Having deadlines and tight terms, digital entrepreneurs should plan their days with care and caution to keep the work-life balance. We asked business persons what planning apps they use to organise and orchestrate their workflows, teamwork and other business processes to have time for business and daily routine. Below is the honest review of the answers we got.
About the research
36 business owners took part in our research. Based on their replies, we made up a list of the most used applications to track business activities:
- Trello
- Google Calendar
- Evernote
- Calendly
- Asana
- Monday.com
- Zoom
- Any.do
- nTask
- My Life Organized
- Energy Tracking App
- Hubspot
- Zoho
- Clio
- ClickUp
- Google Keep
- Meister Task
- Google Tasks
- Todoist
- Note on Mac
- Connecteam
- Yalla
- Wimi
- Taskworld
- Microsoft Planner
- Sanvello
- Podio
- TickTick
- Schedule One
- Forest
- Teamgantt
- Workflow
As the study shows, Trello is the most used app. Let’s determine how Trello can help you to run your business more effectively.
Trello background
For whom is it?
Small teams, startups and large companies with up to 2,000 employees. It allows you to effectively organize work for a group of people. Helps to quickly and easily plan, set tasks and edit them. It is easy to switch from another scheduling app.
What problems does it solve?
Trello solves the problem of chaos – a separate board can be allocated for each project. It solves the problem of buying a premium version because – Trello has a freemium model.
Why do users love it?
It is convenient to work even if the staff is from 20 to 2,000 people. Access on any device. Open API that allows you to customize the program for yourself. The ability to track progress in real time.
Why don’t they like it?
Users mostly complain about difficult login through the Atlassian software. It is impossible to log in on different devices, notifications about changes on boards lag or do not come, checklists cannot be added to the application.
What do digital entrepreneurs say about Trello?
Combination of an app and planning system
My favorite scheduling app is actually a combination of an app and planning system: Trello combined with the 12 Week Year.
The Trello task management app is based on the “Kanban” project management technique that Toyota developed after the war to take themselves from fledgling company to international automobile behemoth. I’m a fan of Japanese culture, so Kanban appealed to me on that level, but also because it is a very visual, intuitive way of working. You just have to move virtual notes around on a virtual wall.
I combine this with the 12 Week Year as set out in the book by the same name by Brian Moran. It is based on the concept that planning around 12 months leads to putting things off because a year is too big a time span for human beings to effectively hold in their minds on a daily basis. But if you set up a plan of 12 weeks, write down what is happening each week, and log your process, you’ve got a much higher chance of success.
There is a great template that lets you track your 12 week year in Trello, and I rely on it for things both professional and personal.
I find using Trello/Kanban to log this is a life saver.
Peter Head, Japanoscope
Communication with team
I use Trello when I work on projects with my teams. It’s easy to track processes and communicate within the project window.
Actually, I started using Trello and Todoist earlier this year because as I got more and more projects, it was hard to keep track of everything and I saw my co-worker using these apps and he highly recommended them.
I was really hopeful when I downloaded them, and after trying them for weeks, my productivity really improved.
June Escalada, Founder of illustratorhow.com
Scheduling for long-term activities
I mostly use Trello for planning my to-do list, set reminders, and for organizing ideas and content outlining.
Before Trello, I just used a plain old planner, pens, and markers.
I love that Trello has many options like scheduling your week, setting your long-term goals, but in a neat and clear way. You can create cards that contain to-do lists, color labels, reminders, descriptions, etc. You can even transfer all your notes from one card/day to another, share your projects and to-do lists with a team. It’s just a drag-and-drop system and I believe busy people find this extremely useful.
The only thing I don’t sometimes like is the overwhelming feeling of too many options. But you can always stick to what you need and ignore the rest. It takes a bit of time to get used to it but it’s worth it.
