shawnw.orgfaith – technology – culture

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “Shawn, what tools do you use to do what you do on a computer?” So, here it is. The definitive list of the digital tools I use to Get Things Done.

Google Suite – That’s my name for Gmail, Gmail Tasks, Google Calendar and Google Docs. Gmail Tasks and Google Calendar integrate so when you give a Gmail Task a due date it appears on your Google Calendar. You can also tick a Gmail Task as done from Google Calendar, too. I use Google Docs for 100% of my document writing and spreadsheets and don’t have Microsoft Office installed on my machine at all (I do on my work laptop but only because my office uses Microsoft Exchange calendars to schedule field techs). I also use Google Reader to keep up with my RSS feeds.

Evernote – I’ve been using this for years and consider it vital to my being productive. If you didn’t check out my personal productivity system article I suggest you do so. It gives a clearer picture on how I use Evernote as part of all my day to day activities. Evernote is available for BlackBerry, iPhone and lots of other devices.

Firefox – the web browser of web browsers. Not only is it standards compliant but it’s safer, faster and can be customized in just about any way imaginable. I use the Xmarks add-on to sync my bookmarks between desktop and laptop PC’s plus many other add-ons to shape Firefox into a powerful productivity tool.

Task.fm – this is a newcomer to my digital toolbox. I use Task.fm to send me email and text reminders (when making a Google Calendar event is too weighty). You can add Task.fm reminders via email, their website or Twitter and you can also set recurring reminders.

Syncplicity – This is also another newcomer to my digital toolbox. Syncplicity allows me to sync files automatically between my desktop and laptop PC’s. I simply tell Syncplicity to “watch” a folder and whenever I add, remove or change a file in that folder, the changes sync to the Internet automatically. These changes then sync to my other PC automatically. It’s also a fantastic backup tool.

I hope this article helps you become more productive.

What items are in your digital toolbox?

You may visit more than that, and that’s okay, but I want to know the three sites you visit every day, even on a bad day, a busy day, a crazy out of control day.

Excluding email sites (like Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, Gmail, etc.).

At least once a day I visit:

• Google Reader – www.google.com/reader – to read all of my feeds
• pMetrics – www.pmetrics.performancing.com – to check my blog stats
• Gmail Tasks – mail.google.com/tasks/ig – my todo list(s)!

Your turn

Tell me three sites you visit every day, no matter what.

Or, maybe I should call it the prework ritual (in case you don’t get up in the morning to go to work).

I say this is my Monday morning ritual but it’s really what I do Monday through Friday:

• Alarm goes off at 5am. Depending on what time I went to bed I’m either up a few minutes after it goes off or I hit snooze a couple times.
• I immediately feed the dog and cat. The dog sounds like a vacuum cleaner when she eats.
• I fix a small bowl of cereal for breakfast. The dog has finished her breakfast, usually, before I even pour my milk.
• While the dog’s out for her morning dooky I’m eating cereal and catching up on email and tweets from overnight. If there’s enough cereal left I’ll peek at some of my feeds.
• Let dog in. Begin bathroom ritual (brush teeth, shower, etc.).
• I’m usually out the door at 6:30am.
• I’ve got a 30 minute commute to work so I listen to NPR on the way. If I’m leading worship that coming Sunday I’ve got that weekend’s set playing in the car pretty much all week.
• Stop at my Starbucks* for a grande Pike Place with light cream (the cream helps to cool it off a bit).
• Arrive at the office usually just after 7am.
• I use the quiet time in the office (people usually don’t start showing up until 8 or 8:15) to life journal. I’ve been using Evernote recently but may switch full time to YouVersion to record my journals.
• Work begins.

That’s it.

Now, it’s your turn. Tell me about your morning (or prework) ritual(s). GO.

*I actually only stop at Starbucks a couple times a week but I listed it here since it makes my mornings seem more glamorous.