Effective time management encompasses many pieces and various approaches. Whether for work, home, or school, being able to organize our time is often key to success in our busy lives.
The tools shown here each have useful features to assist with managing time and making the most of it, for any business or personal situation.
Create a Plan
1. Week Plan
With Week Plan you can easily see what is on your plate for the entire week. The application has sections for Roles and Goals as well as a Parking Lot for items to come later. Click any day of the week to add a new task and set its priority as important or urgent as needed.
While Week Plan provides you a nice view of the week ahead, it also offers a month plan, which is helpful for longer term items. With three plans available, you can try out the tool for free and look into paid plans that offer additional features such as subtasks, analytics, and Google Calendar integration.
2. Weekis
If you prefer basic, simple weekly planners, then Weekis is the one for you. This no-frills option is a web-based application where you just enter your tasks for each day of the week. This also makes it easy to plan your days, one day at a time.
With Weekis, you see the week at a glance, can rearrange tasks with drag-and-drop, and if you create a free account, your items will be saved.
Use an Organizer and Calendar
3. Trello
For managing any size project, Trello is a full-featured tool. Using the Kanban method, the application gives you boards, lists, and cards to organize projects. You can collaborate with coworkers, create checklists, and set due dates for tasks.
Aside from a wonderful way to organize yourself and your team, Trello offers a useful calendar power-up. To add this option to one of your boards, click Show Menu from the top right corner, choose Power-Ups, and then next to Calendar select Enable. A link to the Calendar option will then show up next to the board menu at the top.
Trello is available for free with Trello Gold as a paid option offering features like large attachment upload, saved searches, and premium customization options. You can also check out the mobile Trello apps, see links below.
4. GQueues
GQueues is another handy application for organization and calendar integration. With the look and feel of Gmail, features include repeating tasks, subtasks, sharing and collaboration, assignments and comments, tags, and prioritization.
Basic features of the application are available for free with personal and business paid plan options. Note that Google Calendar integration is part of the personal paid plan -- however, GQueues Lite (free) comes with a Calendar Gadget. GQueues is available for mobile devices as well.
If you use a host of Google tools such as Google Drive, Google Contacts, Google Calendar, and Gmail, this is a convenient option.
Keep Track of Your Time
5. Toggl
Toggl is a vibrant tool for time tracking that includes project creation, client and team management, multiple workspaces, and reporting tools. To begin tracking an activity, just tap the Timer, give the task a name, and press the Play button. You can also add tags for easy organization.
Toggl offers integration with other applications such as Basecamp, Asana, and GitHub. With access via the Web as well as mobile apps, you can track your time and access your items from anywhere.
You can sign up and begin using Toggl and its many features for free. Paid plans include additional options such as scheduled reports, time audits, and adding team members.
Download -- Android [Broken Link Removed]
6. RescueTime
If you prefer to use a desktop application for time tracking, RescueTime is a good option. You can download it for Windows, Mac, or Linux platforms, as well as Android. Once installed, choose your most productive and most distracting activities and pick the days and times you would like to track. The application then automatically begins tracking your time.
With automatic time-tracking, you never have to worry about forgetting to start the clock for an activity. RescueTime offers options for setting goals and viewing a pop-up daily time log. You can also check out reports for productivity, goals, and application usage.
RescueTime Lite is available for free with limited features and RescueTime Premium is a paid plan with additional features such as daily goal alerts, unlimited report history, and website blocking to help eliminate distractions.
Download -- Android, Linux, Mac, Windows
Prioritize To-Dos
7. Doris
For a very simple way to prioritize your task list is Doris. This application lets you add numerous to-dos to your list, edit them, and include notes. To prioritize the tasks, just select one and drag it to the new position in the list.
You can also view your task history for the current day, previous week or month, and current week or month. You will see when each to-do was completed and have options to delete or restore them. Doris is a basic, free, web-based tool.
8. Todoist
Todoist is one of the most popular task list applications and can help you prioritize and keep up with your to-dos. The application provides color-coded priority levels so that you always know what is most important. You can also set up recurring dates, sub projects and tasks, and handy notifications.
Another time management aspect that Todoist can assist with is delegation of tasks. With features for collaboration, assignment of tasks, and discussion options, you can share the workload with an easy-to-use tool.
Todoist is available for free and accessible via the Web and on mobile devices. Other options include browser extensions and integrations with Gmail and Outlook. Paid plans provide additional features such as location-based notifications, automatic backups, project templates, and team member management.
Delegate Tasks
9. MeisterTask
MeisterTask is visual tool that is very useful for managing projects, tasks, and a team. Set up different sections for various projects or sub-projects and then include assignable tasks within each one. The application offers due dates, comments, tags, notifications, attachments, and checklists which all make delegation easy. For team time tracking, MeisterTask lets you print or export data.
The main screen provides a good view of your day with a quick overview of your tasks. Integrations with MeisterTask are also available and include Slack, Zendesk, GitHub, Zapier, Dropbox, and others.
MeisterTask has a free version with limited features and a paid plan that provides unlimited integrations, workflow automation, and custom backgrounds. The application can be accessed via the web or apps for mobile and desktop devices.
Download -- iOS, Windows or Mac
What Do You Use to Manage Your Time?
Do you have one specific application that helps you organize your time or do you use a combination of tools?
If you want one more option, check out TickTick and our tips for using this task list app and its time management features.