High school feels like a full-time job that forgot to give me weekends off. Between AP classes, DECA, cross country, and trying to maintain some kind of social life, I’d be completely lost without my little arsenal of apps. These five are the ones I actually use daily—the ones that make my schedule feel (almost) manageable.

1. Goodnotes – My Digital Notebook

I love handwriting notes, but carrying around five different spirals? Hard pass. Goodnotes on my iPad solves that. I still get the feeling of writing by hand, but everything’s organized in neat little digital notebooks. Plus, it recognizes my handwriting (even when it looks like chicken scratch) so I can actually find things later.

Also: color-coding. My AP Chem notes might be stressful, but at least they’re pretty.

2. Notion – My Digital Brain

Notion is where my life lives. School assignments, blog drafts, club planning, random 2 a.m. brain dumps—it’s all in here. I’ve built pages for:

• College apps checklist
• Class schedules + deadlines
• Blog planning (this post literally started in Notion)
• A reading list I may or may not ever finish
• My coffee shop tracker
• To-do list
• So many others

It’s basically a second brain. If I don’t write it in Notion, I probably forget it exists.

3. Notion Calendar – The Planner Glow-Up

Yes, Notion gets two spots, because the calendar deserves its own shoutout. It syncs with everything else, but it feels more student-friendly than a normal calendar app. I can drag tasks around, link them to pages in Notion, and see my week laid out without scrolling through three different apps.

This is where I time-block study sessions or plan out NeuroClub meetings. It’s basically the paper planner I always wanted to stick to—but digital and less guilt-inducing.

4. Trello – Group Project Lifesaver

Trello is my go-to for teamwork. DECA prep? Group project? Club event? It all goes here. The board system is addicting—you move tasks from “To Do” → “Doing” → “Done,” and watching the progress bar actually makes me feel like I’m in control.

For DECA, it keeps me and my partner from forgetting who was supposed to research what (because trust me, we’ve both assumed “the other person has it covered” before).

5. SportsYou – Club & Team Central

Every sport and club announcement somehow ends up on SportsYou. Cross country practice times, NeuroClub reminders, random updates—it’s all in one spot. Instead of digging through fifteen different group chats or hunting down emails, I just check the app.

It’s not glamorous, but it’s practical. And if you’re in multiple activities like me, that’s priceless.

The Big Picture

Here’s how it breaks down:

• Goodnotes → note-taking, but digital and organized
• Notion → life hub for everything
• Notion Calendar → detailed scheduling + time-blocking
• Trello → collaboration without chaos
• SportsYou → club and team communication

Together, they’re the reason I can (somewhat) juggle high school without combusting. On their own, each app is solid—but together, they’re my survival kit.

So no, I’m not naturally this organized. I just outsource it to five little apps that make me look like I am.