You wake up in the middle of the night.
It’s dark and your eyes are barely opened, but you realize you are not alone… at first you start to freak out. Are all those zombie movies actually true? Is Mr. Al Gebra, your 2nd grade math teacher, coming to haunt you for cheating on that test all those years ago?
Whoever it is, it’s coming closer… and closer… and closer… you start to recognize the face. It’s your Fairy Productivity Godmother!
Fairy Productivity Godmother?
Is this a dream? Possibly.
She stands in front of you and with a little bit of worry on her face says: “I’ve been watching over you for a while… you’ve grown so much. You are so productive, focused and you are getting things done (David Allen told me to say this joke). But, I’ve also noticed that you are starting to get overwhelmed by too many gadgets, gizmos, tools and apps. They are only going to slow you down, your productivity will suffer and I had to intervene. I know it might not sounds like it, but I’m doing you a favor. I am going to let you choose 3, and only 3, productivity tools to keep and I’m going to make the rest disappear - like fairy dust. Which 3 tools do you choose?”
If you could use only 3 productivity tools for the rest of your life, which 3 would you choose?
Interesting question.
That’s exactly what I asked (minus the fairy Godmother story, that one is just for you) 59 of the world’s top productivity experts. I asked them to go back to the essentials. To put away all the latest productivity apps of the month, and tell me what are the 3 productivity tools they cannot live without. What are the 20% of the tools that produce 80% of the results.
Without further ado, here are the tools the productivity experts would use if they could only use 3 of them:
It was a close call between Evernote and good old fashioned pen, paper and a notebook, but the physical tools won the race. Quite surprising in this digital age, where people spend 5.09 hours per day (in their free time) hooked up to some sort of a device and 7 hours staring at a computer at work.
Here is the full list of tools voted by experts (only the ones that received more than 1 vote):
Favorite productivity tools, as voted by 59 experts:
#1 Pen, paper, notebook – 23 votes
#2 Evernote - 20 votes
#3 Smart phone – 9 votes
#4 Timer – 8 votes
#5 Calendar – 6 votes
#6 Cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud) – 5 votes
#7 Password manager (1Password, LasstPass, Roboform) – 4 votes
#8 TextExpander, OmniFocus, SaneBox, iPad tied – 3 votes
#9 Scrivener, Mac, Nozbe, Workflowy, whiteboard, coffee, sleep, exercise tied – 2 votes
Read on to discover each expert’s favorite 3 tools along with their awesome tips on how to use them!
Responses listed in the order they were received in:
1. Joseph Michael – Efficient Life Skills
(1) Evernote – This is my digital brain.
(2) Things app - This is where I manage my daily tasks plus ongoing projects
(3) Scrivener (of course) – This is where I do all my writing of any kind and plan out complex projects.
2. Ari Meisel – Less Doing
(1) Followup.cc
(2) Evernote
(3) Zapier
3. David Seah – DavidSeah.com
Hm, that’s a fun question. Off the top of my head,
(1) index cards and card holders
(2) sheets of blank paper that can be bound into a notebook
(3) a big white board
These correspond roughly to:
1. A way to maintain focused to-do items in a portable format (index cards) that can be placed in my direct line-of-sight so I am reminded to do them.
2. A way to maintain moment-by-moment, day-by-day continuity of what I’m working on, so I never lose my forward momentum on complicated projects.
3. A way to maintain the big picture view of what I’m doing, in an easy-to-change format.
I’ve chosen paper because it’s persistent and doesn’t require a screen or window on a device. With paper you can have as many “screens” as you have pieces of paper, reserving the computer for the work alone. Since I am easily distracted, having a non-interactive memory device works better for me.
4. Bradley Chambers – Chambers Daily
(1) An app that can hide what I cannot take action on currently. I want to be able to focus on current tasks and not future one
(2) An archive tool like Evernote that can be my external brain. I want to be able to dump it there and have easy re-call later.
(3) An app like Mailbox on iOS that I can use to “defer” emails to another day. They are gone from my inbox, but they will be back.
At the end of the day, I want systems I can trust to do their job.
