Staying productive in this fast-moving world can be a challenge. With so many distractions on our smart gadgets that keep us occupied, it is crucial to figure out how to stay focused on the vital tasks.
Are you tired of carelessly spending your time scrolling through your social media feeds? Are you trying to stop getting pulled into a trance with all those mobile apps on the app stores that only trick you into spending your precious time on mindless games? It’s time to get yourself smart productivity apps that improve your life.
With our picks of the best time management apps and organisation apps, you will be able to organise your life and do more than only create to-do-lists. Check out our picks for the best apps for iOS and Android, and get more productivity the whole day round!
Best Planning Apps for the Perfect Work-Life Balance
Don’t just work hard – work smart. Better time management skills and task organisation will help you get the most out of your work hours. With our picks of time management, planning and tracking apps, some of which also have web and desktop accompaniments, you will always be at the top of your game.
Automate Your Scheduling Tasks with Calendar: Meeting & Scheduling
Manage your calendars and schedules with this AI-enabled time management solution. The app offers a virtual assistant that learns and adapts to your schedule, allowing you to automate meeting planning, invitations, and scheduling changes.
This app syncs all your Google, Apple, and Outlook calendars. At the same time, it presents them in a shareable, single, easily customised dashboard view. While the free version offers great features, the paid version gives you more tools that improve productivity with analytics.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 5.0 or later.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 11.0 or later.
Log Your Work Hours with Toggl Track: Time Tracking & Work Hours Log
Whether you are a freelancer or working from home, filling your timesheet has just been made easier. The Toggl Track app is a great way to track the time spent on client projects and tasks with just a tap. The app also supports Siri voice assistant on your Apple devices (iOS 12.0), which lets you spend more time on your tasks!
With its browser extension and multi-platform support, you can track and sync all your work-done between your phone, desktop, and web worry-free. Meet all your due dates with its Calendar integration features. It will send you notifications of when an event starts and lets you quickly make detailed time entries.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 5.0 or later.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 11.0 or later.
Check It off Your List with Todoist: To-Do List, Tasks & Reminders
Put your device’s stylus to use with the Todoist’s powerful natural language engine that will transform your scribbles into a task on your planner. This helpful app lets you stay organised and offers you the chance to see your personalised productivity trends. That way, it helps you manage your time better and keep you motivated to build lasting good habits.
When it comes to work, you can easily collaborate with your team members or clients, and you can share projects, set deadline reminders and more. You can integrate tools like Gmail, Slack, Amazon Alexa and more for higher efficiency in both work and everyday life.
Android: Free.
iOS: Download the app for free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 11.0 and watchOS 3.0 or later.
A Compact Business Management Solution, Harvest Time & Expense Tracker
A time manager and expense tracker in one, the Harvest app is one of the best planning and organisation apps out there for freelancers and businesses. The app has clear and professional timesheets that keep everything on track.
Users can review detailed task notes, while administrators can get a real-time view of their team’s timers. The app also lets you log expenses and send professional invoices to clients. With this convenient app, you can flourish in your business and career goals with efficient time management and expense management.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 6.0 or later.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 13.0 or later.
Best Organisation Apps for Keeping Your Family’s Time Organised
Running a multi-million-dollar company may seem like the most demanding task out there. On the other hand, running your home and looking after your family’s schedules is also a whopping task in itself. Ease your day with our picks of some of the best organisational and planning apps, and keep yourself stress-free and always on time for your dentist appointment.
Grocery Shopping Made Efficient with Remember the Milk
Living a busy and hectic life means a handwritten to-do list will end up with the pile of scrap papers and receipts lying around. With the Remember the Milk-app, you can always have your to-do lists handy and in easy view on your smartphone.
The app does more than only help you manage your to-do list. Organise your priorities and set reminders that you can receive via email, text, IM, Twitter, and mobile notifications. The Smart Lists feature helps you search for your tasks and keep notes. Combined with the opportunity to see upcoming tasks, you can get things done in the most effective order.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 4.1 or later.
iOS: The app is free on the App Store. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 11.0 and watchOS 5.0 or later.
Cozi Family Organizer, for the Family that Plans Together
Planning family get-togethers and reminding your family members of their pending appointments can all be done with just one app. The Cozi Family Organizer is a great tool to stay involved and connected with your family. The app lets family members share a calendar to plan and organise their schedules with a simple colour-coded calendar.
The app also offers Shopping Lists and To-Do Lists, which help share family chore lists and other checklists minus the nagging. The Cozi app is a must-have for every family to increase their overall productivity. And if you have a family member living far away and missing home-cooked meals, the Cozi app lets you share recipes with their Recipe Box feature.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 4.1 or later.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 11.0 or later.
