As a CEO, manager, or leader, you have a lot on your plate. With so many tasks to manage and deadlines to meet, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed.
But, with the right productivity app, you can conquer your to-do list and actually enjoy your day. Daily planner apps have become increasingly popular over the years, and with so many options out there, it can be challenging to choose the right one for you.
In this blog, we've scoured the internet, tried and tested a ton of apps, and narrowed down the best of the best. We've evaluated each app for its effectiveness and ease of use, so you can browse through the list and pick the one that works best for you.
For those who are looking for a quick summary of the best daily planner apps, here's a Tl;dr version.
Tl;dr. Get a Quick Overview of 5 Productivity Apps Suited for Busy Leaders
Now that you have a brief overview of the top apps, let's dive deeper into each one to see what sets them apart and what each one has to offer.
Sunsama
Sunsama is the ultimate daily planner for CEOs, managers and leaders who have a lot on their plates. It's designed to help you stay productive in the long term and make it easier to repeat your successful workdays, so you can focus on what really matters.
Features
- Collaboration: Sunsama allows for easy collaboration by letting you share tasks and projects with your team members, assign tasks, and monitor progress. This feature makes it easier to work together and ensures that everyone is on the same page, which is especially crucial for managers and leaders.
- Timeboxing: Sunsama encourages you to schedule tasks on your calendar and estimate time needed for each task. It also allows you to track the actual time spent on each task and compare it with the estimated time, helping you plan better and be more realistic with your time management. This feature can be particularly useful for CEOs who have a lot of responsibilities and need to ensure that they are using their time effectively.
- Integration with popular tools: Sunsama integrates with popular productivity tools such as Asana, Trello, Gmail, and Outlook, making it easier to incorporate Sunsama into your existing workflow. This feature is especially useful for busy CEOs, managers, and leaders who may not have the time or resources to learn a new productivity tool from scratch.
Get an Inside Look: A Video Review of Sunsama
Rating
Capterra rating: 4.6 based on 17 reviews.
"This software is brilliant. For someone who has many tasks a day, it helps to prioritize, track time estimates, click and move tasks on day and week and month." ~Capterra Review
Pricing:
- Free trial for 14 days
- Starting at $16/month when paid annually, $20/month when paid monthly
- When someone is added to your Sunsama workspace, they will be added to your plan and your monthly bill will be updated automatically.
TripIt
Streamline your travel planning, stay organized, and reduce stress with TripIt - the ultimate travel planning app for busy CEOs, managers, and leaders.
Features:
- Simplify your travel planning: Consolidate all travel details, including flight information, hotel reservations, and activities, in one place to reduce stress and improve organization.
- Stay on top of your itinerary: With TripIt Pro, receive updates and reminders about your trip, including seat upgrade information, check-in reminders, and security wait time updates, so you never miss a flight or important event.
- Plan travel for your team: TripIt for Teams helps plan travel for business and other team situations by keeping all team member’s itineraries in one place and providing a travel calendar with everyone’s schedule on it. Plus, with different itineraries for different travelers, you can customize your team's travel to fit their unique needs.
Get an Inside Look: A Video Review of TripIt
Rating
G2 Rating: 4.6 Based on 72 reviews
"I like the email updates about upcoming flights, which helps to keep me on track on when and where I am flying and what time zones I may be in." ~ G2 Review
Pricing:
- There is a forever free basic plan
- TripIt Pro, their premium service, has an annual standard subscription rate of $49.
Noisli
Noisli is a perfect tool for busy CEOs, managers, and leaders who need to create a peaceful working environment amidst the chaos of their daily schedule.
Features:
- Create your own sound environment: Noisli allows you to mix and match from a selection of 28 high-quality ambient sounds to create your ideal working environment. Choose from rain, thunder, fire, birds, windchimes, piano, and more to stay focused and productive, even in the busiest of offices.
- Curated playlists and adjustable volumes: Can't decide on the perfect sound combination? No problem. Noisli offers pre-curated playlists for inspiration, and you can adjust the volume of each sound to create your own unique combination.
- Distraction-free text editor:Got a lot of writing to do? Use Noisli's distraction-free text editor to stay focused and get the job done. The editor allows you to work in a calm, peaceful environment with your custom sound mix playing in the background.
