In the modern world, you can never be too organized. The ability to stay on task, plan ahead, and arrange multiple workstreams is crucial in the modern workplace, and there are numerous approaches to the issue. Keeping oneself focused is one thing, but when you take this to a business wide level it becomes even more challenging.

Luckily there are several different tools out there to support you in your efforts. Below you will find the latest in organization tools, and not only that. Keeping in mind the ever present budget constraints, these are also some of the more affordable tools currently on the market, with most of them offering free as well as affordable premium paid versions.

Trello

One of the biggest organization challenges that companies face is around structuring complex projects and workstreams. The modern workplace has ever more complex collaboration structures, and without a clear approach team members can easily get bogged down and confused as to where their responsibilities lie. Trello tackles this problem with a unique approach originally pioneered by the Japanese automaker ‘Toyota.’ By focusing on visualizing the workflow for a project with project boards, task lists and individual tasks, Trello provides more clarity and structure to your complex projects.

Brosix

One of the best ways to approach the question of better organization is to take a holistic approach. Quite often improvement in this area will come not from one niche app, but rather a comprehensive team collaboration and communication tool. That is exactly what you get with Brosix IM. 

Brosix provides your organization with a private IM network that can be structured and arranged in the way that you see fit. Create group chat rooms, control user contact lists, set up remote meetings, encourage team members to structure their collaboration through features such as virtual whiteboards, and much more. Brosix provides a truly customizable experience without the hassle of worrying about network hosting and maintenance (they take care of this on their own servers).

Evernote

There’s no point in speaking of business wide organization without touching on personal organization. One of the biggest challenges here is the seemingly simple act of structuring your thoughts and ideas. Evernote is a tool that aims to help with just this, through features related to notetaking, organizing thoughts and archiving. This is all done in the form of “notes,” which can be text, attachments or a media file, and there are multiple ways of grouping these “notes.” Evernote is also available across multiple platforms so that you’ll never lose track of your brilliant ideas.

Calengoo

The other key feature to personal organization is the ability to plan and manage your time. In dynamic workplaces it’s often a challenge to manage multiple events and deadlines, particularly when the colleagues and customers that you interact with use different platforms for their time management. Calengoo is a calendar application that provides you with a wide range of features apart from the normal calendar functions, and allows you to synch with other popular calendar apps (think Google Calendar). The app is largely customizable and loaded with extra features, from events with specific tasks to weather forecasts for your external events.

Things

To do lists are a mainstay of any organized person. The current trend is for these lists to migrate from the classic paper and pen approach to the digital realm. Things is a modern take on the classic medium, which offers a range of features that help you structure your tasks all wrapped in a simple and aesthetically pleasing design. Create task lists, schedule events, and book reminders in order to always stay on task.

IFTTT

Strange name, but a great concept. IFTTT, which stands for ‘if this then that,’ helps you to save time and organize your work by automatizing processes (hence the reference to coding in the name). This is done by creating simple logic chains called ‘applets’ which allow you to automatize certain actions based on certain conditions, for example when posting content to one social media site you can automatically post to others at the same time. With the increase in simple online actions in the workplace, this type of app has the potential to save a lot of your precious time.

Newton

Emails, one of the preferred modes of communication in the modern business environment and at the same time one of the biggest time drainers in the workplace. Email has become such a crucial part of people’s work lives that any disorganization in your inbox can have serious implications on your overall organization, which when added up can dramatically affect your business’s productivity. Newton is an app that helps to modernize your email through a range of features including cross platform integration, improved searching capability and a highly functional user interface. The app has won a number of prestigious awards, so you can be sure it’s tried and tested.

Organization apps come in many forms, from ones addressing a specific aspect of personal organization, to those that take a more holistic approach in order to facilitate better organization on a business-wide level. There’s no one size fits all answer, and your approach will need to be tailored to your personal and business’s needs. Hopefully though, with this list, your choice will be a bit easier and within your budget!