Getting Chores Done is Rewarding with OurHome: Chores and Rewards
Getting children to follow a schedule isn’t easy. Come in OurHome app! The app uses a game-like design that is playful and motivating for both the little ones and also the older members of the family. The reward and goal feature of this gamified task system positively reinforces time management and productivity.
Mums and dads can track personal progress and activities of their children without being intrusive. On the other hand, kids will love the opportunity to do their tasks on their own and be proud of their accomplishments. The app also features a family calendar, shared grocery lists and more. Additionally, the app is ad-free, and you can sync it with unlimited devices.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 5.0 or later.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 11.0 or later.
Starting Good Habits Early with Timo Kids Routine Timer
Young children can have a hard time following a schedule and might not be in the mood to complete the tasks for that day. But with Timo’s adorable and cute user interface and charming characters, you can have the little ones enjoying and learning time management.
The daily scheduler uses visual and audible dynamic timers and rewards to keep children motivated to complete the tasks on time. Parents can create lists with images, and set countdown alarms to keep up the competitive spirit. You can also rearrange the daily chores with drag and drop features, making it simple to use.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 4.4 or later.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 10.0 or later.
Best Productivity Apps for Teachers and Students
Educators and students need to do more than just time-managing; they need to keep their cool and learn to stay focused on their tasks ahead. Our picks of productivity apps will help you with your schedules and also develop and maintain good habits. Thereby, this will increase your productivity and get you some me-time too.
Get Work Done and a Tree Growing with Forest: Stay Focused
Is procrastination keeping you away from getting that assignment done? Are you finding yourself scrolling mindlessly through your social media feed? Get yourself off your smartphone and focus on the tasks at hand with the Forest app.
The app encourages you to spend your time on your work and tasks by creating virtual trees that grow as long as you stay off your phone. Blacklist websites that keep you distracted and watch a forest grow as a reward when you accomplish your goal. The app also lets you plant a real tree when you spend the virtual coins earned in it.
Android: Paid.
iOS: Paid. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 10.0 and watchOS 3.2 or later.
Work Distraction-Free with RescueTime
Find yourself spending time on unnecessary sites when you should be working? Keep track of where you spend your time in your digital life with RescueTime. This convenient time tracker lets you recognise your phone usage habits by automatically tracking application usage, and then categorises them by their productivity levels.
The app lets you limit your screen time by setting custom screen time goals and sending you real-time notifications when you cross over that limit. With its FocusTime sessions, it blocks distracting websites and limits digital interruptions on your phone. The app also comes with an accompanying desktop time management software.
Android: Free. Available for devices with Android versions 5.0 or later.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 12.0 or later.
No More Snoozing Away Your Day with Kiwake: Smart Alarm Clock
You can’t have a productive day with a late start to it. Time management starts right with waking up on time and not hitting the snooze button. The Kiwake app is a smart alarm clock that ensures you are out of bed and awake to meet your daily goals.
Cooldown Timer, no snooze, gives you a maximum of 3 minutes to stretch the sleep out of your body before you begin Kiwake’s 3-step wake-up process. The process includes Body wake-up, Brain wake-up, and Motivation wake-up to prepare your mind and body for the day ahead.
Android: The app is not available.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 12.0 or later.
Get Organised with Trello: Organize anything with anyone, anywhere!
Are you planning your next big business project or venturing into the world of self-publishing? With Trello, you can satisfy all your project management needs in one place. The app uses a pinboard-style of organisation which has pleasing visuals and lets you efficiently organise your tasks.
Expect increased productivity on collaborative projects and heightened creativity with Trello’s customizability and flexibility. Integrate Maps and Calendar with your boards, amongst other Power-Ups, to get the most out of project planning. You can also use the app offline and turn on notifications to get regular updates on your projects.
Android: Free.
iOS: Free. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS version 13.0 or later.
Keeping Up with the Schedule
From our list, you must have learnt that not every time-management app needs to have a price attached. Free apps can be just as effective and efficient in helping you improve your everyday productivity and attaining long-term success.
We recommend that, whenever you chance upon a paid app, you check out their free trial before committing. Many mobile apps also have desktop versions for MAC and Windows. Some of them even have web versions that allow you to stay synced no matter the device. Remember to take advantage of these features.
If you have made your choice of the best time-saving apps, make sure you keep your devices charged up as well. If you live a busy life, having a power bank will help you take full advantage of your planning and organisational apps.
We hope that our planning, organisation and time-management apps will help you live a fuller, happier and stress-free life!
Looking for smart gadgets that can help improve your quality of life? Let’s have a chat!