From Chaos to Clarity: 3 Essential Apps to Manage Your Life

We receive a lot of information every day, both externally and internally.

It can become overwhelming to remember everything, track what needs to be done, and recall information.

A simple way to tackle this problem I found is having three apps:

• Calendar
• Notes
• Task Manager

Note: Some of the below-mentioned apps are free, and some are paid. Whether you think the price is worth the app is up to you. Fortunately, there are several to choose from.

Calendar

The calendar app will capture information related to dates and times—events you need to attend.

It is easy to transfer this information from your head to your digital calendar, reminding you of upcoming events as you review your days and weeks.

Standard calendar apps (you may already have an account with one of these):

• Google Calendar
• Apple Calendar
• Outlook Calendar

Some apps take the standard calendars mentioned above and present them with a different user interface:

• Fantastical (What I currently use)
• Morgen
• Notion Calendar
• Amie

Experiment with which calendar app works best for you, and get into the habit of using it frequently to record appointments, events, or other information.

Notes

A notes app is a great way to capture small to large amounts of information related to something.

I have used it to capture many things, from my notes on what I have learned in an online course to information the doctor tells me during a medical visit.

You don't have to worry too much about organizing your notes either, thanks to the search feature on the notes app, at least from what the ones I have seen.

Some notes app:

• Apple Notes
• OneNote
• Evernote
• Google Keep
• Obsidian (What I currently use)
• Roam Research
• Craft
• Amplenote

There are too many note-taking apps to list. Choose the one that appeals to you the most and try it out.

Task Manager

Lastly, we may have several things to do at any given moment. A task manager is an easy way to capture tasks and either pick a day to work on them or set them aside so we do not forget.

Task managers can vary from simple to complex. Based on your current situation, you will determine the level you need.

Once you use a task manager, you can see what you can work on at a given time.

Some task manager apps:

• Things 3 (What I currently use)
• Todoist
• Google Task
• Apple Reminders
• TickTick
• Superlist
• OmniFocus 4

Like the calendar and notes apps, there are several to choose from. Look at each task manager’s features, determine which appeals to you more, and try it out.

Conclusion

A calendar app, notes app and task manager app will significantly improve your organization.

• Calendar app: capture events, appointments, plans
• Notes app: capture information related to a context and your learnings
• Task Manager app: capture and organize projects and tasks to work on

People may be surprised at how organized you are. More importantly, you will be surprised by the benefits of having a system to capture, sort, and/or act on information thrown at you daily. The key is to use these apps frequently. There is no point in capturing information, but rarely reviewing and processing all the data captured.