5. Laura Stack – The Productivity Pro
(1) Microsoft Outlook
(2) Shortkeys.com
(3) Roboform.com
6. Annie Sisk – Pajama Productivity
(1) Gmail together with SaneLater and UnRoll.me. SaneLater and Unroll.me are my two must-have email add-ons. Unroll.me costs a single tweet for unlimited use (as of now) and lets you “roll up” as many newsletters and emails as you like into one single email you can visually peruse and then choose what you want to read, when you want to read it. (You can also use it to mass unsubscribe from lists you no longer find useful which is INSANELY helpful.) SaneLater, of course, diverts all but the most important emails (for me, that’s everything not from a close family member or friend, or a client) out of your inbox, into a dedicated folder.
(2) Levenger Circa notebooks and my favorite pens. I use Circas for notetaking, project planning, and all my organization/scheduling stuff. I also use iCal for calendaring but honestly, I prefer the physical backup. Circas changed my life, and staying analog helps me focus on the really critical stuff – I find digital planning and productivity apps almost inevitably become a crutch and an easy way to be over-inclusive. If I have to write it down on paper, that extra effort has a way of focusing me in on the high-value tasks and plans.
7. Hillary Rettig – HillaryRettig.com
Tools are helpful but overrated. The true keys to maximum productivity are: (a) a clear sense of one’s mission and priorities, (b) the ability to easily say “no” to non-mission projects, and (c) the ability to easily and effectively delegate large chunks of the mission projects, so that you’re left with the time, attention, and energy to leverage your strengths in support of your mission.
8 . Steve Pavlina – StevePavlina.com
(1) Pen
(2) Spiral notebook
(3) Timer (CDN TM30 is my favorite)
9. Neen James – NeenJames.com
(1) My iPad because with all the apps I use on it (especially Noteshelf, Pzizz, Cozi, Hootsuite, Keynote, Haiku) my life is easier with my iPad.
(2) My iPhone because it has my life in it and I love to be able to run my practice from anywhere in the world, stay connected to those I love and enjoy the world around me with photos and social media.
(3) My post it notes because every day I write down three things I will complete that day that will get me closer to the achievement of my goals.
10. Bojan Dordevic – Alpha Efficiency
(1) My Mac
(2) My iPhone
(3) Evernote
11. Mike Vardy – Productivityist
(1) Evernote. It’s great for note-taking, clipping articles from the web for research, and when used with the right intentions in mind can satisfy a whole slew of needs. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so popular, but unless you dive in and really decide what you’re going to use it for then you’ll be hard-pressed to use it regularly. Once I figured out how I wanted to use it, I kept at it.
(2) ScheduleOnce. Scheduling meetings can become a back-and-forth email dance but ScheduleOnce prevents this dance from ever occurring. You get a link that people can use to select possible meetings dates and times, and you can even set up services for appointments (coaching calls, podcast interviews, etc.) so it’s incredibly versatile.
(3) A multi-pen. Seriously. I am big on colour and I use paper for capturing and immediate task management, so having a multi-pen with me is critical. The different colours I use for different areas of responsibility act as triggers I can isolate with a single glance, which offers a sense of context right away. When I use a multi-pen with my Strikethrough System, I can survive without my digital task manager of choice far longer than ever before.
12. Mark Shead – Productivity501
Since technology tools change so rapidly, if I had to choose things to use for the next 50 years, I’d probably want to choose practices that will be effective no matter how technology changes. So here are the three practices / tools that I would choose:
(1) Single tasking. One of the best ways to get more done is to stop believing the myth that you can multi-task. Working on one thing at a time is the most efficient way to work.
(2) A clear prioritized list of what needs to be done. The kind of follows from #1. If you are only going to work on one thing at a time, you need a way to know what is the most important thing you need to be doing.
(3) The ability to stop working when I’m not productive. Many jobs require you to work 9 to 5 with out the flexibility to say, “I’m not going to accomplish anything else to day, so it is time to quit.” The ability to stop working when you aren’t making progress or are distracted is a very helpful thing in making sure that you operate at peak productivity.
