The Digital Alternatives for Keeping Organised I Jump to Instead of my Bullet Journal
For someone who has a blog professing to be your one stop shop for bujo content let’s just say the fact I haven’t written any new content on the topic since January 2020 has not escaped me.
I am sure like many, my traditional bullet journal set up was rendered ruined when the pandemic struck and soon I found myself turning to different methods to stay organised as my leuchtturm gathered dust on my coffee table. What I use my bullet journal for in 2021 and the paper alternatives I now use is a story for another day but for now, I am going against all my blog ethos and recommending the digital apps I use to keep my head in the game.
My bullet journals of old used to be my entire life in one A5 notebook, from tracking habits to films I’d watched, from spending trackers to list after list of reminders and whilst I streamlined them somewhat, I was still regularly using two a year. Now, what I removed from long form handwriting I use in a simple few clicks on an app and whilst I have tried and tested a lot of different options, there are some I could never be without now.
*Please note: I use an iPhone and some of these apps may not be available, or may be different for Android users.
Google Calendar
Undoubtedly my most used app is nothing revolutionary but I’d be lost without my Google Calendar these days. We have our calendar synced as a household with myself, my husband and both my in law’s so we know who’s meant to be where when and it’s invaluable. I also have my works calendar synced to my phone so I can filter my appointments down to that and mix and match home and work engagements to see where there are gaps. I then sync a third calendar, my own personal one where I track things like hours I spent on freelance work, log my hours worked for my job to add to my timesheet and reminders for things like car insurance renewals, newsletter publication dates and my niece’s school holidays.
Reminders
Another standard iPhone app but one I have used much more since setting my bujo down. I use reminders for list making primarily and never use the notifications but it’s by the far the cleanest looking, easiest to use list making app I have tried. Lists include things I need to buy at the supermarket, orders I have placed which I tick off when they arrive and a list of never ending jobs around the house that I never seem to do….but always seem to add to.
Notes
Really bringing it back to basics but my phone, like I am sure most people’s are, is full of notes and seemingly now more so than ever. Even I, the world’s biggest fan of a list can admit sometimes you just need something a bit more and when you haven’t got a pen and paper handy or need to access that info again on the go, only notes will do. Scrolling through my notes, my topics range from the hashtags I use on my Instagram posts to plans for my niece’s Halloween and Easter hunts, from the story of where my engagement ring came from to the password for the router at my parent’s house. Notes. Saves. All.
Elisi
Elisi has been my favourite digital bullet journal tool by far and I only deleted it at Christmas because the app kept crashing. Elisi is a combination of a habit tracker, a diary, calendar and set of lists and whilst it’s free, the more you pay for the more you get. I stuck with the free version in the 6 or so month’s I used it and I anticipate I’ll return to it as my life gets busier again. It’s not the most sophisticated of designs but it’s functional, it’s easy to migrate tasks to new days or new lists when they’ve not been completed and I really enjoyed using it.
Actions by Moleskine Studio
For what Elisi lacks in modern interface, Actions by Moleskine Studio definitely makes up for and it was my go to for the initial few months of lockdown. Essentially a to do list app, the ability to add up to 10 lists in the free version and colour code them all meant I was able to organise my tasks between me, my husband, family, home, work, freelance life and had room leftover for shopping lists and general reminders and the ease of swiping between them made using the app a joy. The only downside I found with Actions was that I very quickly got to the limit of what I could do on the free version but I would definitely download if you’re willing to pay.
Life Cycle
I never have more DM’s on Instagram than when I share my monthly stats from this app and whilst I understand android doesn’t currently offer a duplicate, for iPhone users who like to track their habits it’s a game changer. I always say the more you put into the Life Cycle app the more you get out of it and lately that’s rung true as I’ve lapsed slightly in my daily updates. Life Cycle uses your location to determine where you are when meaning it logs how many hours you spend at work, how long you’re asleep for, when you exercise and what exercise you do so it’s a lot of different apps in one. I also input my own data when I’m at home so year on year I can see how many hours I spent on freelance work, watching tv, cooking….and last year, how much time was spent on wedding planning. Answer - a lot.
Spendee
I am not that loyal to spending trackers but this one I have been using now for around 5 months and might be the one to stick. I have several bank accounts and several different providers, all of which I have an app for on my phone but inputting my income and outgoings to Spendee gives me a better reflection of what I spend and save in a month. I have used plenty of spending apps over the years, some better than others but what I like about this one is the abundance of categories and the ability to get data for a custom date as I get paid mid month to mid month.
Habit - Daily Tracker
I only recently deleted this app from my phone when I decided habit tracking was not something I really cared about in lockdown but prior to that I’d been using this app for a few years. It’s as simple as inputting data into your bullet journal - you set the habits you want to track and you tick them off daily when you’ve done them. I tracked things like my water intake, exercise, how many times I filled up the car and how often I managed to get to work early but as lockdown hit, the majority of the habits I tracked were made redundant and after nearly a year of depressing looking stats, I removed it but I may well rejoin when the world feels a bit more normal again.
Contacts+
My bullet journal really was more of my life in one book than a diary or a set of to do lists so when I stopped using it so much and had it on my person less, I downloaded this address book app to keep everyone’s details in one place. I understand fully you can do this on your phone contacts but the interface of this app actually feels nicer and it’s a great little tool to add birthday reminders too as well.
Planta
And finally, is there anything more millennial than having an app to remind you to feed your houseplants? Planta is an app most beneficial when you pay for a monthly subscription but you can get a lot done with the free version too. I used the first month free trial to make the most of the function where you photograph your plants and the app identifies them and now I get notifications when my plant babies need watering and feeding and they’re all organised room by room. Bliss.