Golden tips for automating the little things, to free thinking space for big things by Kate Tapper

Monday app is a great to do list tracker

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Microsoft To Do

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

I use siri on my phone all the time, to set reminders, add things to the shopping list, set alarms etc. You can have shared reminders too, like the shopping list, holiday packing list etc is shared with my husband

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Adding small tasks that can wait to a calendar with an alert

Combine Calendars e.g. work, family, birthdays etc into one calendar. Apple and Google are very good with this.

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Schedule sending emails is a great way to free up cognitive time earlier in the morning etc; knowing this is done

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

google calendars and colour coding these

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Google Keep

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Google keep is great for making lists, you can change the colours/add photos/ check off things you have done etc

I sometime use my Notebook on smart phone

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Google Keep + Google Calendar

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Trello - useful for tracking tasks and progress

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Microsoft 360 Calendar is most useful tool in my experience

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Getting a visual timer really helps me to keep track of time and focus

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

https://www.timetimer.com/collections/all

I use my phone notes and have folders for different topics I need to remember.

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

programming travel time, prep time, reflection time, buffer time into your calendar

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Notion

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Notion is a note taking app that is so so good. It's quite a steep learning curve but if you get past the initial learning it's awseome.

I use it as a 'second brain', just wack notion second brain into youtube and it shows you all the details. It has EVERYTHING I need to remember as in work and personal life.

I use Momentum as a desktop background to help me focus

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

https://momentumdash.com/

I use alarms on my phone calendar to remind of school pick up times. When I'm writing I can lose track of time!

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

forest app

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

"Bring" list app - e.g. for family groceries

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Scheduling 15 mins a month to update your CV

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Voice memo (iphone)

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

I record ideas/thoughts/inspirations that cross my mind when I am out walking the dog, cooking, on the allotment etc

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

I just use Stickies on my Macbook - it loads up as soon as I open my laptop and I have different sticky notes for different projects

Forest - Plant a tree to keep you off your phone for deep focus

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

shared lists in apple notes

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

SimpleMind is a brainstorming tool.

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Its useful for making a note of things that don't seem to fit anywhere just yet (e.g. an idea for a chapter) but making sure they are still all in one easy to access place!

schedule contingency time for catching up on anything outstanding

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Zotero for reference managing! I stick everything I read into there and it makes it easy to reference when I write

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Microsoft Outlook Calendar + Physical sticky notes

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

I heard that research has shown that even having your phone within your field of vision distracts you, even if it's on silent etc

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

Shopping rhythm

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

I'm trying to do my Tesco order at the same time each week so it doesn't hit me as an extra task to do late at night before the deadline!

Iphone notes - To Do - pinned

katebuddevelopment — 2023-11-27 09:25:10 UTC

I pin a personal and a work to do list at the top of my notes pages so I can see it on phone or laptop and check/update regularly so i don't forgot things that need doing

Going on Holiday Buffer

carregcoaching — 2023-11-29 12:09:04 UTC

Going on holiday? Put you out of office on 1.5 days early, then you have the option to reply or leave until you return Tell people when you are back not when you are leaving (and give yourself an extra day when you return to catch up).

Email rules

m_j_atkinson — 2023-11-29 12:16:55 UTC

Setting up automatic rules for moving emails into different folders

I sometimes schedule in 'catch up with life' hours in my calendar so I can do exactly that

2023-11-29 12:17:06 UTC

I've found the balance app useful to keep focus - they have a pomodoro exercise etc.

charlottedack — 2023-11-29 12:17:36 UTC

Minimal phone app overlay and notifications on silent for all but the most essential apps - prevents distraction / task switching and makes your phone less appealing to use

2023-11-29 12:17:45 UTC

I use microsoft Planner and Task linked to Outlook calendar and e-mails to turn e-mails to events to block time out in my calendar and set reminders for tasks.

rjreka — 2023-11-29 12:17:53 UTC

Trello...

2023-11-29 12:18:03 UTC

... is an amazing way to keep lists and ideas, and I have multiple ones, eg work, family life etc. If I think of something it goes in there immediately so I don't have to remember it

I have a short regular meeting with an admin staff member I work closely with as PGR DOS to deal with questions/issues all at once rather than maintaining several email conversations

jbultitude — 2023-11-29 12:19:03 UTC

Every week, usually a Thursday late afternoon, I schedule a couple of hours to mind-dump everything that is on my mind to do, catch up on action points from meetings and the email inbox, then organise that mind-dump priorities, what days in the week those things can be done or parked until later. I also have a on-a-page map of different workstreams of what needs to be achieved in the coming 6 months

2023-11-29 12:19:39 UTC

At the end of one meeting I set a time for the next meeting then and there rather than having to muck around with emails to find a time later.

jbultitude — 2023-11-29 12:20:51 UTC