My Digital Toolbox

After reading David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” I turned in to a digital ninja using a variety of tools that sync between my desktop and my phone and allow me to be more organized and productive.

Just thought I’d share the three tools that basically run my life:

GOOGLE - First let me say this. If you are not using google then you are already behind. These guys will rule the world one day…Google provides me with:

• Gmail – the BEST email in the world. Syncs on any computer any where and works on the phone.
• Google Calendar – an amazing calendar with SMS alerts and email reminders. Can also be used as an evite solution. It also syncs with my phone so I always have my calendar and all team members’ calendars with me.
• Google Docs – an online filing cabinet for docs, pdfs, etc. Also works on the phone.
• Google Sites – online project management software (built through Google sites)

And best of all, Google is ALL FREE. Incredible!

EVERNOTE – Evernote is what I use to hold all of my ideas and tasks. I have it set up in a very simple way. I have four notebooks called:

• @tasks – all tasks go in this notebook
• Incubator – all ideas go in here. sometimes its a quick audio clip, a graphic, a pdf or even just a few lines of text that I need to remember
• Resources – This notebook holds files that I might need for any task or project I am working on
• Projects – This notebook holds files and info for current projects

Then, I tag every evernote entry like crazy. I have a small list of contexts I use including: @work, @call, @design, @video, @work, @out, @home, @email, @web, and @na (next action). I also tag projects like this: p:projectname.

By using tags for my contexts, I can view only tasks in any particular context at any given time. It works on my phone too! From my phone, I can save audio, pictures, and text. And again, its ALL FREE!

The thing that makes evernote shine is the tagging features and the fact that it does superb handwriting and text recognition. When someone hands me a business card, I just snap a photo of it with my iphone and save it in evernote. Then, in the future if I type the business name or person’s name, evernote will find it through the text recognition. Incredible!

DROPBOX – Dropbox allows me to always have access to any kind of file on my iPhone or on any desktop anywhere in the world. And, its secure. I use it primarily for PDF’s I need to read, personal finance spreadsheets, and church budgeting. Having access to this important information at all times is AWESOME. Dropbox rises above other solutions in my opinion because it syncs local files and online files at the same time. Awesome!