I'm Carolann! I'm a military spouse and new mom currently calling the DC area home. Finding Ithaka is all about the journey and about finding yourself.

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I am not an organized person.

I try. I really do. I’ve gotten a lot better over the years, but organization has never come easily to me. I was that person in college who had papers coming out of her textbooks because I could never be bothered to use folders. Now I’m that person whose junk drawer is spilling over after living in a house for only 4 months.

I always have a million different to-do lists. They are usually spread out — on my planner, in my journal, on a different loose papers. It’s not very organized, but it works out for me, most of the time. But when it comes to things that Nick and I have to do together, or discuss, or decide, it doesn’t always work out if he doesn’t see the list because it’s in my planner.

About a month ago, Nick and I were talking about how we could be better organized. He’s not very organized either. When two people who are not organized get married, chaos often ensues.

We wanted to have some type of to-do list that we could both access anytime, anywhere. Instead of random emails, lists, and texts to each other, we wanted to have everything in one place.

Nick did some researching and found Wunderlist.

I am hooked.

Here’s how it works.

1. You download the app on your phone and start making to-do lists. You can also download it on any device you want, like your tablet or laptop, and then sync all of your devices.

2. You can have as many different list as you want. You could set up separate lists for bills, groceries, presents you need to buy, things you need to do around the house, errands, travel planning, wedding planning — anything. For example, we have one list specifically dedicated to things we have to do for our move.

3. You can share your lists with other people. Nick and I share most of our lists with each other.

Here’s an example list that I made so you can see the layout:

4. You can assign different tasks to different people so it’s clear who needs to do what. We haven’t used this feature yet, but I can see it coming in handy.

5. You can get notifications (depending on how you set it up) whenever someone adds a to-do to a shared list. So, if I think of something that we need to do while we are not together, I can add it to the list. Nick will get a notification wherever he is. Hopefully, he doesn’t ignore it 😉

6. When you finish something, you check the box and it goes away.

You can also look at what you have completed, because the app keeps a record for you. I like looking at those crossed out tasks!

7. You can also get notifications whenever someone marks an item as complete. They make me happy.

8. You can set alarms and recurring reminders. I set up alarms for appointments, like last week when I had to take the car in for an oil change. I also have a recurring reminder set up each month on the day I need to mail the rent check. You could set up recurring reminders for chores, bills, birthdays, etc.

9. You can also have lists that only you can see. I have my own lists for things I need to do and for my blog.

10. You can access the list anytime, anywhere, from any device. 

I think it’s a game-changer if you live with other people. I also think it can be a lifesaver during busy times in your life.

Whenever one of us has a few extra minutes, we look at Wanderlust and see what we have to do. If we have a few extra minutes together at night we will look at it together and try to get something done.

Since we always have our phones on us anyway, we look at our to-do list a lot more than if it’s on a random piece of paper.

I love finally having everything in one place.

I’ll probably never give up my paper lists and my planner, but having it all backed up on my phone is awesome. I also love that Nick and I can both access the app.

Here’s a picture from their website that shows all of the features a bit better:

What apps make your life easier? 

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PS: This post is not sponsored – I just wanted to share with you this awesome and free app that’s been keeping me sane.