Ivana Leko, founder of the Artful Haven blog, artfulhaven.com
Keeping focused
I use Trello to plan my day (office and/or home) and It is actually really helpful to keep me productive and focused as well. Trello is a list-making app that organizes itself in a Kanban-style manner. While it’s terrific software for managing solo projects, it’s also one of the best collaboration planner apps available. Trello has an incredible roster of corporate users, ranging from Kickstarter to Adobe to Google, so it’s no surprise that it’s a wonderful app. You can go from concept to action and build to-do boards, lists, and cards for everything you need to keep your day on track, from personal activities like planning your next vacation to professional duties like ensuring your next business event works smoothly, thanks to the simplicity of its features. Trello may also be used to connect other productivity programs such as Google Calendar, Slack, Zapier, Adobe XD, electronic mail, and more.
Tanner Arnold, President & CEO at RevelationMachinery.com
Organizing everything from personal to professional tasks
Trello is the planning app that has helped me a lot. Trello describes itself as ‘the tool that handles everything,’ and with good reason. While this software can be used alone, it is excellent for those who operate in teams. You can use to-do boards for everything from personal tasks like organizing your next vacation to professional tasks like ensuring your next webinar is a success. From Kickstarter to Adobe to Google, this product has a long list of business supporters. The simplicity of Trello’s boards, lists, and cards is perhaps what makes it so appealing. You already have a lot on your plate. One of them shouldn’t be attempting to read your to-do list.
Jason McMahon, Digital Strategist at bambrick.com.au/
Google Calendar background
For whom it is
Calendar is designed for teams. It is easy to share a schedule with others or create multiple calendars that you and your team can use together.
What problems does it solve?
IT solves the problem of synchronizing with other apps. Easy to operate and sync with other apps.
Why do users love it?
Ease of use and connectivity with other apps, access from any mobile device, minimalistic design.
Why don’t they like it?
Insufficient when it comes to understanding how the week went through and organizing priority appointments/meetings.
What do digital entrepreneurs say about Google Calendar?
Google Calendar is the second in the list. Let’s find out why digital entrepreneurs choose it.
Time-blocking for maximum productivity
I am hugely fond of the Google Calendar. I time-block my day for maximum productivity on areas that I need to focus on, and do my best to delegate to my team the things I can. I also use it to make sure that I am acting in alignment with my priorities toward my family.
Laura Rike, a Pinterest Powerhouse manager, founder of laurarike.com
Activities referenced in your email
Google Calendar is a great planning app that I use on a daily basis and I highly recommend it because it makes life much easier. This classic calendar app has a seamless change between daily, weekly, and monthly displays. Another useful feature is the search option, which comes in handy when you can’t recall when your previous dental appointment was. You may also set reminders, which is essential for the constantly forgetful. Though Gmail users are likely to benefit the most from this software, it’s still a good pick because activities referenced in your email (such as dinner plans, hotel reservations, and flight timings) automatically fill your calendar. Another benefit? Because you can share your Google calendar with other people, it’s an excellent tool for multi-user households.
Adam Garcia, Founder of The Stock Dork, thestockdork.com
Ability to connect with other apps
Google Calendar feels like the best solution for digital marketers because we are already tapped into the Google product world, from spreadsheets to browsers. It integrates seamlessly with almost everything and can push info to the calendar from Calendly, another scheduling tool we use. The ability to configure it directly with Zoom to set up the meetings is also a fantastic use case.
There’s not much I don’t like about Google Calendar, except maybe the actual UX. It gets a bit clunky when you have multiple meetings in one day, but it still works great. I’m really not sure if there’s anything on the market that can integrate quite as seamlessly as Google Calendar currently does.
Kevin Cook, Chief Product Owner (SEM) at onthemapmarketing.com
What’s next?
Well, finding your perfect scheduler is a good decision. You can scan reviews on app stores, study YouTube videos or blogs for the best solution. That’s alright! A marvelous thing about it is that you focus on business with a planning app fitting your goals! But, your eCommerce business management will get more when you delegate technical assistance of your project to pros. At Simtech Development, we customize CS-Cart/Multi-Vendor stores, integrate systems, host on our Cloud and/or VPS, and offer a variety of ready-made add-ons. You can leave the hassle of coding and resolving technical issues to us.