With the holidays approaching (read: already here) it's important to not let yourself get too bogged down by the growing pile of things you've got on your plate.
When the To-Do List meets technology a beautiful thing happens -- If you've ever written something down on a piece of paper and then never seen it again, you'll understand. We've gathered together our favorite organizational apps to help you keep your head on straight over the next few months and maybe even accomplish a thing or two while you're at it.
See Also: - Five Useful Apps for Visual Artists and Art Enthusiasts - Five Photo Manipulation Apps for iPhone/iPad
1. Things
Things is our absolute favorite option. You can organize tasks by time frame (today, next, someday), by project, and by priority. There is ample room to write notes under each item, and you can also add tags to filter through tasks -- maybe you are out and about and only want to see tasks tagged "errand" for example. The Daily Review feature is awesome because it let's you plan out your top priorities for the day (or move tasks to a later date). The app is easy to use and the interface is clean and simple.
As an added bonus, there is a version for your Mac. It's pricey if you buy both, but if you start with the iOS version we think you'll be sold on the Mac version too.
Cost: $9.99
2. Clear
For those of us who love simplicity, Clear is a must-have. This app does away with all of the fancy stuff and gives you a simple list (with pretty colors!) The major selling point is that Clear is entirely gesture-based -- so instead of marking off a 'done' box, you just swipe across an item to complete it. Watch the video on their website to see these gestures in all of their glory. This app is built for ease, and it doesn't fall short of that claim.
Cost: $1.99
3. Evernote
Evernote puts the fun back in being organized. The app isn't really about making To-Do Lists (though you can use it to do that too) -- It's more of a place to gather all of your ideas together. You can add photos to notes and attach location so that you can remember where you saw a certain item. You create notebooks so the notes are organized by whatever subject you see fit. This kind of organization is perfect for creative-types or anyone who likes to keep track of their inspirations.
There is a Mac version for this one too.
Cost: Free
4. Wunderlist
Wunderlist shares a lot of its features with Things: you can organize lists by subject and add detailed note to your tasks. However, it has an added bonus of incorporating multiple, easy ways to share lists with others (we're not really sure why anyone would want to share a list on Facebook... but we appreciate that we could if wanted to). You can also change your background style which is kind of a fun feature.
Check out Wunderlist for Mac while you're at it.
Cost: Free
5. WorkFlowy
Workflowy is great for those of us who just can't give up the outline form of list-making. It's perfect for people who like to include more text on their lists, and the app still allows for searching tags, which let's you wade through all of the text that is bound to build up. This is a really solid note-taking app.
Cost: Free
Bonus: The Christmas List
This holiday-specific app is not particularly useful for other times of the year, but it does what it does really well. Check it out.
Cost: $0.99
