Best E-Planning Apps for the Surface Pro 3 | Giftie Etcetera: Best E-Planning Apps for the Surface Pro 3

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Best E-Planning Apps for the Surface Pro 3

I am a paper planning person. It's my nature and that's not ever going to change.

That said, I am adopting a few apps on my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 that can help with planning.

NOTE: I do not duplicate information. Either it is in my planner, in OneNote (things like work research projects), or in an app.

The apps that I am currently loving (all free at the Microsoft app store) include all the ones in the picture below in the Planner section.


TIP: Scroll from the middle of the top of the Start screen down with your finger to customize your app layout.


Calendar (purple)

The default calendar that comes with the Surface is good enough for me, since I won't use it to input information. Instead, it just reminds me of the date, built-in holidays, and Facebook birthdays.

Daily Tasks (green)

Daily Tasks is a simple calendar that allows the user to check off tasks each day. Blogging, laundry, dishes, straightening the house, and prepping for the next day all do here. The live tile tells me what still needs to be done today, so it is right in my face whenever I log on.

to-dos (dark yellow)

I rarely use this app, but it shows a live tile of whatever is entered on this one-time task list, so I can use it to remind me to do something on my computer that is not time sensitive.

Spending Tracker (beige)

This may be my favorite free app. It's a simple checkbook format and shows me a live tile of my current budget balance.

TIP: If you have more than one budget number or account to track, this is not the app for you. 


This only works for me because my husband does the budget, subtracting out all the regular stuff, like mortgage and electricity bill, from our expected income. Then he gives me a number, which is the amount left to spend this month on other expenses. 

NiftyList (light yellow)


NiftyList allows repeating tasks on a monthly or weekly basis. 

It is perfect for the twelve household tasks that I regularly try to do each month: cleaning three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, and a living room; doing one organizing and one outside project; and straightening three areas that regularly collect clutter.

TIP: Do not put anything critical in the apps. Reserve your planner for the truly important stuff. 

Notice that I use apps for stuff that I can recreate (like budget numbers, by calling my bank) or stuff that is routine (like housework) or can be skipped (like blogging, which I only do when I have time and if I feel like it).

NOTE: All of my app choices are simple-to-use apps. I don't have time to bother with anything complicated!


Which apps (not just Microsoft) are your favorites for planning?

Etcetera.

1 comment:

RobbieKay said...

It's not an app for *planning* per se, but I use Evernote to keep things out of my planner. When I used a ring system, I would go through every so often and do an "audit" to determine which pages I used on at least a monthly basis. Pages that I found I wasn't using that I frequently were removed from my binder and stored in Evernote in a notebook titled Purged from Planner.

BTW, I'm going through your old posts to see if you ever wrote how you decided on the Surface Pro 3. I have just recently gotten back into reading my RSS feed.