The best productivity app for windows

Productivity apps have become so much more crucial in these WFH days. Nobody knocks on your desk to remind you of that deadline to get your document reviewed for example :-)

I tried 'many' tools out there and was pretty surprised at how hard it was to find a good one.

For managing my Todos,

I tried Wunderlist however it is now part of Microsoft Todo.

I tried MS Todo however it does not have integration with outlook calendar (go figure)

I tried Google tasks + Google calendar. Effective however not the best user experience

I tried Monday and found it lacking. They make everything look like a 'board'.

I tried many others and almost gave up when I stumbled upon the Microsoft Calendar app. Seriously, it turned out to be such a champ. I really don't understand why MS had to acquire Wunderlist and spawn Microsoft Todo. A mystery I would like to see solved some day.

Microsoft Calendar has a very friendly and clean UI. It integrates with outlook and google calendar. And so far it has worked flawlessly. Super impressed.

Likewise, for taking and managing Notes,

I tried Evernote - They have a bloated up software which does many insane things however lacks the basic feature of nested folders to organize your notes. And no, Tags are not the same as folders. I already have a paid account and yet found this very annoying and their product management is pretty adamant that customers 'do not need' the feature to have folders.

I tried Joplin - Free and decent features however their editor sucks. I wish they had support for rich text.

I tried Nimbus notes - decent features however they do not have the fundamental feature of letting you backup your notes. Duh?

And many more. Each one had some wierd quirk that made it sub optimal for my needs. I was looking for a great UI, sync and backup options, support for rich text and ability to use it with web pages, emails and media along with regular notes and a great way to organize my notes into folders or sections.

Surprisingly, I found that Microsoft OneNote proved to be the champ here. Please note that there are two versions, one is an app from the Microsoft store and the other is part of office. I found the app from Microsoft store to be better as it allows you to add multiple accounts to your OneNote.

Just my two cents to help make your WFH more productive and fun.

Hope this helps. Take care, stay safe, stay home.