This is a bit different than our usual topics. Today I’m going over the nitty gritty of the specific tools and gear that I use. I describe what I use to help me accomplish what I do for Simply Great Lives. (Note that some of these tools and gear I use for the training I also do for the Linux Foundation.) Having bad tools can get in the way of living our calling, and having great tools can make living our calling a little easier and perhaps even more fun. Following is a fairly complete list (excluding tools/gear for airline travel which I may cover at another time):
- Gmail
- Google calendar
- Google contacts
- Evernote
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Todoist
- Whiteboard(s)
- Android smart phone
- laptop and netbook
- LibreOffice
- Linux operating system
- Logitech 1080p C615 Webcam
- Blue Snowball microphone
- Sony ICD-PX312 voice recorder
- Plantronics DSP500 headset
- Logitech presenter R800
- Uberconference
- Solo brand 17.3″ rolling laptop case (PT136-4)
I travel a lot and I need my tools to be with me and work while I’m on the go. My “office” is where I am. All the apps I use, keep information in the cloud, and I can access it anywhere. If my cellphone dies, I can get to the information on my tablet or computer. In this vein, I use Dropbox to share regular computer files with Rena and keep a backup in case something goes wonky with my laptop.
Apps
I use Google’s apps because they are readily accessible from just about any device no matter who makes it. This includes, Gmail, Google calendar, Google contacts, and Google Drive. The exceptions to this are with Evernote and Todoist. Google’s note taking app has fluctuated, the web app has moved and changed names, and it feels a bit unsettled. And Google doesn’t really provide a phone app to access their todo list feature. So I use Evernote and Todoist.
Evernote holds all of my notes. This includes blog ideas, drafts of blog entries, the aisle where I parked at the airport, notes from webinars, coaching sessions, ideas for workshop content, lists of recommended books, and much more. Evernote allows you to format your notes, but I typically don’t use any special formatting. Often formatting text (making it bold, underlining, selecting headings, etc), gets in the way of getting the idea out and into the note. So I usually stick with plain text. Evernote also lets you organize your notes. You can put them into folders (called notebooks), or you can add tags to them and search by tag. There are quite a few of other features as well, but so far, I’ve not made use of them.
For group planning we use a large whiteboard where it’s easy to erase and rewrite. When we want to capture the information, we’ll take a picture of it, and/or copy it into Evernote.
Todoist is a great todo list app. It supports many different todo systems including the Getting Things Done (GTD) system. To be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with todo lists. Right now, I put todo items into todoist when I remember something while I’m out and about and I think I might forget the task. Otherwise, I find I’m more productive when I put my day’s todo list on a small paper notepad or whiteboard. Sometimes a low tech solution is the way to go.
Devices
I use a Motorola Moto X 2013 smartphone. It’s a bit outdated now, and no one would say it’s cutting edge. What I like about it is that it’s not a 10″ smartphone (OK, I’m exaggerating). The newer smartphones seem way too big. I like it to fit nicely into my pocket when I’m out exercising, and I like to be able to use it with one hand. Being an android phone means that I have easy access to all my data in Google’s apps. Though, I’m sure I could use an iPhone just fine as well.
I like the Lenovo brand laptops. I hate touchpads (for the mouse). My palms frequently touch on the touchpad while I’m typing sending the mouse clicking off on random parts of the screen. If I get the Thnkpad line of laptop, they have the trackpoint (Pencil eraser looking mouse controller), and I can turn off the touchpad. Lenovo also has great deals on their outlet site.
I use the Linux operating system on my computers (as opposed to MS Windows or MacOS). I know this isn’t for everybody, but Linux is a very powerful operating system. Linux let’s me host a webserver and try out new website ideas before they go on our official website. Our company webserver is Linux (most of them are), so it makes the transition easy. I can also try out other development tools on my laptop before deploying them on our website like I did for the scoring software for our online Life Impact Assessment.
While MS Word can run on Linux, and I do use it occasionally, mostly when I need a word processor or presentation software, I’ll use LibreOffice. LibreOffice uses a standard format (Open Document Format), and I don’t worry that documents will one day be unreadable because the new software no longer supports an outdated format like it can with MS Word. When I exchange documents with people, I often use PDF because it’s portable and I don’t need to worry if they have the right program to view them.
Sessions and Presentations
For presentations, web conferences, teleconferences, and coaching sessions, technology can make a pretty big difference. For audio, I use a variety of solutions. For web conferences, I use a really old headset, Plantronics DSP500. These are from my older gaming days, and they have continued to work really well. The microphone is clear and headphones sound great. For web conferences where Rena and I are co-leading, we will use the Blue brand Snowball microphone. For recording sessions, I use a Sony ICD-PX312 voice recorder for in person sessions, or Uberconference for teleconferences and recording phone sessions one-on-one.
Note that I don’t think there’s anything magic about that particular model of voice recorder. It works well and can record over an hour of audio, but other newer models should work fine as well.
For video and pictures, right now I am using my cell phone and a Logitech 1080p C615 webcam. I am told that there are way better cameras out there for video and pictures , but for now these are working great for my use cases: webinars and recording videos for web viewing. The webcam fits nicely on a tripod. Often when I present for webinars, I draw pictures on a personal whiteboard with the webcam on a tripod displaying the image.
I also use a Logitech presenter to advance through slides on the computer. For a long time, I resisted getting one. I either used a wireless mouse, or just pressed PgDn on the computer. The presenter is nice. I can walk about the room and don’t need to cycle back to the computer to advance the slide, and it’s much more elegant and professional than the wireless mouse. It also has a timer on it to time your talk. It can vibrate at 5, 2, and 0 minutes remaining to make it easier to end on time (though I’ve not needed this feature yet).
Case
Finally, I use a Solo brand rolling laptop (PT136-4) case to carry all my equipment with me. I take both a laptop and a netbook. In case something happens to one, I have the other as a backup. The case has awesome separation of space. It fits: laptop, netbook, journal, tablet, books, notepad, pens, equipment (things listed above), business cards, extra batteries, and other wires and chargers, … oh and extra Advil just in case.
Hopefully this list will give you some ideas on making things easier for your life, and it gives you a small peek behind the scenes at what some of our day looks like.
