7 Tools I Use for Productivity

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I was wondering what blogging/productivity subject to tackle today, when I saw a meme over at Real Life. Sarah tagged everyone who read her post, so I thought I’d participate with 7 tools I use for Productivity.

To be productive, you don’t really need an elaborate system, but the proper tools can help a lot. Here are some of my favorites.

1. A small notebook. I keep a small notebook in my purse at all times. I also leave a little notebook laying on my desk at home. Whenever I come up with an idea for a great blog post, I write it down. When I think of something that I need to do later, I write it down. I don’t worry about categories, neatness, organization or anything else. I just write down my ideas. That way I know I’ll remember them later.

2. A Purse Sized Calendar. I also take a calendar everywhere I go. I write down every appointment that I make while I’m in town, so I can transfer it to my home calendar later. I also write down any commitments from my home calendar on my purse calendar. That way when I’m setting up my daughter’s next orthodontist appointment, I don’t have to guess whether March 4 is a good day. I know.

3. Google Calendar. I love Google Calendar! I write down future events that I will need to be reminded to do. Every week on Wednesday, I’m supposed to email our Sunday School classes prayer requests to the whole class. When I found that I was beginning to forget, I put a recurring event on Google Calendar and set Google Calendar to remind me every Wednesday morning. It’s hard to forget to do something when you have an email reminder in your inbox. I’ve used Google Calendar to keep track of coupons, saving me money.

4. Backpack. I just love Backpack! It is very handy for keeping master “to do” lists. I have a page for each of my blogs with master lists of things I need to tweak in my blog design, post ideas, applications I want to review for my blog, and goals for the year. I also keep a master list of things I need to do around the house. (Don’t laugh….I just started) And don’t worry. Lists are private, unless you choose to share them.

5. Gmail. Gmail has quickly become my favorite email program, and I’ve used almost all of them…outlook, hotmail, yahoo, various webmail applications…and I always come back to gmail. I like that it’s web-based, because I frequently use two different computers, and I hate not being able to check my email. I also like the conversation view and the search feature. Whenever I need to revisit an email conversation, I just do a search for the email, and the whole conversation comes up.

6. A Timer. I’ll say it. I hate to clean the house. Can I hear an Amen? I didn’t think I was the only one. I’ve found a timer to be good motivation. I picked up this idea from Flylady, who says you can do anything for just 15 minutes. And you know what? She’s right. When I have an unpleasant task to do, I set my timer for 15 minutes, and I work as hard as I can. Then I give myself a short break to check my email, my blog, or my favorite message boards, and then I get back to work for another 15 minutes. Works like a charm.

7. Del.icio.us. Yep. A social bookmarking site. I honestly only started using this a couple of weeks ago. A fellow blogging friend mentioned that he used del.icio.us for long term, rarely used bookmarks, and I thought I’d give it a try. Now I’m addicted to del.icio.us. (I’m lynnae71 if you want to add me to your network) I added the bookmarklet to my toolbar, and yesterday when I was tweaking the theme on Being Frugal, I’d come across web pages that I knew I’d need for reference later. I just quickly tagged them in de.licio.us, and they were there waiting for me when I needed them. I was also able to pare down my google bookmarks to only sthe stuff I use really often. I can finally find all of my bookmarks again!

What are your favorite productivity tools? Please share in the comments. And if you want to play along with the 7 Things Meme, write a post telling us 7 things about yourself, and then leave a comment!

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