Staying organised is crucial for productivity and success in the workplace, particularly in today’s ever-changing, constantly connected world. In this blog post, we’ll explore a variety of organisational tools, ranging from free options to paid ones, and delve into their uses and features to help you select the one that will best suit your needs.
How Organisational Tools Can Help You
Before we dive into specific tools, let’s first understand the importance of organisation in the workplace. Being organised at work not only helps you manage your tasks efficiently but also reduces stress and ensures that you meet your deadlines consistently. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a project manager, or a team member, organisation plays a pivotal role in your daily activities.
You might consider yourself to be on the ball all the time, but organisational tools can help to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. They can help to streamline processes, enhance collaborative projects, and improve time management. Here are some ways that these tools can help you and your business.
Efficiency: Some organisational tools can help you to work smarter by eliminating manual tracking and simplifying complex, multipart tasks.
Collaboration: Working within a team can be made easier with tools that also seamless communication and document sharing and keep everyone involved up to date.
Time Management: Many common organisational tools, such as some listed below, include features like calendars, to-do lists and timers which can help you to manage your time more effectively. You can learn more about how to organise your time in our Time Management Guide.
Reduced Stress: If you know that your tasks are ticked off, your timekeeping is sorted and your team know exactly where you’re up to, working life becomes less stressful. Less stress at work means more productivity and a happier working environment for everyone.
Which Organisational Tools Are Best for You?
Now, let’s explore some of the best organisational tools available. We’ve categorised them into free, paid with free options, and paid subscriptions, each with a brief description of what they’re good for and their cost.
Our picks for organisational tools:
- Google Calendar
Cost: Free
Google Calendar is a great tool from a trusted source. Its user-friendly design makes light work of scheduling and time management. It’s excellent for keeping track of appointments, setting reminders, and sharing your availability with colleagues. It can also be used as a personal calendar separate from your professional tasks.
- Trello
Cost: Free (Paid plans starting at £4/user/month)
Trello is a visual project management tool that uses boards, lists, and cards to help you organise tasks and projects. It’s particularly useful for teams working on collaborative projects, as it offers an intuitive way to track progress.
- To-Do Lists (Physical or Digital)
Cost: Free
Simple to-do lists are a classic and effective way to stay organised. Whether you prefer a physical notepad or a digital app, writing down tasks and ticking them off can provide a sense of accomplishment by gamifying work.
- Google Docs/Drive
Cost: Free (with paid extra storage options)
Google Docs and Google Drive are unparalleled for collaborative work. You can create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in real-time with team members, no matter where they’re working from. Other options, such as Microsoft’s OneDrive are available, but with a cost.
- Microsoft Outlook Calendar
Cost: From £19.99 per year (Part of Microsoft 365 subscription)
With many workplaces already making use of Microsoft 365 Subscriptions for Outlook, it makes sense to make the most of all its features with Microsoft Outlook Calendar. It’s a robust tool that integrates smoothly with email and other Microsoft Office apps. It allows you to schedule meetings, set reminders, and share your calendar with colleagues.
- Timer Tools (e.g., Pomodoro Technique)
Cost: Varies (many free options available)
With a wide range of free options, timer tools like the Pomodoro Technique are a great bang-for-your-buck option that can help you stay focused and manage your time effectively. They break your work into intervals, typically 25 minutes, followed by a short break.
- Asana
Cost: Paid plans start at £9.49/user/month
Asana is a project management tool designed to help teams plan, organise, and track their work. It offers a wide range of features for task management, project timelines, and team collaboration. Plenty of features are available through their free options but paid options are available with premium features, allowing you to try before you buy.
- Todoist
Cost: Free (Paid plans start at £4/user/month)
Todoist is a powerful task management app that allows you to organise tasks into projects, set due dates, and prioritise your work. It also offers integrations with other productivity
tools mentioned such as Google Calendar.
Experiment with different tools, and don’t be afraid to mix and match to create a personalised organisational system that works best for you. You can learn about different working styles in our blog post: The 4 Main Working Styles. If the tools suggested don’t match your own needs, you could even use our suggestions as jumping-off points to discover alternatives that offer better usability.
Choosing the right organisational tools is a critical step in boosting your productivity and maintaining a sense of order at work. Whether you opt for free, part-paid, or fully paid tools, the key is to select ones that align with your specific needs and working style.
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