My Favorite Productivity Tools

My Favorite Productivity Tools

There are plenty of great productivity tools out there. I find myself flirting with tons of them. Over the last year I have been able to condense what I use and better predict what will work great for me. These are the items that make my daily carry.

Lamy Safari Fountain Pen
I like to use paper. There is something about it. I have also grown into really liking a good pen, but not wanting to spend to much money on it. I use lamy blue/black ink in my main pen.

Muji Notebooks
I read about Ira Glass using these and I decided to give them a try. When I initally began carrying a daybook, I used smaller cardboard books like these. I shifted for years to moleskines, other hardback notebooks, spiral books…and everything in between. I wanted to go back to a smaller, softback notebook and these totally fit the bill.

Emergent Task Planner Sticky Pad
I love worksheets. I make many myself. Over the last few months I have gravitated away from my usual day sheet and have begun using David Seah’s Emergent Task Planner again. I love the smaller sticky backed pad. I write up the next days tasks and schedule the night before and slap it on the front of my notebook.

Post-It Pop Up Page Markers
I’ve developed a tagging system for my reading that helps me make quick notes and then go back to catalog them. I talk about this process in episode 26 of The Productive Pastor, How To Read for Maximum Effectiveness. These are the tabs I use. I normally order them in increments of 5-7 to make sure I never run out.

Evernote
I am suspicious of many productivity apps. I have tried many of them-and I quit using them. Mostly because I can take care of it all in evernote and I would rather everything live in there. I use it to keep reading notes, send articles to file, project management, draft writing, keep shownotes…everything. If you need help understanding evernote-I recommend Brent Kelly’s “Evernote Essentials” ebook.

Trello
I haven’t ever found a project management app I enjoy. Because of church responsibilities, I have had to bite the bullet and find a collaboration tool. Trello is totally awesome. It works enough like my analog tools to be pretty similar and the share feature is great.

What I’ve Read in 2015

What I’ve Read in 2015

Last year I challenged myself to catalog my reading (and become more intentional about my reading). I was able to read more and read for more purpose. Here is my 2014 reading.

In 2015, I decided to chart out much of my reading. I have a few places I wanted to develop my personal life and leadership. You can read about that process here.

I will use this post to catalog my 2015 reading. Feel free to ask any question in the comments. The link will take you to an Amazon purchase link if you are interested in the book.

My 2015 Reading

1. Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter your Soul by Bill Hybels.
Over Christmas my Dad gave me a couple of books he was reading and using for some sermon preparation. This was one of them. It scratched my productivity itch as well as spoke to my soul. This is a great book. For anyone who might raise an eyebrow at Hybels-this is the perfect entry book. I highly recommend it.

2. Strange Leadership: 40 Ways to Lead an Innovative Organization by Greg Atkinson
I first heard about this book from my friend Rich Birch over at the Unseminary podcast. Rich interviewed Greg and I immediately bought this book. Think of it as a modern Biblical theology of innovative leadership. It highly challenged me not to lead better (well actually it did)…but more so to fight for Jesus in my heart and to focus on following Jesus better.