Get an Inside Look: A Video Review of Noisli
Rating
App Store Rating: 4.2 Based on 221 reviews
Pricing:
- Noisli offers a free version with basic features.
- The paid version, called Noisli Pro, is available for $10 per month. It includes additional features such as the ability to create and save custom sound mixes, an offline mode, and an ad-free experience
Todoist
Todoist is a task management app that helps users organize and prioritize their tasks and to-do lists. It offers features such as due dates, prioritization, collaboration, and location-based reminders to help leaders stay on top of their responsibilities and achieve their goals.
Features
- Prioritize and delegate tasks: CEOs have a lot of responsibilities and tasks to manage, which can quickly become overwhelming. Todoist allows you to prioritize tasks by using labels, filters, and due dates. You can also delegate tasks to team members and track their progress, which helps to distribute workload and ensure that everything is getting done on time.
- Seamless integration: Todoist integrates with a variety of other productivity tools, such as Google Calendar, Dropbox, and Zapier. This means you can easily incorporate it into your existing workflow and use it alongside other tools you may already be using.
- Collaboration: Todoist allows for easy collaboration with team members, which is essential for CEOs who often work with others to get things done. You can share tasks and projects, assign tasks to team members, and comment on tasks to provide feedback and clarification. This feature helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals.
- Customizable views: Todoist offers customizable views that allow you to see your tasks in a way that works best for you. For example, you can use the "Today" view to see all of your tasks that are due today, or the "Next 7 Days" view to see all of your upcoming tasks for the next week. This feature can help CEOs to stay organized and ensure that they are not missing any important deadlines.
Get an Inside Look: A Video Review of Todoist
Rating:
Capterra rating: 4.6 based on 2,163 votes
Not convinced with Todoist? You are not alone. Checkout why people chose Sunsama over Todoist: Todoist to Sunsama: My To-Do List Journey
"Todoist was my to-do list tool for more than 9 years, now after 1 year I've settled in with Sunsama for planning and organizing my daily task list." ~ Francesco - host of Keep Productive YouTube channel
Pricing:
- Free: Basic features, up to 5 active projects
- Premium: $5/mo or $48/yr, all features, up to 300 active projects
- Business: $8/user/mo or $72/user/yr, team collaboration and admin features, up to 500 projects/user
Notion
Notion is a versatile productivity app that can be useful for CEOs, managers, and anyone looking to increase their productivity. Notion provides a variety of features that are designed to help you stay organized, streamline your workflow, and get things done faster.
Features
Here are a few ways that Notion can be useful for productivity:
- Collaborative Workspace: Notion provides a collaborative workspace that can help managers and CEOs to work together with their team members in real-time. You can share notes, documents, and databases with your team, assign tasks and deadlines, and track progress. This feature can be especially useful for managers and CEOs who need to work with a remote team.
- Database Management: Notion allows for easy database management, which can be useful for CEOs and managers who need to track information related to their business. You can create databases for tasks, projects, contacts, and more, and organize them in a way that works best for you. This feature can help CEOs and managers to keep track of important information and make more informed decisions.
- Productivity Templates: Notion provides a variety of productivity templates that can help you to get started quickly on tasks and projects. These templates include meeting notes, project plans, and to-do lists, and can be customized to match your specific needs.
Get an Inside Look: A Video Review of Notion
Rating
Capterra rating: 4.7 (Based on 1,217 votes)
Pricing
- Free plan: Includes basic features such as task management, note-taking, and file uploads.
- Personal plan: $4 per month. Includes additional features such as version history, integration with other apps, and the ability to collaborate with others.
- Team plan: $8 per user per month. Includes advanced collaboration features, admin controls, and priority support.
Choose What's Best For YOU
One bonus tip for staying productive is to schedule time for focus work and block your calendar by creating a dummy 'Do-no-disturb' task. This will prevent anyone from blocking your time or barging in your office
But don't wait for tomorrow to take action. Choose the app that suits you work style. If you're looking for a productivity app that can help you focus and build habits that will keep you organized and productive, try Sunsama.
Whether you're trying to manage your personal time, keep your schedule on track, or conquer your meetings, Sunsama has got you covered. You can try it out for free for 14 days, with no credit card required to signup. With its powerful features and intuitive design, Sunsama makes it easy to stay on top of your schedule and never miss a class or assignment again.
