Because pretending is half the battle.
There’s a certain kind of delusion I willingly buy into every time I download a new app: This is it. This is the one that’s going to streamline my life, optimize my time, and help me become the girlboss/scholar/mysterious-yet-dependable freelancer I always knew I could be. For at least eleven minutes, I believe. Sometimes even twelve.
These are the apps that currently make me feel like I’m not totally winging it—even if I absolutely am.
Here’s what’s currently in my digital survival kit:
- Notion
The chaos-hider.
This is where I pretend I’m running an empire instead of freelancing from bed with one sock on. I have dashboards titled things like “Q2 Priorities” and “Content Pipeline,” and inside them… absolute mess. But the act of making the system makes me feel productive, and honestly, sometimes that’s enough. - YNAB (You Need A Budget)
Financial therapy, basically.
YNAB is the app that finally helped me admit I wasn’t actually “bad at money,” just allergic to looking at it. The categories are soothing. The act of assigning every dollar a job makes me feel like an adult, maybe even a competent one. Of course, I still panic-order Mexican food on occasion, but now I do it with awareness. - LinkedIn
The mirror I stare into when I want to feel employable.
Sometimes I log in just to rewrite my headline or edit descriptions of previous jobs. Other times, I get sucked into an existential spiral about professionalism and digital personal branding. Either way, it’s part of the dance. - Spotify
My emotional filing cabinet.
I use playlists the way some people use spreadsheets: obsessively, and with deep intent. Want to feel untouchable? I cue up Liberation. Need to spiral artistically? Nervous Breakdown has you covered. Essay Writing is for deep focus, Airplane Dreams is for pretending I’m a jetset influencer, and Work and Werk are? Yeah, entirely different vibes. Spotify helps me soundtrack my shifting identities, and in a weird way, it’s where I archive all the versions of myself I’ve been lately. - Rosetta Stone
French fluency, loading…
I’ve had a lifetime subscription since 2021. I tell myself that counts for something. Every once in a while, I open it and really mean it. I do one lesson, feel accomplished for a day or so, and then forget for two months. But still—progress? - WordPress
My digital playground.
My little corner of the internet where I get to be a writer, a brand, a low-key cultural commentator. Sometimes I break my own layout. Sometimes I fix it. Either way, it’s mine, and that’s empowering as hell. - Google Sheets
My old reliable.
Every tracker I’ve created recently lives here: job apps, pitch logs, invoices, monthly expenses, which subscriptions I’m supposed to cancel this month but won’t. If Notion is the curated surface, Google Sheets is where I bury the stuff that really matters: the raw data, the messy truths, the things I don’t want to admit I’ve been ignoring. - Fiverr
Where I plan to sell my skills like hotcakes—or at least try to.
There’s something thrilling about the simplicity: gig, description, offer. It makes freelancing feel more gamified, less existential. Every new order is a little vote of confidence from a stranger, and that’s kind of beautiful. - Charles Schwab Bank
International baddie banking.
No ATM fees worldwide, and a UI that doesn’t make me want to cry? Revolutionary. Schwab is the one financial app that makes me feel like I’m planning something big—like a move abroad or the next chapter of my life. Even if I haven’t fully figured it out yet, it still feels like momentum. - Yuka
Because ingredient paranoia is my self-care.
I scan products in Dollar Tree like I’m cracking codes. This app has me tossing half my toiletries and pretending I’m an informed consumer instead of just extremely impressionable. It’s fun! It’s terrifying! It’s oddly comforting!
🏅Honorable Mention:
Vimeo – For hosting video work in a slightly more grown-up way. No ads, no chaos, just clean presentation. It’s the cinematic older sister to YouTube, and when I use it, I feel like I really know what I’m doing—even if I’m just uploading a reel I made in my pajamas.
What are the apps you swear by for staying semi-organized? Drop them in the comments or shoot me a message using the contact form!
If you liked this, check out my resume editing gig on Fiverr.
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