My Top 3 Productivity Apps

Photo by Sean MacEntee's @ flickr.com

I sometime’s get asked by staff, volunteers or friends on how I organize my files, notes, resources and projects.

They ask me, because I’m a minimalist and love things to work quickly, efficiently and simply. And if it looks awesome at the same time, that’s a bonus.

So, here are the top three apps and tools I use multiple times throughout every day.

1. Evernote

• I love collecting resources. You never know when you will need something. However, I hate paper. Evernote solves this problem.
• It’s easily searchable
• It offers text recognition, so I can scan in articles I want to save
• I save a ton of sermons and audio files from communicators I have heard. I then add my notes and can listen to the talk from within Evernote
• I use Evernote for all my projects, especially writing projects like sermons
  • I have a notebook with all my research
  • I create another note with my structure
  • My first draft is written in Evernote
• Besides email, this may be the most useful application I have ever used.

Evernote Tips:

• If you love reading you may be like me where you write all your notes at the back of the book only to forget them 2 days later and not remember you have them when you actually need them in the future. No more.
  • I use the Kindle for all my reading. This allows me to highlight and save all my notes to text, which I then add to Evernote for me to find when I search that topic.
• Michael Hyatt has one of the best blogs on Evernote tips and tricks. If there is a “pro” at using Evernote for productivity, it’s him. Check out his Evernote posts here: Michael Hyatt’s Evernote Posts

2. SugarSync (Nope, I’m no longer a Dropbox fan)

• Here are some quick reasons why I love this service.
  • It offers 5GB of free online storage. I used this free storage for almost a year before actually upgrading. (I pay for 100GB of usage/yr)
  • The primary reason I use Sugar Sync vs DropBox (another popular cloud storage) is that Sugar Sync will use my existing file structure. Since I’m a minimalist, I like how I have my files and folders organized. Sugarsync does not require me to move my files to any other folder. It just backs up what I tell it to.
  • I use Sugarsync as an extra backup for my important pictures, music and documents. I now have two backups of everything that’s important to me. Sugar Sync does this automatically in real-time. (I also manually backup to an external hard drive once a month)
  • Sugarsync makes it very easy to share files and folders with friends and family. Ever have a large file you didn’t know how to email to someone. No problem with Sugar Sync.
  • Their iphone app works great. I often have meetings without my laptop. Now all my files are accessible on my phone wherever I go.
  • You should try it out. You’ll love it and I;ll get additional free storage for you checking out. I know, shameless plug.

3. Microsoft Outlook Tasks

• Ok, so not officially a true app.
• I am an Apple fan through and through. I just wish I could find a great task management software that sync perfectly with Microsoft Exchange and that allows sharing of tasks through Exchange.
  • I use David Allens Getting Things Done (GTD) method as my primary way to organize tasks
    • I don’t track any project resources, documentation, etc in Outlook, that’s all done in Evernote.
    • Deadlines are tracked through tasks however.
  • If you know of a great Mac alternative that works great with Exchange, please share.

So, what are your top three productivity Apps? Please share, I’m always on the lookout to try something new.