13. Mark Struczewski – MarkStruczewski.com
(1) Evernote
(2) Nozbe
(3) Signals (HubSpot)
14. Claire Tompkins – Clutter Coach
My tools are pretty low tech.
(1) An index card where I write down the 2-3 things I’ll do that day; small so I can’t write too much.
(2) Limited time, either in the form of an appointment with myself on my calendar or my Time Timer iPhone app.
(3) Coffee
15. Celestine Chua – Personal Excellence
My three tools:
(1) Google Calendar – To record and keep track of time-sensitive deadlines
(2) Pen and paper – For brainstorming, idea generation, and listing immediate to-dos
(3) Excel – To map out my long-term and short-term goals, my game plan to realize my goals, and everything in between. My life handbook (a manual to live your best life) is wholly created in Excel too.
With so many productivity tools today, my three tools may seem surprisingly simplistic. But I believe the best productivity system doesn’t have to be highly sophisticated or complicated — it’s about creating a system that meets your needs and helps you to make the best of our days. These three tools help me to do exactly that.
16. Josh Levine – Great Monday
(1) I love the mobile app mail. Given your book, you probably know it already, but it really helps me deal with all the stuff I don’t want to be dealing with.
(2) Partnerships: as a creative I need to be accountable to someone, or else it doesn’t get done. Co-authors, project managers, clients all help me be productive.
(3) My morning list: before I get sucked into the day, I write down all the items that need to get done or worked on today.
17. Sacha Chua – SachaChua.com
I’m totally cheating with my answers. I can’t imagine using only three tools. What counts as a tool, anyway? Is the Internet a tool? What about the scientific method? Are we talking about apps, applications, platforms, systems, frameworks? =) Anyway, these are the answers that came to mind. They’re not your usual suspects, but I’ll explain why I like them a lot.
(1) Emacs: This arcane text editor from the 1970s is capable of far more than most people think it can. It’s not an application, it’s a platform. I use it to code, write, plan, connect, automate, calculate, and so on. People get intimidated by its learning curve, but for me, it’s well worth it. I’ve been learning and blogging about it for more than ten years. Based on what I’ve seen, I could probably keep going for decades. I love the way you can dig into how things work, tinker with the code to make it fit what you want, and combine different packages. Great user community, too.
I’m not sure what to say to productivity newbies considering Emacs. It takes a certain kind of person, I think. If you’re someone who likes constantly learning and tweaking, you’re good at learning from what other people have written, and you’re not afraid to do a little worse in order to do even better in the future, this might be for you. You don’t have to be a programming geek, although it helps.
(2) Linux: Again, I’m cheating by including an entire operating system, and probably I mean all the little tools I’ve gotten used to rather than the operating system itself. But I love being able to use utilities like grep and find (thanks, GNU!), stitching programs together, scripting things, installing other tools… People have suggested that I look into Mac OS X, but it gets a little on my nerves. I like Linux more. There are some programs I want to run on Windows, though, so I end up using Linux in a virtual machine so that I can do my development in a proper environment.
(3) Ruby: I use Ruby for little automated scripts as well as special-purpose web-based tools like QuantifiedAwesome.com, which helps me track my time. It feels like the way my mind works. I used to use Perl for scripting and I’m learning Python, but Ruby has the least friction for me. This may change as I get deeper into other languages, but in the meantime, Ruby is a good language for the kinds of things I want to do.
——
All of these tools take effort to learn. They’re not like, say, Boomerang for Gmail or ScheduleOnce, which are easy to pick up and have clear benefits. My favourite tools require imagination, but they open up infinite possibilities. I’m not locked into one way of doing things. I still have limits, but they’re the limits of my own ideas and skills. I think that’s what I like about these tools. They have depth. Whenever I reach for some new capability, I almost always find it.
So, if you’re a newbie and this sounds intriguing, how do you get from point A to point B?
I think I got here by being interested in learning, being unafraid of tinkering, and having the space to do both. When you’re learning a complex thing, you might feel frustrated and intimidated by it. Good games design that learning experience so that people enjoy small wins as they develop their skills, but not all topics are like that. Sometimes you have to enjoy the learning for its own sake.
