This is a list of my wife and my favorite Programs and Apps we use on our smartphones and laptops.  What are yours?  Reply and let me know what I've missed!  

NOTE: I get no compensation for recommending these.  I only share them because they make my life easier.


To-Do List: Todoist
I have tried at least 6-8 different electronic lists and they all fall short and are too basic or are too expensive.  Most just don't have the functions and integrations. Todoist can be as simple or as complicated as you want!  The philosophy behind this App follows the principles from David Allen's "Getting Things Done," helping get organized but not spending all of your time moving tasks around in a pretty to-do list.  The best functions include:
  • Integrates almost live with my online Google calendar.  Set a due date and time in Todoist and it's on the calendar too.  Check it off the list and it's off the calendar.
  • Great reminders that can pop-up on your phone, be e-mailed, or texted to you, however you want to be reminded.
  • Reoccurring events can be set so you are reminded to pay your water bill every 25th of the month.
  • Take notes about a project (or todo item).  Each task has a place to add notes and pictures and webpage links so you can keep bigger projects organized.
  • Sub-tasks can be created for larger projects so you can break things down into more manageable steps.  Check off the subtasks as you go for a sense of accomplishment too!
  • Create to-do tasks from Google Chrome or simply send an email to your Todoist email address and it will create a task.
  • Organize tasks by project (fix steps), tag them by topic (shopping) and then set a priority if you want.
  • Use it with your spouse to assign tasks to yourself (or them!).
  • Great mobile and web-app for Mac and PC. Shows you what is due today, what's past due and what's coming up (if you set due dates)

Grocery List: Anylist
While I wish our grocery list could be integrated into Todoist, this app is fabulous!  These guys have worked hard to make this just for shopping.
  • Create multiple lists.
  • Add pictures so are sure to get the right product.
  • Add notes and prices to each item.
  • Share list with your family and it's instantly updated among devices (small annual fee).
  • Recipes can be easily imported as well so you can use for meal planning.  A calendar is available to set meals for the week.  The only downside is that it doesn't sync with Google calendar (yet).

Electronic Filing Cabinet: Evernote
We use this to make our house paperless, but you don't have to. It's also a great place to clip articles from the web with the click of a button and save into the Evernote file system.  Here are some of the best features.
  • Create multiple "filing cabinets" and then tag items by topic so they don't get lost in just one filing cabinet.  In other words you can cross-file items such as labeling your taxes as: taxes, 2019, receipts, and business expense.  So you can later search for any of these parameters to access all the items you need in that category (they care called tags).
  • Great for cross-platform.  Use it on PC, Mac, mobile devices, the web.  Have all of your files on all of your devices!
  • Send in things to file from your email by forwarding an email right into your Evernote email address and it will show up "to be filed."
  • Take a screenshot and save it in your filing cabinet.

Screen Sharing: TeamViewer
TeamViewer is great to access a home computer while on the go.  Download and setup a password for each device and them login to access files from anywhere.  You can also help your family use their computer from afar by logging in to their computer and explaining how to use a specific app.  Free to use.

Email Program for Mac: Spark
A great alternative to the Mail App that comes with Mac, which is pretty simplistic.  I don't need anything complicated like Outlook, but there are some sorting features I like.
  • See all your email accounts in one feed.
  • Set a timer for an important email so that it will disappear from your inbox but return at the time and date specified.  Never lose an important email again!
  • Type an email and set it to send tomorrow at 10am.
Slack
If you like texting, then this might be for you.  Instead of sending to an individual, it's as if you are adding a note to a topic (or posting on a bulletin board) that anyone you've invited can see.  We use it to write down when we give Tylenol to the kids so it will be time-stamped.  It will also let my wife know when this happened.  We also keep vehicle information in another list (or channel).

Google Maps
This one is probably obvious, but we use it everyday to look up restaurants and menus, customer reviews and search for best driving routes.  We also save locations and make notes or mark them as places we want to visit.

Sound Hound
Want to know what song is playing on the radio?  Turn on this smartphone app and hold it up tp the music!  It will display the artist and song about 95% of the time.  You can hear a snippet of the song an also see the lyrics for some.
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As always, let us know if you have any questions or need help setting any of these up.  

For FAQs check out our Help Desk at http://helpdesk.mcs.bz