The Best Apps To Manage Your Emails, Notes, And Projects
Ready to start tidying your digital spaces but aren’t sure what tools to use? There are plenty of apps to choose from that help you manage your emails, notes, and projects, but only a few are worth trying out. When looking for an organizing app, make sure it has all the features to fit your needs. And, don’t think you have to pay to get the right tool–there are plenty of free options to help you organize your digital spaces.
I recommend the following apps to clients who want to get on top of their inbox, put their notes to better use, and streamline projects.
The best apps for managing your emails
Shift: If you want to manage multiple email accounts
Shift allows users to access and use all their email accounts from one desktop app. The app includes multiple integrations, such as Grammarly, Slack, Hubspot, so that you can merge your project management apps and collaboration tools into one place. The best part? Shift offers a search function that works across all your email accounts, so you never have to go sifting through a mountain of emails again.
Cost: Free
Unroll.me: If you want to get rid of junk mail for good
Digital junk mail seems inevitable at this point. Those newsletters you signed up for years ago keep cropping up, but you never seem to get around to unsubscribing. Unroll.me can take care of them for you. The app scans your inbox, compiles a list of subscriptions, and allows you to decide which to keep and which to dump. Like magic, the Unroll.me algorithm automatically unsubscribes for you. And all the newsletters you want to keep? Unroll.me will deliver them to you in the “Roll Up,” a once-a-day email containing only the subscriptions you want to keep.
Cost: Free
Boomerang: If you often work late and are forgetful
Boomerang is a Chrome extension that’ll become your best friend if your work-life revolves around emailing. It allows you to schedule emails to be sent later and lets you archive emails and schedule them to reemerge in your inbox as unread. It’s great if you often work late and don’t want to send out emails at 2 am, and if you tend to forget to respond to non-urgent emails. Boomerang works on desktop and mobile and is compatible with Android.
Cost: Free
SaneBox: If you want to hire a VA to handle your emails
Sanebox can be intimidating for some because it’s sort of like handing over the keys to your inbox. The app uses powerful AI to scan past emails to learn what emails are important, what can be saved for later, and which to toss. If Sanebox thinks an email is essential, it’ll leave it in your inbox. If not, it’ll filter it into three folders: distractions, newsletters, and CC’d emails. You can teach Sanebox your preferences, so it’ll be the perfect sorter after some time. One of the best features is having all attachments automatically added to a Dropbox folder.
Cost: Free for two weeks, $2/month after free trial ends
Checker Plus: if you’re constantly checking your inbox while your hands are full
Checker Plus is a must for your inbox if you like having hands-free options. The Chrome extension for Gmail sends you instant notifications–even when the app isn’t open–and gives you the option to read, listen to, or delete emails. Having your emails read aloud to you is invaluable if you like checking your mail while getting stuff done around the house. It’s perfect for chronic multi-taskers.
Cost: Free
The best tools for organizing notes
Evernote: if you write notes on napkins and take pictures of random things to remember later
Evernote is a premier notes app that allows you to input notes in all types of formats: text, audio clips, scanned docs, images, pdfs, emails, and even slack conversations. If you want to save it, no matter the medium, Evernote will accept it. You can easily find notes by adding tags for different categories. The app also lets you combine notes into ‘notebooks’ for further organization. The best part? Evernote processes any image you upload to make it more readable, and it’ll process any text in images to make it searchable. The app is compatible with Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Web.
Cost: Evernote offers a free basic plan, but to access all of its features, you’ll have to pay. Monthly subscriptions can cost up to $9.99.
Microsoft One Note: if you want Evernote but don’t want to pay
One Note is like the minimalist, less powerful version of Evernote. It offers many of the same basic features, such as tags, but lacks more advanced functionality like searchable images. It’s still a handy app modeled on a three-ring binder. The binder is divided into sections and subsections called pages. You can upload photos, insert text anywhere on the page, and supports stylus-use. One Note is compatible with iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Web.
Apple Notes: if you want to use what’s already there
I include Apple Notes because Apple recently beefed up the app, and there are some cool new features. You can now:
Add tags to notes to increase searchability by adding a #tagname anywhere
You can @mention another Apple user to share the note (I love this for sharing shopping lists with others!)
Add tables
Find an image by searching for something inside a photo, such as “car”
Add multiple types of media to one note
Add scanned documents
Cost: Free
The best project management tools
Monday.com: The best project management tool for teams
Necessary for entrepreneurs and small businesses, collaboration tools are the best way to keep your team synced and your projects on track. I’ve used and set up most of the major collaboration tools out there, and Monday.com is by far my favorite. It’s visually appealing, offers robust functionality, and is intuitive and easy to learn. The platform allows you to set up boards that provide high-level project overviews. You can easily communicate with team members, share files, and convert data into nifty charts. Monday.com allows users to integrate a wide range of apps, including Slack, Dropbox, Adobe Creative Cloud, and so much more.
Cost: Monday.com is free for up to two individuals and offers a range of affordable packages to fit your team’s needs.
Notion: The best project management tool for individuals
Perfect for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and creatives, Notion is the app I recommend for smaller projects. Don’t let its adorable graphics fool you: Notion is a versatile powerhouse of an app, which can be as minimalist or as advanced as you need it to be. Either find a template or create your own and use it as a writing repository, task manager, calendar, database, and much more. You also have the option to sync up with other users for collaboration.
Cost: Free for up to two users and up to $8 for larger teams.
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