… which is an odd message to share with people who are looking for productivity hacks, maybe, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately. There’s a cost to picking general-purpose tools that are perhaps not the best at one specific thing, but experience results in compounding benefits. There’s a cost to keeping both your schedule and your eyes open, but perhaps it can lead to surprising things. There’s a cost to choosing the path of learning rather than the quick fix, but who knows what the true cost is down the road?
18. Thanh Pham – Asian Efficiency
(1) OmniFocus
(2) 1Password
(3) Sublime Text
19. Arman Assadi – Why I Left Google
Evernote is a must, but since everyone loves that already I’ll give you 3 others:
(1) Workflowy
(2) 1Password
(3) Scrivener
20. Scott Ellis – VSELLIS
(1) Evernote (surprise I know). I keep almost everything I can in Evernote, and love how easy it is to use and access on all of my devices. For me, Evernote has solved several problems well. First, there are a myriad of ways to get information into Evernote. No matter what device I’m using, there is a fairly easy way to capture content, ideas, etc… Second, Evernote search works well so I can always easily find what I’m looking for. When you get more advanced, the Evernote search parameters really amp it up.
(2) Google Apps: I continue to be an evangelist for using Google Apps, especially for email. Again, search is the killer here. I don’t have to mess with folders which are a horrible way to organize content, and I can tag things but don’t necessarily have to (though many of my tags are automated). I can have multiple accounts coming into one in box and always find what I’m looking for. All things being equal, I wish I could get rid of email but until that happens Google Apps it is.
(3) Captio: My brain is always going so capturing ideas on-the-go is essential. Captio is an app that makes the act of emailing yourself something super simple without having to mess with a client. I just open it up, paste, talk, whatever… to add content and send. I can grab it in my inbox later and deal with it but at least I don’t loose whatever it is at the time.
21. George Smolinski – 4 Hour Physician
Does a Virtual Assistant count as a productivity tool? Perhaps more of a productivity concept. Nothing I have found has boosted my productivity more than competent VA’s, hence my inclusion of them as a productivity tool/concept.
Followed by that, #2 would be a second monitor for your computer and #3 would be a great scanner (to go paper-free).
If you’re looking for particular online tools/webapps/etc, I’d rank:
(1) Google Hangouts on Air (produce a video reference library for your VA’s)
(2) Trello
(3) Evernote
22. Donald Latumahina – Life Optimizer
To be honest, I have no tool that I’m certain I will use for the rest of my life because technology is always changing.
For tools that I use now and in the near future, however, here are my top three:
(1) A timer (I’m using Chimoo Timer, but there are many other alternatives)
(2) Microsoft OneNote
(3) Google Calendar
23. John Richardson – Personal Success Today
@KosioAngelov 48 minute time block, top6 daily planner, and goal setting tool kit.
— John Richardson (@success2you) May 14, 2014
24. Mike Asbury – MASBURY
(1) Evernote: This tool allows me to capture and readily access critical information anywhere. Not only can I access it, I can modify it and easily share it with others.
(2) Smartphone (iPhone, for me): With the ability to capture this information anywhere, I mitigate risk of failing to snag important information. This powerful device allows me to capture information on the fly, add to and remain accountable to my calendar, and catch a glimpse of incoming information (i.e. Email and texts) in real-time.
(3) iPad: The power of this completely portable tool allows me to compactly carry, access, and manipulate correspondence and information in an unobtrusive form factor to any meeting. I can stay 100% on top of my game without lugging around a mainframe server.
25. Daniel Gold – DEG Consulting
(1) A notebook. Unfortunately in our age of productivity apps, many will be surprised to hear that the one “app” I rely upon most is actually my notebook. While it does not fall within the typical definition of an app, I find that the best way to remember things, keep track of action items I have given to myself, and take great meeting notes will always be in a notebook, which I can then transfer reference and task items to a digital app. At least with a notebook, I don’t need to worry about whether the app developer has enough money to continue a long-term sustainable business which will allow my data to be safe.
