How do I: Use apps?

I love paper. I love technology. Both can be truths at the same time.

Other things that are true for me:

• Paper is best when I personally need to rapid-log or get thoughts out to process.  Paper is where I go to put chaos into order, or when it’s just for me.
• The nature of most things I do are in collaboration – so when it involves someone else, it usually involves technology, especially with my partner.

SO that means my planner has my personal notes, my to do lists, mini-journalings, reminders, etc. What goes into my apps?

Google Calendar: You all know by now I adore Google Calendar.  I need to see how the week flows together, what’s happening, and in a visual way.  You can have different calendars (or just different colors) for different things (or kids) to see how your time might have been spent. You can share calendars with other people. It’s at your fingertips. I use it for capturing events immediately, it funnels into my Google Maps, and for reminders (aka Cancel my free trial membership to XYZ, change my oil, make my dentist appointment).

Grocery IQ: this handy app can create many different lists (so if you want a separate list for your local grocery store, Costco, Target, you totally can).  This app can also SHARE your lists with someone else – roommates, partners, kids – so you can always make sure to get everything during your trip.  We plug our grocery list into the app during our Sunday Meeting when we meal plan for the week.  It also offers coupons, but I don’t really use that function.

Google Drive (Google Sheets, Google Docs): again, if there’s any collaboration, it goes online.  When I was planning friends’ bachelorettes and showers and my own wedding, for example, I used Google Sheets to organize addresses, detailed agendas for the day, or vendor information.  At work it’s collaboration with my co-instructors and teaching assistants on lesson plans, or with my colleagues on notes and handouts for staff and partners, or sharing marketing materials with students to use.  Extremely easy to crowdsource information or logistics like carpools.  It’s accessible via my phone – it’s not where I’ll work on the document but it’s at least available if needed.

Google Keep: this seems to be a newer discovery in general, but I really like it for instant idea-capture in a very beautiful way (colorful “sticky notes” available as notes, voice, check boxes). Since it’s easily accessible on my phone I can quick snap a photo, jot down some notes, create a list at any given moment.  Once it’s there i can incorporate it into my planner if needed. Or I’ll keep stuff on there that I might need to access on the go, like important numbers or addresses.

Asana: this is a really cool platform, designed to be a group workspace to collaborate on projects and different tasks. We use it at work and it allows us to comment and keep track of progress on different tasks without needing email.  Plus, there’s a fun hack that makes unicorns fly across your screen when you check off your tasks!

These are just the handful of apps that I’ve incorporated into my life – what are the apps you use??

Yours,

Jessica