Zorga Tools

Tip: After opening each of these tools (which are in Google Docs format), select "File" then "Make a Copy" (if you want to save it to your Google account and edit it online) or "Download" (to export it into a format you prefer to use like Microsoft Word).

Recommended Tools

Zorga recommends tools that are simple and free (mostly, some have "premium" versions). These should work on all your devices: desktop, Android or iOS phone/tablet and are listed in the order of recommendation. Remember the tool is not important, it's what the tool allows you to accomplish that is important. Just download a few, read the basic setup "help" instructions and test them out for a few days.

Notes Apps:

Many people use Simplenote, Apple Notes or Google Keep (especially for Android phone users) for "fast capture" notes and Evernote or OneNote for "email in" functionality, storage of webpages, attachments, documents, etc.

Simplenote - the fastest and easiest

  • Pros: Free, simple, fast, can be a task manager as well
  • Cons: No attachments or images, no folder structure, no "email to note" capability

Apple Notes - simple and powerful but on Mac only.

  • Pros: Free, powerful, advanced features, can be a task manager as well
  • Cons: Only on Mac or iOS, tied to Apple account, no "email to note" capability

Google Keep - simple and free.

  • Pros: Free, simple, fast, can be a task manager as well
  • Cons: Tied to Google account, no "email to note" capability

Evernote - the most powerful

  • Pros: Free version, powerful, flexible, paid version has "email to note" capability, can be a task manager as well
  • Cons: Bulky, more complex, paid features can be expensive

OneNote - powerful features but sort of dependent on the Microsoft ecosystem (but works on Mac)

  • Pros: Free, powerful, flexible, has "email to note" capability, can be a task manager as well
  • Cons: Cluttered interface, tied to Microsoft account

Text File(s) synced with your Cloud Storage app - simple, free

  • Pros: Free for life, not dependent on any app ecosystem, simple
  • Cons: No attachments or images, no folder structure (you can make your own folders however), no "email to note" capability

Voice Capture - sometimes you can't write at the moment and need to capture an idea quickly

  • Apple Phones: use the built in app Voice Memos or a 3rd party app like Braintoss which can email you your voice note. Consider using Siri to add notes or tasks to a specific app (research the functionality for this with each app)
  • Android Phones: use Voice Recorder or a 3rd party app like Braintoss which can email you your voice note

Task Apps:

Millions of hours have been wasted searching for the "perfect" task app. Just commit to one and use it, there's very little difference between them these days.

Todoist - fast and flexible

  • Pros: Free, simple, fast
  • Cons: advanced features like reminders requires the paid version.

Workflowy - simple and flexible

  • Pros: Free, customizable, works on all devices
  • Cons: very basic to-do functions (no recurring tasks, no reminders, etc.)

Microsoft To Do - simple and free

  • Pros: Truly free, flexible
  • Cons: Tied to Microsoft ecosystem

Google Tasks - the fastest and easiest

  • Pros: simple, fast, flexible
  • Cons: Tied to Google ecosystem

Cloud Storage Apps:

These are really the only players in the market these days. There are other self-hosted solutions but the complexity of set up is the tradeoff.

  • Google Drive - works on any device, generous free storage, but mostly tied to Google ecosystem
  • OneDrive - works on any device, generous free storage, but mostly tied to Microsoft ecosystem. 
  • Dropbox - works on any device, some free storage but can get expensive.
  • iCloud - iOS only, generous free storage.

 Calendar Apps:

"Read Later" Apps:

There is so much content these days and most of it is junk. So it's important to filter only high quality reading to an app or folder so you can read at your leisure. Note that it's also important to filter your email newsletters to a folder as well to keep them out of your inbox.

  • Emailing yourself and putting in a "Read Later" folder (you can set a filter to do this automatically).
  • Instapaper - works on web or all devices.
  • Pocket - works on web or all devices.
  • Safari "Reading List" - only works on Safari browser and iOS
  • Readwise - this app takes your highlights from Instapaper, Pocket and Kindle and saves them where you can review them in the app or get a daily email. 
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