(2) A pen. No, not a stylus for a tablet, but a pen. Specifically, I enjoy using a fountain pen whenever I use my notebook. There is something about utilizing a fountain pen which helps me right better, and think more clearly.
(3) My brain. An app is only as good as two factors. First, you need to have an app developer create an app that is mapped around the way you work, not the way the developers thinks you should work.
Second, you need to take a strong and detailed look at the company’s financials. Are they a newbie to the market, are they backed by private equity and venture capitalists, are they ad based, or are they using their own funds? In any of these scenarios, you need to make sure that your data is safe and can be exported into a useable format.
Using your brain too think about what needs to get done, strategizing on how to get it done, ant most importantly, when you need to get it done is really all you need. An app will never help you nor will it ever be a replacement for the thinking that needs to be done in order for you to become more productive.
26. Dale Callahan – DaleCallahan.com
(1) My Calendar
(2) Evernote
(3) Nozbe
27. Elizabeth Saunders – Real Life E
Somewhat of an unfair question given that we barely know what will happen in a year, let alone a lifetime…
But based on where I am now, here would be my picks:
(1) Google calendar (My #1 most important tool for staying organized and investing my time effectively)
(2) TypeIt4Me (I love text expanders!)
(3) Smart phone (Having a phone that allows me to be agile and get things done in the in-between times is essential)
28. Marissa Brassfield – Ridiculously Efficient
I’m going non-digital with my must-have productivity tools. I use a ton of digital apps, many of which are quite good, but I haven’t found one that I love enough to swear by for the rest of my life. When digital noise becomes overwhelming or I have to get a ton of work done in a short period, I default to the following:
(1) Sticky notes: I use these on a whiteboard or on my desk to keep to-dos organized and select the three major tasks I’m going to tackle each day.
(2) Whiteboard: I use my whiteboard for two primary productivity strategies:
Project management:
Organization: I create a column for each project, and arrange my sticky notes by project. This lets me capture and organize essential tasks.
Prioritization: I review the whiteboard each morning and select three tasks to tackle that day.
Actualization: When I have too many sticky notes to fit on the whiteboard, I know it’s time to enlist some help, put a hold on taking on additional projects, or just block an afternoon to get caught up.
Incentivizing improvement:
Organization: I make little bets with myself each day to incentivize effectiveness. I draw four columns with the following headers: Task, Estimated Time, Bet, Reward. The Task is for my to-dos, the Estimated Time is for how long I think that task will feasibly take to complete, the Bet is for my wager time, and the Reward is what I’ll get if I complete the task by my Bet time.
Gamification: The Bet time should be challenging yet achievable, and the reward should be attractive enough to really motivate me to work hard.
(3) Hourglass: I prefer this over a kitchen timer or digital timer because it doesn’t have an audible chime that knocks me out of flow. I use my hourglasses (15- and 60-minute versions) to build momentum at the start of a project or to kick off a work sprint (essentially an extended version of the Pomodoro Technique).
29. Penelope Trunk – PenelopeTrunk.com
(1) Caffeine
(2) Sleep
(3) Sex
30. Gregory Ciotti – Sparring Mind
As a writer, I definitely have some specific picks in terms of productivity tools:
(1) Readability — It takes great input to have great output, so I try to read for a couple hours each day. Sometimes this takes place online, and I’ve found I read articles much faster when I view them in Readability, which eliminates distractions and turns ugly typography beautiful.
(2) Strict Workflow — They couldn’t call this “Pomodoro” due to copyright I bet; it’s actually just a Chrome extension that allows you to work in the Pomodoro cycle! During the 25 minute work session, it automatically blocks all time wasting sites, and you can edit which sites are allowed and which are not.
(3) ZenWriter — Another writer’s tool, who would’ve thought! For exceptionally long pieces of writing where I need to focus, I find the distraction free style of the ZenWriter interface to be perfect. No links allowed, no editing or spellcheck; it forces you to just get the words on the page, so you can edit and tweak later.
