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.