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Softonic editors: how do you organize your lives?

Softonic editors: how do you organize your lives?
Niamh Lynch

Niamh Lynch

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Staying organized is the big challenge in our modern, multi-tasking, multi-platform, multi-national lives. I’d love to tell you I’ve got it down, but I can’t. I’m seduced by apps, with their cute icons, nifty features and promise of organizational nirvana, only to see them forgotten, abandoned or get subsumed into corporate nothingness (yeah, I’m looking at you, Astrid). Maybe the other Softonic editors know the secret? Let’s ask them…

Lewis Leong, News Reporter: For my personal life, I choose simple apps like Google Keep, Wunderlist, and Cal to keep my life in order. Wunderlist is great because features recurring tasks, collaborative lists, and much more, without being too complicated. I only wish it supported “weekday only” recurring tasks. Cal is my mobile calendar of choice. It integrates with Google Calendar to sync all my events and appointments. Cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox help me keep everything in sync.

Chris Park, Editor: When I need to stay organized, the biggest tool I use is my memory. I just keep track of big projects that don’t have due dates set. If I have appointments, then I use Google Calendar. For quick lists, I use Google Keep. Since I use Chrome and sync everything across my phone it’s a handy way to keep things simple. I haven’t found that I need much more.

Jon Riggall, News Reporter: I traditionally organized myself through chaos, but technology is slowly changing my ways. Using all Apple devices at home is useful, as it means everything is synced without me even thinking about it. I use the Notes app a lot, and Reminders too. I use Google Calendar a lot, but I also use Outlook in the office. Both are synced with my Calendar app on my iPhone and iPad.

Niamh Lynch, Editor: I use a combination of Google Calendar, Wunderlist, Dropbox and the Reminders app on my iPhone. With the exception of Wunderlist, which I love (available cross platform, collaborative lists, recurring tasks), I’m not convinced the others are the best fit, but haven’t got around to trying any others out. Google Calendar works well, but it feels solid and inflexible, and my multitude of calendars never sync properly. I’m sure there’s something slicker out there – maybe Cal is the way forward?

Tom Clarke, Editor in Chief: The tools I use most for personal organization are Gmail and Google Calendar. Shared calendars help me and my wife stay coordinated and Google sends SMS reminders for important events, which is handy. On my phone, I use the stock Reminders app, and I’ve recently been looking into Clear as a nice replacement for the traditional to-do list. We’ve also just started using Avocado, an app for couples which includes some really useful organizational tools like a single calendar and lists. Avocado is handy because it cuts out all the hassle when it comes to editing shared events and lists.

James Thornton, Catalog Editor: I have my Outlook calendar synced with my iPhone calendar, which I use to manage appointments and events inside and outside of work. I also use OneDrive for syncing documents and images between my work PC and my iPhone. I subscribe to Office 365 as well so I can make edits to stuff on the move. My main reason for sticking with the productivity tools in Microsoft’s ecosystem rather than Google, is that I see Outlook and Office as more powerful tools. Oh, and a shout out to Trello too. It’s a great project-management app for SCRUM methodologies and its iOS app makes it easy to check up on the status of projects while I’m at home.

Nicholas Mead, Catalog Editor: Most of the software I use to keep organized is connected to my work at Softonic. So to keep up with upcoming Mac releases and events, I use Google Calendar. Although I’m a Mac user, I prefer it over Apple’s Calendar because I work on both PCs and Macs and so being web-based, Google Calendar makes life easier. Other than that, I rely heavily on Outlook. Outside of work, I use an app called Memo Pad on my Android device for shopping lists and other things I need to do.

Suzie Blaszkiewicz, Junior Editor: As a self-professed fan of making lists and then crossing things off them, there’s no better app to satisfy the indescribable pleasure of getting things done than Wunderlist. I use it in work to organize my tasks. In my personal time, I use it to make my grocery or shopping lists, but also for more exciting stuff, like adding movies to a never-ending lists of things I want to watch but still haven’t gotten around to. I love how the iPhone app syncs everything for me automatically.

Niamh Lynch

Niamh Lynch

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