31. Dave Ursillo – DaveUrsillo.com
(1) Evernote Premium. I do 95% of my word processing in Evernote Premium, which is affordable at $60 and very functional for me as someone who is often traveling or alternating between writing on his computer and jotting occasional notes and ideas through my Evernote App. The Premium version offers offline writing and allows me to keep all of my ideas, thoughts and essays backed up securely across multiple platforms.
(2) Pilot G-2 .05mm pen (or Calliber .07mm mechanical pencil). I also do plenty of writing by hand. Writers and creative types can tell you that there’s a stark difference when you write by hand as opposed to when you write by computer. My favorite pen is the Pilot G-2 .05mm, which allows smooth and fluid writing. Lately, I’ve been using more and more pencil in my hand-written notes, but less for essay-writing and more for scheduling and other eraser-prone notes
(3) Classic (5 x 8.25) Moleskine notebook, red hardcover. My favorite notebook is the classic Moleskine 5″ x 8.25″ notebook in red hardcover. Red is the color of my creative rallying cry, and these popular notebooks are functional, easy to work with and easy to pack.
32. Ciara Conlon – CiaraConlon.com
.@KosioAngelov heh that's a tough one but don't think I could live without …. @sanebox @evernote and @Dropbox #productivity
— Ciara Conlon (@CiaraConlon) May 14, 2014
33. Rafal Moryson – Creating Personal Flow
I must say to response came quite easily to me. So the three tools are:
(1) GTD methodology, I consider it a tool that’s has the most impact and value.
(2) Pen and Paper key tool for capturing notes and ideas that arise once you follow GTD.
(3) Plain text files because they are simple, easy and ubiquitous. They will work on any platform, don’t take much space, can be searched and manipulated.
34. Janet Choi – iDoneThis
So my productivity tools fall more into categories than specific apps. I think I’d be set with tools that help me do 3 things: reflect/gain insight + focus on the present + plan for the future. So:
(1) Some way to quick-journal about my day — whether this is iDoneThis or a paper diary or doing something like morning pages/750words if I’m in a more ambitious phase.
(2) A timer for pomodoro-esque spurts of working. This could be a literal kitchen timer, or timer tool on your phone, or an actual app.
(3) A physical/paper planner. I’m currently using one from Moleskine. My brain deals better with paper whereas I tend to overlook things if it’s on my computer or phone. It’s also what I turn to because I can jot down notes and ideas outside of and related to planning. So it’s one case where I find multifunction super useful and probably why I get frustrated with to-do list apps.
35. Brooks Duncan – Document Snap
(1) TextExpander (or similar tools that will evolve throughout the rest of my life)
I don’t think typing will be going away any time soon, and I can’t think of a bigger productivity enhancer than a text expansion tool. I use TextExpander all day every day, and when I am using a computer that doesn’t have it I want to cry and curl up in a ball on the floor.
(2) Evernote
I truly believe that a big part of being productive is being able to access the information that you need, right when you need it. Evernote has become my “external brain”, and I am always surprised at the things I need to quickly look up. If Evernote’s stated goal of being a hundred year company is achieved, I should kick before they do.
3) A text editor
Almost all my writing (including this) is done in plain text. Individual apps and platforms come and go, but plain text is forever. As long as I have access to a text editor, I can write and be productive.
36. Rick Coste – Pursuing A Happy Life
@KosioAngelov Good question! Most likely Evernote, the ‘ToDo' app on my iPhone and Devonthink.
— Rick Coste (@rdcoste) May 15, 2014
37. Stefan Pylarinos – Project Life Mastery
The 3 productivity tools that I’d use for the rest of my life would be:
(1) My Journal
I prefer to use a simple paperback journal to plan out my day in and create my RPM blocks (see below).
(2) Time Of Your Life Program by Tony Robbins
This is the best time management program I’ve ever been through. It teaches a method or managing your life and planning out your day. This is a program that I listen to again and again that helps me make my life work. I then use my journal to plan out my day using the RPM method to set my Results for the day, my Purpose behind them and then my Massive Action Plan.
(3) My iPhone 5
I use the calendars feature on my iPhone 5 to set schedule my appointments and reminders throughout the day. This helps me block off specific chunks of time to dedicate to certain tasks, projects, coaching clients, or outcomes that I have.
