Note-taking app
Recently, I asked you what video you wanted to see next here on the Simpletivity channel. And the suggestion that received the most votes was this one. I want to see your productivity system.
How you take notes, manage your tasks, calendars, projects, and how you use apps and devices for this. Well, you want it? You got it. In today's video, I'm going to share with you my five core productivity tools, how I use them and also what I'm paying for them on a monthly basis.
So let's dive in. Now for privacy reasons I'm not going to be sharing with you my actual tasks or my actual calendar and information. I of course have things that I do not wish to share or others do not want to share publicly with the rest of the world but I am going to show you each and every tool, how I use them and tell you specifically which version I'm using in case you want to know the features and functions available.
So let's get things started off with of notes. Now when it comes to note taking, I actually use a combination of digital and analog. I always start my day with a fresh single piece of paper off to the side of my desk.
I honestly find this the quickest and easiest way to jot down those little distractions and things that come up as a part of the day. It also allows me to quickly review those things as a part of the day and especially at the end of my workday. But when it comes to digital notes, my tool of choice is Google Keep. Now, there's two reasons for this. Number one, I feel that Google Keep is one of the fastest note taking apps out there.
When it comes to loading, searching, finding, or taking new notes, I find Google Keep can almost not be beat. Now there's a couple of reasons for this, Keep does not have nearly as many features or functionality as some of its competitors but when it comes to my note taking needs, if I want to quickly grab a new note or an idea
I can do it so quickly and easily and get back to the rest of my day. Now Keep allows me to arrange my notes in a variety of different ways. Whether I want to add labels,
pin specific notes, maybe add some color shading or adding checklists to specific notes. So there's enough versatility and variety for all of my note taking needs. And of course, a bonus of using Google Keep is that it is absolutely free.
Now know I'm not going to get into a debate in terms of what I am giving up for using this technology
and that Google does have access to some of my data. For the context of today's video, when I say free, I mean I am not paying anything from a credit card or from my bank. So let's move on to tasks.
To-do list app
Now, when it comes to managing my tasks, my core app is actually my calendar.
Longtime subscribers to the Simpletivity channel will know that I've made several videos on how to manage all of your core tasks right here from within your calendar.
Now for me, that's Google but you can do this exact same process within Microsoft Outlook or really any other digital calendar. In fact, I don't know of a calendar that does not display it's all day events at the top of each day.
And that's exactly where I store and where I manage my key tasks for the week and for the day. Now that's not the only place where I manage tasks. I also use a combination of time blocking and time boxing so I can manage tasks as a part of my calendar.
The main reason for this, is well, I never ignore my calendar. I'm always in here and you're probably always within your calendar as well checking on that next meeting, or what's coming up as a part of your day or later in the week. And the great thing about adding your task here
as an all day event. Let me just add one super quick here, is that you can't ignore them. It doesn't matter if I scroll up or down, it doesn't matter if I go to the debut here,
that all day event area is always going to be displayed at the top of the screen. Now, when it comes to cost, you can certainly use Google Calendar for free. However, I am a Google workspace subscriber and I'm currently on the business starter plan.
So I pay $6 a month. Now that subscription covers a variety of tools including Gmail, Google Drive, and several others but I've decided to include it here because technically my calendar is a part of that workspace account.
Project management app
Now, when it comes to my project management tool of choice, I am using Trello. Now Trello, I use very specifically because I manage my day to day tasks within my calendar, I use Trello for two specific types of projects.
Number one, if there's a recurring process which is going to happen again and again and again. While I'm not showing you my actual Simpletivity YouTube process board, this is where I manage all of my video content.
Everything from creating and coming up with ideas, all the way to recording, editing, uploading and scheduling it for release. So this is a recurring process that I'm involved with on a weekly basis. But then on top of that,
I may have some other larger projects. So for example, three times a year I offer the reset productivity masterclass. I create a new board or a new project here within Trello, so I can manage all of these steps, all of the things that I need to complete specific for that project.
So if the task is really not related to a larger or a bigger project, it's going to be placed on my calendar but for larger or recurring work,
I'm going to manage that right here within Trello. Now Trello continues to offer a free version. However, for my needs since I do need more than 10 boards to manage all of my projects and I also make use of some of the more advanced features within Trello
I am paying $10 a month for their premium version.
Scheduling app
Now another tool which has increasingly played a bigger part in my daily productivity is Calendly. Now you're probably already familiar with how Calendly works. You can send out a single link and then people can have access to your availability.
This can really cut down on all of that back and forth as you try to find the right time to meet with other people who don't have access to your personal or your business calendar.
However, Calendly can be used in so many other ways which is not only time saving for myself, but has also become revenue generating. One of the key reasons why I subscribe to the professional version of Calendly is because I can take payments as a coach or a consultant. If you want people to book time with you
and to be able to pay your fee up front, Calendly is an excellent solution.
If I come up here and click on the integrations tab, you can see all of the other apps
in which Calendly integrates with directly, but in particular it integrates with several payment processors including Stripe and PayPal. So if you're wanting people to book time with you and to pay for your services in advance, Calendly can be an excellent solution. I'm currently subscribed to the professional package which is $12 per month.
Email extension app
Now the last tool I'm going to share with you as a part of my productivity system also happens to be the most expensive. And that might be surprising because it's not even a standalone app. In fact, it's an extension. It's an add on for Gmail.
And what I'm talking about is Boomerang for Gmail. Now you may have heard me speak of boomerang for Gmail in the past. And yes Boomerang does offer solutions for Outlook users as well.
At first glance, you may think that Boomerang is not really much of a productivity tool. It doesn't fit into the category of project management
or task management or necessarily scheduling. However, it has saved me not only so much time but has allowed me to avoid tracking follow up in my calendar or in a task manager or in a project management system that I really do feel it's a core part of my productivity system.
Down at the bottom of any Gmail message, you will see the boomerang features displayed once you have the extension installed. And this remind me function, is something that I use constantly. Probably at least a dozen times a day.
So in this example, I'm following up with someone. We've had a meeting and I just want to see if they've had a chance to view my proposal. Now I could send this email and then give it a specific label or a flag or maybe copy it to my calendar
and remind myself to check in two days from now. That's an awful lot of work. And what if Jane replies to me immediately then I've got something I got to go back to
and remove or delete. Well, with Boomerang I simply need to check this box and determine the timeframe as to when I want to be reminded in the future. And best of all, it's only going to remind me if this person does not respond to my email.
If Jane happens to reply to me within two days, I'm not going to be reminded or receive a notification. This has become such a core part of the way that I deal with email
and don't have to track these follow ups and other things in other tools that it's really become a core part of my productivity system. Now, as I mentioned
I am using the paid version of Boomerang. I'm paying $15 a month for the pro version.
Boomerang does offer a free version, but you are limited to the number of times in which you can use this feature and some of the other functionality. However, they also have a cheaper version if you don't need everything associated
Total monthly cost
with the pro version. So if we review my total cost for these five apps, I'm paying $43 a month. That's less than $50 a month for tools that I find are essential for the way that I work, help me to get more done and to enjoy less stress.
Now that you have deeper insight into my productivity suite, I'd love to hear from you. What surprised you about today's video or what questions do you have and what would you include in your top five productivity tools? Be sure to let me know and share others in the comments down below.
If you enjoyed this video, be sure to give it a thumbs up and perhaps you'd be interested in one of the videos on the screen now.
Remember being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.
