Let's face it, life is busy. Sometimes, busy can turn into overwhelm. Like many people, I have apps that I favor and have helped me stay organized.
Recently, I have also given up my paper organizer (gasp!) and gone completely digital. I wasn't planning to, it just sort of happened. (I actually can blame my kids on making me feel guilty every time I used a piece of paper for my To Do List, but that is another blog post.)
When I went digital, I realized how important it was that the apps I use, sync across all my devices. This is crucial to me. If I am on my cell phone, I can't look at my calendar unless I put the person on speaker, which I personally do not like to do. So syncing the Google calendar across devices help solve that, and other problems.
Calendar
As I mentioned above, I use Google calendar. It is not only important for my business appointments; it ensures I do not overlap personal and business time either. Use your calendar for every appointment, personal and/or business. This will get you into the habit of not only adding appointment/events to your calendar, but also looking at your digital calendar before you say yes to anything new. Double booking is not good.
Trello
As a business owner may need a good work flow app. It's great to have a To Do List right in front of you, but you might want to track each project/client so you know what your progress is on that project/client. I like Trello and use it for my business as well as personal lists. There are several great features that Trello has and they just added new ones. Best part, it's free! There is a paid version for more extensive use, but the free version works fine for me. One of the latest additions is you can now color code your cards instead of just using labels. This is great for a visual person like myself!
I actually have several Boards (as they call them) on my Trello app. Examples are: Dinner (menu planning), RH Business Solutions (client/project tracking), Movies (CD and digital), Books (I have over 2,000 digital books...yikes!), Christmas List (create yearly list and track past gifts), Keep In Touch (email, mail list of family/friends). All this information and more is at my fingertips!
Syncing across devises allows me to see the latest updates. I have personal boards and Team Boards that my family has access too. That way my kids can help me plan dinner! Labels are color coded so again, great for a visual person like myself. Trello is a user friendly app you should try if you need some better work flow or want to organize your stuff so you can find it easier.
Evernote
I use Evernote so much that I actually choose the paid version. This is a fantastic app and is cost friendly! One of the important features I find necessary in any app I use is it has to be user friendly. If I have to spend hours upon hours to figure an app or even a new feature out, I don't want it. Evernote allows you to have several Notebooks and several Notes within those Notebooks. You can tag your notes for search which is vital when organizing your digital files and . There is multiple ways to add a note (text/type, picture, audio, attachment, handwriting). You can also clip from your web browser. The best feature, in my opinion, is the security lock on the phone app. You may get into my phone, but then you need to get into the actual app.
Toggl Time Tracker
Tracking your time or your employees time is a vital element to running a business and being profitable. Toggl is an easy and free way to do that. You have the website to manage time logs of your and your employees and look at valuable reports. Of course there are tags (can you tell I like tags and search features) that you can use to filter reports. You don't need to sign in to the website to clock in and out though. Toggl has a button you can install on your computer so there is no need to sign into the website each time you need to clock in our out. There is also a convenient phone app.
Do you have apps that you have found that make your life easier and more organized? Share the with me, I would love to know about them.
Here's To Your Success!
Rebecca Hurt
RH Business Solutions