your desktop. It syncs with a file online automatically, so you can access the files in there from any place with an internet connection. You can even make it public or available to certain people, if you want.
Evernote
Evernote is a capture app. Store photos, notes, music, spread sheets, screen grabs, business cards or pretty much any thing you come across. Evernote has some smart programming that allows it to make your notes searchable. It even has the ability to ‘read’ your photos and handwritten notes, recognizing the letters and automatically tagging them so you can search for them later.
LastPass
Password safety has become a major concern, now that hackers seem to be everywhere. Experts agree that the safest passwords – those with a large number of randomly generated letters, numbers and symbols – are also the hardest to remember. LastPass generates individual, secure passwords for all your accounts. You simply sign into your account with LastPass, and it signs into the service using the complex password you’d never be able to remember.
There are many to-do apps available, but some are simply more useful than others. reQuall is one of the most useful. You can add tasks to your to-do list, or you can email, call or text the app to add tasks. It then organizes your lists, grouping them to similar categories. It will also email or instant message you to remind you of your tasks. Most impressively, if you tell it where your tasks need to be done, it will group them into tasks that can be done in the same area. That is, if you are meeting up with a friend in the same neighborhood where you need to pick up some milk, it will let you know that you can do those things at the same time.
Ziplist
This revolutionizes shopping lists. You can search through thousands of recipes and add ingredients to your shopping list, or you can add items yourself. It then organizes your list into categories, so all of your dairy is in one section and all of your produce is in another. Then you just tap the item to cross it off your list. The app even stores recipes for you.
Shoeboxed
Do you have a pile of receipts cluttering up a drawer or box somewhere? With this app, you simply take a photograph of a receipt. The app then scans them, makes a note of the category, price, store, payment type and date and creates a report based on the data. You can then make expense reports or keep track of your spending with the spread sheets.
PageOnce
If you need an app that tracks all of your money, you might need PageOnce. You can pay your bills, create and track a budget, receive alerts about your finances and even check your investment portfolio, should you have one and need to. Because it has complete access to your finances, though, you must be careful not to use it over an unencrypted, public internet connection.
RedLaser
If you have found, thanks to PageOnce and Shoeboxed, that you are spending far too much, download this app. When you’re out shopping, you can scan the barcode of an item, and the app will do some quick comparison shopping. That way, you can tell almost in an instant if you are getting the best deal.
Cozi
This app has everything you need to keep track of your whole family’s schedule. You can add appointments and set reminders and organize items into one of four categories: calendar, to-do lists, shopping lists and family journal. It works on every mobile platform, and it can send reminders via texts, so your teens will stay in the loop, too.
Springpad
Sometimes all you need is a notebook you can take with you anywhere. Springpad is an app that is essentially a digital notebook. You can organize recipes, keep track of films you want to watch, maintain a list of wines you’ve enjoyed or pretty much anything else. If you add a restaurant, Springpad will link to reviews and a map. Record a voice memo, and share it with other people. Springpad is such a versatile, easy to use app, that you will the most fun just finding new ways of using it.