Productivity app categories
With so many amazing productivity tools available to you and I, you may be asking yourself, Scott, what do you actually use on a day to day basis? Well, in today's video,
I'm gonna share with you 10 productivity apps that I use every single day. Now I've broken them down into 10 different categories. Everything from project management, to notes, to scheduling, to even things like social media and feedback. So let's get things started and let me show you what I am actually using.
Project Management - Trello
Number one, we're gonna start with project management. And this probably isn't a surprise to many of you, but my project management tool of choice is still Trello.
Day in and day out how I manage my business, and also how I manage other projects when I'm dealing with clients, whether it's short-term or long-term,
I am using Trello. I still feel it is the quickest and easiest way to start a new project, especially if you are collaborating with others that may not have much experience
with a project management tool.
Meetings - Zoom
Now, number two on my list, we're putting in the category of meetings, and this might also not be a surprise because I produced a number of Zoom videos over the past year. And certainly with the pandemic of 2020, more and more of us are using Zoom on a regular basis.
Now I actually started using Zoom about four years ago, and I used it because I found it was the easiest tool to send a link and for having my participants join quickly and easily, and I still feel that it's the easiest way from a host perspective to manage a meeting.
Zoom has only gotten better and better over the last several months, as they've included new features and new technology.
To make it more secure, and also to make it easier to use as well. Now let's stick with mediums for a second
Scheduling - Calendly
And let's talk about scheduling.
What I am using on a daily basis is Calendly. Now I have to admit for a number of years, I hesitated to use Calendly as a part of my business operations. But since starting to use it a little over a year ago, it's hard for me to envision going back.
You can see here on this example, Calendly is doing exactly what I want it to do, it has booked me for my available times through the end of this month. So whether you are wanting someone to book you for a paid session or a consulting session like you see here, or maybe you just need a more convenient way to set up times so that you can send out a single link and others can click and see your availability.
Now Calendly makes it really easy for you to create a number.
Of different meeting types depending on your purposes. I also especially like Calendly extensions, which I use within my Gmail client in particular.
Notes - Google Keep
Next up on my list, we've got to take a look at notes and note-taking.
And still, my note-taking tool of choice is Google Keep. You may find this surprising because in comparison to apps such as Evernote, or Microsoft OneNote, or Notion, and many others, Google Keep is relatively simple. But that's precisely why I have stayed with Keep. When I am writing down new notes quickly and easily, I want it to be fast, I want it to be quick, and I'm usually not taking really lengthy documents or writing a blog article, for example, here within Google Keep.
These are usually short notes and short checklists that I want to use in short order. They may only have a short lifespan as a part of it. And in particular, I find that Google Keep is the fastest and quickest mobile app amongst the major note-taking tools. Again, chances are, you're gonna have that great idea when you're on the go. I want something quick and easy that I can use.
Capturing - Adobe Scan
Now next up on our list, speaking of mobile apps, is something that I am using on a daily basis, and that is Adobe Scan.
Now, I try to run a paperless office as much as possible. I produce very, very little paper. But of course, I still will receive papers on a semi-regular basis. And one of the first things I want to do is convert it to a digital format. Well, Adobe Scan is a free app that allows me to do that quickly and easily.
And I know this is a very competitive market. There's a variety of free scanning tools out there. I have not found something that is easier and has better quality at the same time. I can count on one hand how many times I've retaken the photo or retaken the scan when using Adobe Scan. It quickly and easily finds the edges of the paper document that I'm scanning, adjusts the contrast very easily, and it's very quick and easy to convert this to a PDF or to share it via email or via a link.
However, I'd like to share that document. So, Adobe Scan—a great tool that I'm using on a very frequent basis.
Extension - Boomerang
Now, when it comes to creating this list, I specifically wanted to leave off things like email or calendar, because for many of us, that's just a given. And for many of us, you may not have a choice, whether you're a Google user or a Microsoft user when it comes to email and calendar.
But I wanted to show you an extension, which is perhaps the most valuable app or the most valuable tool on this entire list. It's something that can be applied to both Gmail and Microsoft Outlook users, and it's right here at the very bottom of my email. Boomerang is something that I have been using for several years now and has absolutely transformed the way I deal with email.
Now, Boomerang does a variety of different things, but it's this Remind me function, which I use every single day. So here's the scenario: I'm reaching out to someone and asking them a question, and I really want to make this meeting happen by the end of this week.
So, before I hit Send, I'm going to come down here where we have this Boomerang addition, and I'm going to check this Remind me option. And I'll say, you know what, please remind me tomorrow afternoon if there is no reply. I have a few other options here if I want, but usually, if no reply is my default.
What this is going to do is that if this person does not reply to me by tomorrow afternoon, this exact email is going to reappear in my inbox. That's going to be my reminder, that's going to be the trigger as to, that's right, Scott never got back to me. I should give him a call or send him a follow-up email.
