3 Productivity Apps to Help you Get More Done

A couple of weeks ago I dropped my HTC Evo Android phone into water. I really did a number on this phone because it was going through some sort of short circuit thing and I actually had the andriod man dancing across the bottom of the screen! I didn’t even know that was possible!

This happened the night before I was getting ready to go out of town for the weekend so I didn’t have time to mail the phone in under the insurance plan I had so faithfully paid for but was now useless. Since Sprint acquired the iPhone and became all haughty with what they do and do not offer now, I was laughed at when I asked if Sprint still did loaner phones! HA. Apparently that went out with the rotary phone, how outdated was I.

After spending 2 hours in the Sprint store and negotiating with them, I walked away with a brand new iPhone 4S, a second line (in the event this happens again) and a lower phone bill (how I did all that is a different story for another day!).  I was planning to switch to the iPhone in 52 days anyway when my contract was up so I just ended up getting it a little sooner.



Now that I’ve had some time to get used to the iPhone (I love it by the way) I wanted to share 3 productivity apps to help you get more done. These apps have actually been quite life changing for me. They work like they say they do and I don’t have to worry about losing anything (like I did with my Evo that never wanted to sync to gmail even though they are both Google products?)

3 Productivity Apps to Help You Get More Done

Calendar - Yes the standard calendar app that comes with the iPhone is amazing. One thing I could never figure out about my Android phone was why it could not sync appointments I set in my Google calendar with my phone?! The built in calendar with the iPhone works flawlessly. I am able to sync my gmail calendars (yes all calendars) & work calendar in one place. Before having my iPhone, I still kept a paper calendar because the syncing between my calendars was too unreliable. Now that problem is solved! I love having everything in one place.

Seize the Day – I’m a huge fan of lists and I’ve always got scraps of paper everywhere to remind me to do something. Seize the Day has eliminated my lists and now I have everything in one place. One of my favorite features of this app is that I can add items to my list with out a due date and categorize them as “at some point…” that way if I have an idea for something for this blog or think I need to buy something that I probably don’ t need, I can add it to my list to follow up with at some point. Then I can look back at that list after I’ve had more time to think about it and decide if that idea was really as good as I thought or if I really need to buy what I thought I just HAD to have!

This is especially useful when I’m working on my blog. I have tons of ideas and in the past, my ideas have caused me to skip finishing something because I move on to the next “thing” that I want to do. This app lets me capture that idea so I don’t forget but I don’t feel the urgency to drop everything and do it now.



When I used a paper calendar, my to do list was a mile long and I always had to rewrite everything to carry it over to the next day,week or month. Seize the day carries all these items over for you and puts them at the top of your list, so handy!!

Seize the Day Home Screen

There are two things this app is missing. The ability to add pictures to a task (sometimes I’d rather take a picture of something I’ve written down to remind me) and to be able to use the voice to text option. But even without these two things, this app was still life changing for me.

There are many other features to this app which including viewing your tasks on your calendar, syncing with gmail tasks, adding notes, & tagging your tasks. If your an organizing junkie like me, it’s worth exploring! The app is free to use or $3.99 if you want to remove the ads.

Seize the Day list view (with ads)

Note Master – In addition to having an ongoing to do list, sometimes I need more organization with my to do list (yes I know, this is probably taking organization to the next level!). Note master  has that missing element from Seize the Day of being able to add pictures, but it is also so much more! Here’s a screenshot of my Note  Master homepage:

My Note Master Homepage

I keep a running list of my meal plan ideas, my weekly menu, my shopping list (grocery store, costco etc), blog ideas and just general things I want to remember like good quotes or other ideas I want to have in one place. This is so handy to use when I’m in a hurry because I can add check box lists, images, & drawings. It’s a pretty cool app! Here are some more screenshots:

Note Master Example 1

Note Master Example 2

These three apps have allowed me to get my thoughts better organized and is allowing me to get so much more done. I find that if I sit down for a “power hour” I can work through my list quickly and efficiently and I don’t carry a lot of “to-do’s” over to the next day!

What are your favorite productivity apps & why? Feel free to share them in the comment section!

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