Productivity is affected by many factors. I have blogged about different aspects and determinants of productivity. Check out part of the collection of these posts here. This post is basically going to focus on tools I use. I’ve been reluctant to doing so, partly because I felt like I used too many things and giving reasons might result in a tome.
I might exclude some tools.
MacBook Pro
One of the tools I use more than any other is a 13” MacBook Pro. Of all tools I use to get my work done this is probably one I use the most. From blogging, general writing and media (video and audio). I’m very demanding on devices. Like the cliché goes, “once you go Mac you never go back”.
My Mac’s battery life at the moment is about seven and a half hours. This is important for me, because in my pursuit of inspiration I work in many places.
MacBook Pro Tools
Mac Os X: for operating system. I now use macOS High Sierra; I make it a habit to always update to the latest operating system.
Evernote: for taking notes, ideas, clipping web articles etc. The win in using Evernote is being able to organise notes in notebooks and tags, which is, in a sense ‘indexable’ and easy to search. I use it a lot!
iMovie: for editing video. I’m no expert and this is simple yet slick. Great for me.
Garageband: for recording and or editing audio.
Keynote: for presentations (way cleaner and better for me. prefer it to P…)
Day One: great app for journaling. With markdown and iCloud and Dropbox backups.
Mail (macOS native mail app) Because I manage a number of email accounts and this works best for me. (I prefer a glitchy Mail app to Outlook)
Wunderlist: I’m trying out this productivity app. I’m struggling to use the app. It is not the app, it’s me. I use it then I don’t… Jury is still out.
Keynote, Pages, Numbers: for them docs etc. (I also have Microsoft Office for when I encounter those Windows users and stuff :P )
Kindle and iBooks: for ebooks reading etc
Feedly: for RSS / blog subscriptions… great for following and reading blogs in one place.
iPhone
I’m using an iPhone 5. It talks and plays very well with the Mac. One of the things I like about it is that the battery doesn’t take as long to get full compared to Samsung Galaxy I once used. I think it is a decent size for a phone. I can’t tell you al the reasons I like it but it just works for me and it’s just right.
iPhone Apps
Bible: probably the best mobile app at the moment…
Buffer: very useful social media app that staggers my tweets not to overwhelm some people’s timelines. Also useful for scheduling tweets so I friends on different time zones don’t miss some blog post tweets.
Nike+ and Strava: for tracking and keeping record of my runs. Love the simplicity of Nike+ and detail of Strava
Evernote: syncing with the Evernote on my Mac great for capturing things on the go.
Audible: Primary app for listening to audiobooks.
Blogging
WordPress: I use the self-hosted one. I think WordPress is great. I would like to try Ghost sometime but that’s for another post.
Pressgram: I snap photos, slap filters and publish to my WordPress blogs using this. I not only vouch but highly recommend it for serious bloggers. Pressgram has been discontinued.
DeskPM: A great desktop app. From my desktop I publish directly to my blogs and other WordPress sites I contribute to.
Standard Theme: I love this 8bit blog theme. Taken over by WooThemes. (I hope it gets an update soon.) I’ve switched to WordPress theme, Twenty Sixteen.
My (Apple) Earpods: When I want to listen to music and close out the world and concentrate.
Outro
There are just some of the tools I use. I’ve left out some. To find out more, just ask… What tools do you use the most? Why?