The Best 11 Organizational Apps as Told by Our Readers

We all know the pitfalls of smartphones, but let’s concentrate on something that they can do pretty well for a moment: organize our lives.

Want to upgrade that Post-it note? Or maybe you’re trying to break how enticing Instagram is while you’re at work. Organizational apps can seriously step in here, but it can be hard to weed through the bogus from the ones that truly revolutionize a workflow. That’s where YOU come in.

We recently polled the Darling community for our readers’ tried-and-true organizing apps. The tops are below! Plus one honorable inclusion from us here on the Darling team.

In no particular order:

1. WUNDERLIST

To-do lists you’ll actually cross off. Wunderlist makes it even easier to track what you need to, with integrated list-making for chores like grocery lists and movies you want to watch, to finalizing work projects and every detail of your upcoming vacation. You can even share lists, assign lists and set alarms.

2. FOREST

This of this like SimCity, but for productivity. For every minute you spend working on a task and away from your phone, the Forest app simulates a tree growing and budding. Leave the app and the tree dies. See a tree grow to completion and you can exchange virtual coins to plant real trees around the globe. Over 190,000 have been planted to date.

3. WORKFLOWY

A notebook for lists, with an impressive list (ha ha) of companies that use it to get stuff done. WorkFlowy works like a massive, zoomable document to help track your ideas, research and even read books in an easy-to-view format.

4. THINGS

Though not a new app, Things has been recently redesigned so that it’s better, cleaner and easier to use than ever. In the app you can make categories, headings and lists for any goal you might have. It also adds tags, deadlines, sync calenders… Watch out, it gets addicting.

5. COZI

Called the “must-have app for families,” Cozi is the better family calendar. It syncs doctor appointments, practices, chores, recipes, shopping lists… basically anything you need to keep your family all on the same page.

6. TODOIST

More than just making lists, todoist is built around the premise that it’s the little steps that make the biggest strides. The app seamlessly breaks down any project — from work to home to travel — into bite-size to-dos so that you can conquer pretty much anything.

7. FABULOUS

Maybe you don’t just want to get things done, maybe you want to start better things. Fabulous uses science to help you build new habits into your daily rythyms. It automates the rituals you want more of — whether drinking more water, going to bed earlier or reading a physical book instead of a screen. You name it and the app helps you do it.

8. HABITICA

Like the above, Habitica also helps you start better habits but with a twist. It’s a game! It uses in-game rewards and punishments (not-serious of course) to help you stay productive both in work and in life. Fight the “little monsters,” aka daily chores or to-dos, and find hidden rewards and earn gear along the way. You can even compete with your friends.

9. ASANA

Assign away. With Asana, it’ll get done. Excellent for teams both big and small… and that also want to avoid a million back and forth emails. Asana works wonders to manage calendars, deadlines and assign tasks on both desktop and app.

10. EVERNOTE

Gone are the days of emailing yourself that link to that site that you liked. With Evernote, you can sync up phone, laptop and life with this one app that aggregates checklists, websites, audio files — anything that you (and a team) need to brainstorm and think big.

11. AIRTABLE

Love Google spreadsheets? Airtable kicks it up a level, taking the familiar format of a spreadsheet but making columns entirely customizable to you and your organization. Create bases for different projects, create forms and submissions processes, view by calendar, gallery and more. This one is a special favorite around the Darling office.

Know of more must-have organizational apps? Share your favorites in the comments.

Featured Image via Andrew Neel