38. Cal Newport – CalNewport.com
(1) My Black n’ Red executive notebook (for building my daily plans)
(2) My moleskine (been using them since 2004 for capturing ideas)
(3) My office door (sometimes you have to cut yourself off from the world to make things they care about)
39. Tim Brownson – A Daring Adventure
To be honest I don’t use very many productivity tools simply because I dislike structure more than a sloth dislikes being told he’s got to move trees by a week next Thursday.
Having said that there are three tools I use that I’d hate to be without as I use them on a regular basis and they genuinely add a lot of value.
(1) iCloud
I had a prospective client call me one time and say, “I need help with time management and productivity’ to which I replied “Yeh me too, do you know anybody that’s any good?” Needless to say we didn’t work together. I’d be in a mess without iCloud synching my two Macs and iPhone because I will often enter appointments on my phone. Knowing that I then won’t forget about it if I’m sat in from of my desktop when the appointment is due to take place is a huge weight off my shoulders.
(2) Evernote
I think it’s illegal in some states of the United States not to say you love Evernote to bits. And it’s a fair law because it is awesome. Because I train other Life Coaches I have to keep up to date on topics as diverse as Social Media, SEO and marketing as well as coaching. As such I subscribe to probably a few too many blogs and newsletters. Evernote allows me to clip the articles I think may add value and then dive in every so often and catch up on things all in one place.
(3) Snagit
My life was a meaningless travesty until the day I stumbled on Snagit many years ago. Now I bounce out of bed every morning, hug random strangers and regularly burst into song at the supermarket. I largely use it for creating images for tutorials I am writing for other coaches. I used to use the Mac bundled ‘Grab’, but Snagit is so much better because the ability to save in multiple formats (not just Tiff files that then need converting as with Grab), add cute little arrows and speech bubbles and generally give people the idea that I actually know what I’m talking about. How cool is that?
40. Justin Lancy – Veritrope
Quite honestly – A pen, paper, and a calendar.
As I see it, almost every modern “productivity” tool or app is an attempt to extend—or improve upon—the pen, a piece of paper, and a calendar. Nothing else comes close to the productivity benefit of these three tools and, since you’ve said it’s for life, I’d want to stick with something proven.
Other benefits:
- Readily obtainable almost everywhere in the world;
- Inexpensive;
- Useful in a variety of contexts.
Of course, I am a technologist and so I love and use all of the new and shiny things. But whether new tools or old, all productive people should use things which speak to their human and creative needs: Something which lets them record their thoughts (pen), a space where they can create and then reflect on those thoughts (paper), and something which reminds them that there’s urgency in this life (a calendar).
41. Daniel Hayes – Simple Life Together
(1) A plain piece of paper and pencil (can I count that as one?). I enjoy ideation. Sometimes that narrative and sometimes it’s a conceptual drawing. Sure, there are tech tools I could use for that (I love mindmapping with Mindmeister, for instance), but I still love a plain old piece of paper and a pencil. That’s still my first choice for taking a note or drawing a picture.
(2) Evernote. I know it’s cliche to say “it’s my external brain.” Still, Evernote is fantastic as a repository for info and files, and it’s the best thing I know for ubiquitous capture.
A lot of what I work on in my business with clients, colleagues, and with my wife on Simple Life Together involves collaboration. So, my (3) would have to be the Google suite of products and especially GoogleDrive. It makes collaboration so, so easy.
Here are a few for honorable mention. I love TextExpander, 1Password, and Dropbox! I use each of these daily.
42. Rami Rantala – Better Productivity Blog
@KosioAngelov I'm using Evernote everyday and my own paper form. Evernote is like swiss army knife…
— Rami Rantala (@RamiRantala) May 15, 2014
43. Jeremy Roberts – Cloud Productivity
It would have to be this:
(1) Evernote - everything I ever need to remember goes in here. I have a memory like a goldfish so this tool is vital.
(2) Asana – my exclusive system for managing all my projects and actions. It’d be hard to manage anything in my life without this.
