Here are 10 practical and user-friendly apps we count on to keep our home, work, finances, goals and daily routine in order.
What a great time it is to be alive in 2017, when we have an app for almost every single thing we need to stay on track with our goals and life in general. Of course, that doesn’t mean we need to clutter our phones with every nifty app we can find (so much for organisation, right?).
With that in mind, here are 10 practical and user-friendly apps we count on to keep our home, work, finances, goals and daily routine in order.
Evernote
Note-taking and making to-do lists are arguably two of the most important measures we take daily to remind us of the 101 ideas and responsibilities we have. Thankfully, Evernote helps everything look a little less overwhelming by saving our notes, media, web links and documents into customisable folders such as for work, personal use, or specific projects. Plus, it synchs across all our devices and can be easily shared with others via email or social media.
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Expensify
This expense tracking and report app is great for everyone, but especially handy for accountants and individuals who need to keep track of company claims. (No more wasting time digging through all our receipts to manually file our claims!) Designed to scan receipts and import details to form an expense report, all we need to do is take a photo and the app does everything else for us. It also matches our expenses categorically such as our Uber expenditures, grocery shopping, credit card payments etc. so we know for sure where our money flows.
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Feedly
Most of us depend on our phones to find out the latest news and trends these days (as you’re probably doing right now). However, time waits for no one and we often have to rush off to another appointment before we can finish our daily dose of information. With Feedly, we can organise our favourite blogs, websites, and even YouTube channels into one place, and read or share them anytime. It’s also a great way to look for niche information on topics we want to learn more about.
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Cozi
This is the dream home organisation app of all mothers and choleric individuals who live with housemates; and the rest of us could do well to keep up. Named a must-have app for a better life by The TODAY Show, Cozi offers shared calendars, reminders, grocery and to-do lists, as well as a recipe box to ensure everyone at home knows who, what, when and how to keep the house (and the people living in it) prim and proper.
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
IFTTT
Short for If This Then That, this app allows us to combine over 360 of your favourite services together including Instagram, Gmail, Spotify, and YouTube. For example, we can set our Spotify to play whenever we hit the gym, sync all our Instagram uploads to Dropbox or any other combination of a trigger and corresponding action. This way, we can skip a couple of steps with our phone and save time for more important duties.
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Slack
Slack is the communication tool every business or project team should make use of to increase productivity and efficiency. Think Evernote but streamlined for group work, where everyone can contribute their notes, media and files, navigate specific topics and check off completed tasks simultaneously. Integrate Slack with other apps like Dropbox, Google Calendar, and more for better flexibility!
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Habitica
Everyone can set goals, but often times, they’re easier said than done. Habitica adds that motivation factor we need sometimes by gamifying our goals – earn health points for going to the gym or experience points for reading a new book. Level up by checking off a new habit, task, or to-do list and set real-life rewards to keep it going! Who says getting work done can’t be fun too?
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Stocard
Loyalty cards and rewards points are awesome ways to save money and earn freebies, but sometimes it can be hard to keep track of all of them. This is where Stocard comes in handy to store all our rewards in one place so we know when we can redeem our next free Starbucks drink or book our next vacation with frequent flyer points.
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Flo
Ladies, we hear you. It can be stressful having to keep track of that time of the month on top of everything else, especially if you’re one of the unlucky ones to suffer the piercing symptoms. While the Flo app can’t do much about the latter, it can help us track our menstrual cycle to better prepare for our next period (and all its side-effects). Many reviews claim the calculations are mostly accurate, even for irregular cycles and works well for tracking pregnancy and general fitness too.
Available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
ES File Explorer
With all the apps above helping us to keep our life organised, we might want our phones to reflect that same orderly fashion. Enter this file explorer to help us clear unwanted cache or unnecessary background operations that may take up extra storage or drain our batteries. Avoid that “warning: low storage” sign by identifying old and unwanted files, photos and videos and then deleting them with a few simple steps. Don’t worry, this app doesn’t have bloat features – only what you need to keep what’s indispensable in your gadget and remove everything else.
Available for free on Google Play. (Apple users may find similar features with the File Explorer app on the App Store).
Images: Courtesy of respective apps on the App Store and Google Play