Productivity: The Tools I Use
Disclaimer: I am a fully emersed apple user, and rely on the ease of data transfer, and seemless integrations with all my devices. If you are using a combined set of device types, some of these recommendations might not be the right choice for you.
Cross-Platform Tools
OmniFocus 3
What
To do list and project management tool for Mac and iOS
Why
OmniFocus is the powerhouse of the to do app world. If you are just getting started with a GTD methodology, or are not already accustomed to tracking to do’s in lists, this is probably not the right place for you to start. The thing I love about OmniFocus is the principled implementation of features that directly support my GTD workflows. Their latest update with OmniFocus 3 changes the concept of contexts into tags, and this is a huge win for them - for me it essentially fixed every complaint I had about the tool.
Bear
What
Note taking app for Mac and iOS
Why
My chosen note taking app. I’ll be writing a post about my Notes app evaluation soon, and will link it here when I do.
The TLDR: Bear offers markdown editing, fast cross-device syncing, a rich tag/folder feature that is easy to navigate, and the ability to take handwritten notes on the iPad with the Apple Pencil.
1Password
What
Password manager for all platforms
Why
How anyone can live without a password manager these days is beyond me. I literally can’t function without this. There is a bit of a barrier of entry when you first make the transition to a password manager, but boy is it worth it. Especially with all the data breaches we’ve been seeing. It’s really nice to only have to update a single password that was compromised, rather than many applications that may use a memorized password.
While I really love 1password, and am fully committed to it, the most important thing for this one is that you are using ANY (well implemented, secure) password manager.
Mobile/iOS Tools
Note: Both of these tools offer excellent cross-platform applications, however, for my workflow I really only use them on my mobile device 90%+ of the time, so I have categorized them here.
Spark
What
Email client for iOS and Mac
Why
The email client I use for my personal email. I have a very different workflow with my personal email than my work email. This is largely because the content type of my personal email is so different from my work email. For the most part, I don’t get many emails that I need to respond to. For me, the biggest headache to manage is my multiple email addresses (different for personal vs. website logins), loads of promotional marketing emails, and making sure “real” emails don’t get lost in the mix.
What
Article and content storage for reference and reading later for all platforms
Why
Pocket has helped me when it comes to saving articles I want to read later. I can quickly add any article I want to read to Pocket, and rest soundly knowing it will be there whenever I choose to go look for it. Spark and other applications have integrations that make this really easy.
Desktop/Mac Tools
Spectacle
What
Window manager for Mac
Why
I am no longer able to work effectively without this Mac app. Spectacle is a window manager that lets you control the positioning of the windows in your workspace with easy keyboard shortcuts. I’ve been using this one for years, and recommend it at every opportunity.
Bartender
What
Menu bar de-clutterer for Mac
Why
I hate visual clutter, so this one was an awesome discovery for me. Bartender will let you customize which of your Menu bar items you want to see, have hidden, or just have hidden behind a bartender icon (customizable of course!).
Amphetamine
What
Keep-awake utility for Mac
Why
Essential Mac app that will prevent your computer from going to sleep. I find this really useful when giving presentations, and generally at work. You can customize it to your liking, and it has some pretty powerful trigger and drive sleep prevention features.
Browser search customizations
What
Productivity tip for browser usage
Why
I use Chrome for this, but I’m sure other browsers offer this functionality. I set up a browser search shortcut to quickly inject my search query into a site’s search for things I need to search often. I primarily use this for searching my company’s Confluence site.
Setup
- Open up Chrome settings (meatball menu in top right -> settings)
- Click ‘Manage Search Engines’
- Scroll past the default search engines, and click the ‘Add’ button next to ‘Other search engines’
- Add your search engine:
- Search engine - name it something useful so you know what it is (e.g. Company Wiki)
- Keyword - this is the shortcut to this search engine, for ones I use alot I make them really short (e.g. w)
- URL with %s - this is the search url for the website
- Go to the site you want to add’s search page
- Look at the URL
- Swap in %s to where the query text shold go (e.g.
https://companyname.atlassian.net/wiki/dosearchsite.action?queryString=%s)
Usage
Open a new tab, in the url bar, type your keyword (e.g. w) and hit tab. You will see the prompt to the left of where you are typing change, and you are now creating a search on that site!