5 Apps to Help Keep You Organized

It is pretty rare that at any given moment I don’t have my phone in my hand. From communicating with my team to emailing with clients to checking in on my twins’ TikTok account (mom of teens life at its finest) there always seems to be something to do on my phone. While, yes, there are some days that I just want to throw my phone out the window and take a break, there are more that I am grateful that I am able to use my phone as another tool to keep me organized.

In addition to the basic benefits of my phone (working on the go, always staying in touch, etc.), I love using apps and other tools on my phone to get and stay organized. Certain apps (more on that in a moment) can be powerful tools but first a word of warning. Just like other areas of your life it is very easy to create clutter on your phone and not all apps are created equal. Just as you would in your closet or pantry it is important to periodically purge apps and declutter your phone as well as organize the apps into folders or categories. We all spend so much time on our phones – their home screens deserve to be organized just as much as our homes.

Now to the aforementioned apps, you know I love an organizing tool (any other label maker lovers out there?) and I consider the apps on my phone to be just that: tools that support me in staying organized. I am selective on which apps I use as I really do want them to add to my life and not just add more work. Below, I have listed 5 apps to help you get organized. That said, we all need our phones to help organize our lives in different ways so not all of these will work for all of us but picking and choosing the best fit for you will allow your phone to increase your productivity not take away from it.

Favorite Apps for Getting Organized

• Dropbox: I am going to start with a Rachel and Company team favorite. Our team uses Dropbox each and every day but it can be easy to forget that Dropbox isn’t just for business but can be a great way to stay organized in your personal life. Use Dropbox to organize everything from photos to your important paperwork to your medical records. You don’t realize how nice it is to be able to pull up every single file on your computer until you have the Dropbox app on your phone. You will thank me when you are at a doctor’s appointment and they ask when you last had X and you can quickly pull up the files on your phone. And as an added bonus the Dropbox phone app has a feature that allows you to scan straight from the app!

• ToDoist: To do list apps are probably the first thing that came to mind when I mentioned apps that keep you organized, right? There is a reason for that! Starting and keeping a to do list is one the best ways to get organized. Getting tasks out of your brain and on a screen can be life changing as you are no longer worrying about remembering and can start focusing on checking off the items on the list. The ToDoist is a great to do list app – I mean the name says it all! It is simplified, streamlined and easy to collaborate (think grocery list with your significant other).

• Trello: I know you are thinking, another list app? But hear me out! Yes, Trello can function in a very similar way to ToDoist but is still on my list for two reasons. First, it is important to find a to do list option that works for you and your brain. Some people will like the very visual layout of Trello over the list layout of ToDoIst. Secondly, Trello is a great way to store information that isn’t necessarily a to do list – think books you want to read or recipes you love or reminders to yourself that you need to look back on periodically. Trello can essentially allow you to create a catalogue of organized information for reference down the line. It is a way better option than trying to track down that scrap of paper or email you sent to yourself that one time.

• Paprika: I have said it more times that you can probably count but still stand by it – meal planning is an amazing way to get your family organized! Meal planning takes away so much stress by streamlining your evenings, simplifying your grocery shopping and helping you save money by actually cooking what you have on hand. The Paprika app is a wonderful tool to help support your meal planning. The app allows you to organize and store recipes, create meal plans for the month or week and then turn all of that into a shopping list. Amazing, right?

• Our Home: Kids and chores go hand and hand but that is often easier said than done. The Our Home app is a family task system that turns chores into points that your kids can earn just by helping out around the house. It takes the old school sticker system into the digital age and motivates your kids while they are learning to take on responsibilities.

TELL ME: what are your favorite apps on your phone? Did I miss any most used on the list above?