(3) Evernote Moleskine – being able to dump out my thoughts helps me to get clear and current.
44. Annie Mueller – AnnieMueller.com
(1) A simple notebook is the one productivity tool I really wouldn’t want to live without… and, of course, a good pen to go with it.
A notebook serves for my journal, my note-taking, my list-making, my free-writing, my brainstorming, my outlining, and my rough drafting. In a pinch, it could also easily work as my planner: just sketch in a grid and write in the dates and I”m set with a monthly or weekly calendar. I get my head out on paper better than on any digital device or app.
The next two on the list are (2) Buffer, which makes everything about social media simpler, and (3) SaneBox, which does the same simplifying magic on email.
45. Aaron Lynn - Asian Efficiency
(1) Smartphone.
Let’s me keep in touch with people all around the world in real-time. Let’s me see my calendar, tasks, projects, thoughts, journal and pretty much everything else on-the-go. Don’t leave home without it.
(2) Computer / Laptop / Notebook.
It is absolutely amazing the number of things we can do with a personal computer today. Email, Internet, knowledge work, research, creating art, words and more. If I had to choose between a desktop and a laptop, I’d go with the laptop for portability. Though in an ideal world I’d have both for the rest of my life.
(3) Squat Rack / Barbell.
Let’s me do everything I need to do in the gym without the need for 101 isolation machines. I consider them the hidden productivity tools of the modern-day simply because of the energy, focus, discipline and determination that comes from working out on a regular basis.
46. Tracey Foulkes – Get Organized
First thought is a cheat answer … I’d stick with my iPhone. While not quite as streamlined as my iPad/PC, it is the one tool that simply has the potential (albeit slower) to do everything. That means it’s home to my social media platforms (you can find me on Twitter @traceyfoulkes), my customer management system (onepageCRM.com) and my team collaboration app (teamworkPM.net). It’s my virtual office in a, um, box, with the added bonus of also being my phone! Evernote.com for notes, Wunderlist.com for to-do list, Dropbox.com for document storage … too too easy.
Then, if I use the term ‘tools’ loosely, I’d need to say I couldn’t (more like, wouldn’t want to) survive without (a) my annual goal setting retreat, and (b) my weekly blueprint (time table) that transpires as a result. The goal setting lets me get real with myself. I assess where I am at, where I want to be and what I need to do in order to bridge the gap. From there I schedule my time so I can minimise the excuses and maximise the output . Sharing the blueprint with my team and family means I have both accountability buddies and a support structure.
Tracey is CEO of Get Organised (South Africa & Ireland), productivity nerd, advocate of #effortless and #funproductive, conference speaker & chocolate lover.
47. Mike Evans – Macfilos
I find this almost impossible to answer because I as yet do not have a text editor that is perfect, the one I would be happy with for ever. The nearest would be Byword. Perversely, I could replace Byword or any straight text editor with OmniOutliner because the notes facility of the latest version is excellent as part of a structured outline for planning articles. Outlining is also a vital tool in itself.
I do know for certainty that OmniFocus would be on the list, leaving just one to choose. On most things I could compromise, but in the end I would have to decide on an accounts package because I do not think I could live without one. That, in my case, is Moneydance–surely a unique application in your survey. So….
1) OmniFocus
2) Byword or OmniOutliner equal second
3) Moneydance
48. Henrik Edberg – Positivity Blog
(1) A pen and paper. For planning, reminders for new habits and for daily to-do lists.
(2) Teux Deux. I use this online calendar for my weekly and monthly planning.
(3) An egg-timer. To help me switch between bursts of fully focused work and fully focused rest. By doing so I keep my focus and energy up more easily.
49. Steve Scott – Develop Good Habits
(1) Timer App — I’m a big believer in “time blocking” where you 100% focus on task without interruption for a short period. Using a modified version of the Pomodoro Technique, I use my timer app to manage my work on specific projects.
(2) Evernote — With this app, I have a ubiquitous idea capture device. Every thought, project idea, bookmark and future plan goes into this app.
(3) Stitcher — While it’s technically not a productivity app, I use Stitcher as my central location for all busin