Ten things that help me do my job better
A few items that are essential in my day-to-day role. Not in any particular order:
1. Apple Macbook Pro- functional, durable, sleek, and syncs with all my other items.
2. Evernote- it’s an incredible program. At first it can be intimidating, but stay with it. Will help you keep track of stuff in a whole new way.
3. Moleskine Notebook- a must.
4. “To Do” draft email- I have a very simple “filing” system for ideas and To Do items- everything is either captured in Evernote, in my moleskine, or in a “To Do List” draft email in my inbox. Those three places…. that’s it. No sticky notes or tear out pages or writing on my hand.
5. iPhone- I rate it way higher on the importance scale than having an iPad.
6. Pulse News app- a great app for my iPad. I use it every day.
7. Google Reader- a must for keeping up with everyone’s blogs
8. Skype and video call recorder- the video call recorder feature allows me to record my Skype video calls and then post to a website or just have for future reference.
9. Steady dose of music, podcasts, and video talks- itunes is a must, both for music as well as podcasts and free content. I also spend a ton of time watching video talks from the TED Conference, as well as hanging out on YouTube looking for fun elements.
10. Creative Boards- I currently have 7 creative boards in my office. I use these for everything from programming to planning to idea development.
Great List Brad, I use many of the same things. However, I had to drop the Moleskine, with the Ipad it seemed a bit redundant.
Artie- i’m with you on the ipad over the moleskine, but on airplanes when i can’t have electronics out, i always tend to write and sketch and capture ideas in my moleskine. And for just writing a quick reminder, i tend to like the moleskine over the iPad, just from a convenience standpoint.
Some feedback:
1. I love my MacBook
2. It is intimidating…which is why i haven’t fully immersed myself into…one day soon, for sure!
3. I love my moleskine
4. Interesting…
5. I love my iphone
6. Defintiely looking into that!
7. Google reader has made me read more blogs than i ever thought i could/would like!
8. I want to use Skype more
9. Speaking of music…took your recommendation on the Jesus Culture album…GREAT STUFF!!!!
10. Creative boards…i’m curious to know how you use these…you should write a blog about this!
thanks for the fun post!
B.
hey Bianca- good idea on the post about the creative boards. i’ll definitely do that. thanks for the comments!
Great stuff Brad. Thanks for sharing.
I’m a huge fan of Evernote, but SpringPad has been rocking my world to. You should give it a look.
Here’s to organization…
i’m checking out springpad right now. thanks for the suggestion rob!
Brad, thanks for the insight. Video recording your Skype calls sounds like a great way to capture organic, unfiltered content. What recorder do you recommend? I’d like our org to ramp this up.
hey Charlie- the link for the video call recorder is in the post. just click on the link and it will take you to the right page where you can purchase the recorder online.
I’m a big fan of Evernote, finding more and more ways to use it. Just upgraded my Tracfone to an iPhone 4 so looking forward to how that will help. Need to do better with the scraps of paper – put the notes in the right place the first time.
Like Bianca, I am curious about the creative boards and would like to see a future post on how you use those.
hey Carl- i’ll definitely have a post in the future on how i use the creative boards. thanks for the comments!
Brad, when do you carve out time to listen to podcasts? I find that’s the one I struggle to do. I think I get exhausted reading blogs, writing blogs, and reading books. Any suggestions?
listen to podcasts while running or on the elliptical machine or working out at the gym. also early in the morning at the office, or in the car.
1. Tick Tick Tick, I recently got one – and I am loving IT!!
2. Checking it out now – I really need to schedule my tasks
3. Love my notebook
4. Unfortunately, never works for me
5. Not an iPhone, but it’s still handy
down to
10. SEVEN Creative boards!! with SITCKIES – Got new respect for you… but how do you keep track of all of them???
That’s a great list, Brad. I use every one of those except for Pulse and the creative boards. I enjoy MindNode for my visual mind-mapping. It helps with my writing, product development, workflow, etc.
My favorite is going to have to be the moleskine. I bring mine everywhere.
Love to see a post too (possibly with video) on how you use the Creative Boards.
-macbook air
-evernote
-moleskine
-oh…and coffee…
WE WANT CREATIVE BOARDS POST!
i used evernote to write out meet agendas and email them to attendees from evernote. i create the to do lists in evernote and email them to myself as well.
i use a camera weekly for storyboarding concepts-currently using Canon 30D
Brad,
Helpful post! Is there are way you consider doing a post on the function, layout, and implementation of your creative boards? I’d love to hear how it’s worked for. Hopefully looking forward to that post!
cd
I use many of these same tools as well. I am a big fan of GTD and have been hooked on Smartytask for a few months now.