However, if this person does reply within this timeframe, nothing else happens. I don't get any other clutter in my inbox. As I said before, I've been using Boomerang for several years. It's transformed the way that I deal with email. I encourage you to check it out, available for both Gmail and Outlook users.
Focus - Scirocco Take a Break Timer
Another tool that I've been using for many years, and it probably looks that way because the UI has not changed much in that time, is the Scirocco Take a Break Timer. I encourage all of my clients to use a timer in some way, shape, or form to increase their focus, to discipline themselves, to focus on a particular project or a particular task before moving on to something else.
Let me just open up my Take a Break Timer, just to show you what it looks like here. I like to work in 50-minute intervals. So if I just hit the play button here and I can minimize it, it's out of the way. And when that time is up, it's going to jump up in front of me and let me know.
Now, I can't ignore it. Of course, I can always minimize it, but at least the reason why I like it on my desktop rather than just using my phone or a smartwatch is that it's going to appear right here on the front of my screen. Let me just open it up again. It's going to appear over top of every application that I have opened at that moment. So I have to at least acknowledge it.
And I think it's really important that we take micro-breaks throughout our day. As you can see here on the left-hand side, it does look like it was created perhaps in the 90s and it hasn't changed a whole great deal. But you know what, that's the other bonus of this, is that it doesn't take up any real memory or power, it's not gonna suck anything from your machine. It's simple and basic, and it just works and it works very well. So I'm going to continue to use the Scirocco Timer.
Now, it is only available for PC users, but you can find a variety of other good timers for Mac users as well.
Feedback - Slido
Is something that I'm going to put in the category of feedback. And for that, I am choosing an app called Slido. Now, you may have used Slido in the past as a participant. If you've attended a conference or maybe you've attended a virtual meeting where the host wanted to get your feedback, you may have used Slido.
I am using this on a very regular basis to get that feedback anonymously from my participants when I am hosting meetings, giving training, or just wanting to go through a brainstorming session. The great thing is that your participants do not have to install or download anything. They just need to go to slido.com and you give them the meeting code or the meeting hashtag, like you can see here in this example, and then they can participate directly from their phone or their browser, or whatever machine that they're on.
And the great thing is that they can ask questions anonymously, because no one likes to feel like they're asking a stupid question, right? Well, they can do it from the privacy of their own device and do it without giving their names so you can collect great feedback questions, get a feel for what the room is thinking about, or feeling about. And it's also a great way to make your virtual meetings that much more engaging as well.
You can also create polls and quizzes within Slido as well. And I've often seen how excited people get as they participate in a dynamic poll. These things are changing at the same time, often it can be great for us for a good laugh and keep things nice and light, but you can also address serious topics with Slido as well. You can get a lot out of Slido just with the free version itself, so you might want to give Slido a try.
Sharing - Google Drive
Now, next on my list is not Drive, well, it is Drive, but it's maybe not what you are thinking.
I'm not putting Drive under the category of file management, but instead I'm putting this under the category of Sharing.
I don't create as many documents within Google Drive as you may think, but I upload an awful lot of documents right here to Drive, because I find it's just so much easier to share those documents with others.
Remember, you can use Google Drive to share any type of file, it doesn't have to be a Google based file.
So whether I want to share something with people specifically, and set their limits as to what they can do with that file, and if they're going to be a viewer, or an editor, or just a comment.
But the other great thing with Google Drive sharing is that I don't have to just share it with a restricted number of people, I can also create a public link.
So many times I've created a document or a file that I wanna add that link within an email.
Maybe it's an answer to a frequently asked question. I just wanna send them a link to a document, I can do that here within Google Drive.
I don't have to create a webpage or something special like that.
I can just create a public link and share it right here from within Drive.
Social Media - Hootsuite
And then last but not least on my list, we can't forget social media.
And whether you run your own business or not, you have a need to be engaged and to post content to your favorite social media channels.
And for me, I use Hootsuite on a regular basis.
Here you can see I've got a few different feeds that I have some content already written and ready to post.
Here's my Twitter, LinkedIn, and my Facebook page here.
So Hootsuite is great to save time where you can create one piece of content like you see here, but it's actually gonna go out across multiple platforms.
I just have to write it once and it's going to go out at different, I can choose to have it go out at different times, but go out across different social media platforms.
Or you can be more specific as you can see down below, each of those platforms are going to get a different image, a different quote, because sometimes we want to be very specific depending on where we are posting.
Now it's true there's a number of other social media managers out there as well, but Hootsuite is very feature rich.
I have barely scratched the surface myself, but it helps me save an awful lot of time with managing my social media.
Question for you
Now, I wanna hear from you next, what is on your top 10 list of the apps that you use on a daily basis?
What saves you the most time?
What helps you be most productive?
Be sure to let me know and share it with others in the comments down below.
Thank you so much for watching today's video.
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And remember, being productive does not need to be difficult.
In fact, it's very simple.
