I'm starting to re-organize my business life, and figured I'd check in to see which utilities folks are using to make their lives easier.
Right now, I'm using Todoist (which is addictive) and Pancake App (which I mentioned in a previous thread) - I'd also like to consolidate my notes into something like Evernote, but change is...change.
Anything you highly recommend using or trying out?
What type of utilities are you asking about? Time-management, business tools, development tools?
For my time management, accounting, and time-tracking I use Free Agent. It also does estimates, quotes, and invoices. It also sends an email reminder on mondays (called monday motivator) that lets you know what bills are coming up, if there are any invoices, and follow up on any quotes.
MS-Word for invoices, (which carry an Activity Log on the bottom as most of my work is paid by the hour), Gmail Calendar for tracking and scheduling, Excel, a pad, and some well-crafted Post-Its.
@ Jerson I'm interested in any and every utility folks are using to make their work lives easier!
@ Joshua and Dave - I've heard great things about Toggl and Trello, so I'm going to check them out. I've recently invested in Pancake app, so I see myself using that largely for project management. We'll see
I'm starting to re-organize my business life, and figured I'd check in to see which utilities folks are using to make their lives easier.
Right now, I'm using Todoist (which is addictive) and Pancake App (which I mentioned in a previous thread) - I'd also like to consolidate my notes into something like Evernote, but change is...change.
Anything you highly recommend using or trying out?
Hi,
Personally I feel this application sounds to be good for freelancers. This software could be especially useful for those who often work from the home office as then they do not have to send emails to their colleagues saying that they have actually been working at home. Because everything has been recorded in a single application.
But, I find it easier to use Replicon - http://goo.gl/yGF1mm , than some of the other solutions. Have been using for years and it’s worked wonderfully. It tracks time and expenses for multiple projects. It has great usability and clear time spent reports. Project management features are also flexible and also has outstanding functionalities.
Michael - I've heard a lot of great things about Wunderlist - I'm guilty of keeping most of my notes on mac's notepad : x it's a bad way of doing things, but Todoist has been better for me. I'm still working on streamlining my workflow, but I'm also just in the test run phase of using a lot of these utilities.
Pocket / Save For Later. Put articles, videos or pretty much anything into Pocket. It sits on your browser and you can save and access again directly from your browser or from apps like Twitter, Flipboard, Pulse and Zite.Pocket is invaluable for saving URLS with tags for finding them again as needed.
I love Wunderlist too - for both work and non-work stuff. Use it all the time. I do project management in Redbooth (formerly Teambox) - love its full sync between calendars and app in iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC. Use Dropbox a lot, too.
I've been using Yatimer for time tracking, but I keep meaning to try something new. I'll take a look at Toggl.
I use Gmail, Google Calendar for the obvious and Word and Excel for quotes, invoices and keeping track of my projects. Mind you, I currently do only a dozen projects a year next to my day job and it's mostly Articulate Studio and Storyline training.
When I'm actually talking to a client I use a notepad and pen (old-school) to make my notes and sketch some examples if need be.
One thing I could not do without is Dropbox. I store everything there so no matter where I am, as long as I got an internet connection I can get to all my files and projects. One thing I've started doing last year is always using full uppercase folder names. I've seen this done by a friend and when I asked why she did that she told me it increased readability... and you know... it's actually true! Scanning your project folders becomes so much easier. Go ahead, give it a try!
I actually enjoy the mental discipline (?) of paper and pens sometimes. It is so easy to get caught up in a world of technology, that sitting back on the sofa, pad open, pen in hand forces me to think - forces me to ensure that I have thought something through rather than rely on the "tech".
When in Face-to-Face meetings, I always take notes using pen and paper, but I find that if those notes don't get transcribed electronically at some point, they're lost in the shuffle - unless of course I remember writing something down previously, in which case I'll go back to my paper-based notes and look.
When in Face-to-Face meetings, I always take notes using pen and paper, but I find that if those notes don't get transcribed electronically at some point, they're lost in the shuffle - unless of course I remember writing something down previously, in which case I'll go back to my paper-based notes and look.
It sounds as though your organisation of written notes is the issue! Taking notes with pen & paper in general or in a notebook has immense benefits to both information retention and deeper understanding of concepts.
I would recommend you to give a try to hours tracking tool from Replicon. The hassle free tool is featured with the cloud based and user friendly interface that makes it an intuitive tool to keep track of my working hours and manage the things in a better manner. Check it out here - http://www.replicon.com/olp/hours-tracking-software.aspx
Thanks for sharing your experiences regarding the tools that you use. Though I had been using various apps such as Google Calendar and Basecamp, there had been a need for some great time management software application and that made me switch to Replicon software application. I personally use and would recommend Replicon project time management application which is definitely a great application with the ease of access from anywhere.
I therefore liked Replicon product suite personally as it is pretty simple and at the same time it is much easy to use it as a intergrated product suite.
17 Replies
What type of utilities are you asking about? Time-management, business tools, development tools?
For my time management, accounting, and time-tracking I use Free Agent. It also does estimates, quotes, and invoices. It also sends an email reminder on mondays (called monday motivator) that lets you know what bills are coming up, if there are any invoices, and follow up on any quotes.
+1 to Freeagent, I also use review my elearning
Toggl - Time Tracking Tool
Mind42 - Mind Mapping Tool
Remember The Milk - Task Manager
Focus@Will - Uses Music and Neuroscience to help increase productivity
MS-Word for invoices, (which carry an Activity Log on the bottom as most of my work is paid by the hour), Gmail Calendar for tracking and scheduling, Excel, a pad, and some well-crafted Post-Its.
Evernote is a must!
Take a look at Trello for project management.
Xero for accounting (or Freshbooks).
Good luck!
@ Jerson I'm interested in any and every utility folks are using to make their work lives easier!
@ Joshua and Dave - I've heard great things about Toggl and Trello, so I'm going to check them out. I've recently invested in Pancake app, so I see myself using that largely for project management. We'll see
My favourite tool/app for to-do lists, etc. is Wunderlist.
Michael - I've heard a lot of great things about Wunderlist - I'm guilty of keeping most of my notes on mac's notepad : x it's a bad way of doing things, but Todoist has been better for me. I'm still working on streamlining my workflow, but I'm also just in the test run phase of using a lot of these utilities.
Pocket / Save For Later. Put articles, videos or pretty much anything into Pocket. It sits on your browser and you can save and access again directly from your browser or from apps like Twitter, Flipboard, Pulse and Zite.Pocket is invaluable for saving URLS with tags for finding them again as needed.
I love Wunderlist too - for both work and non-work stuff. Use it all the time. I do project management in Redbooth (formerly Teambox) - love its full sync between calendars and app in iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC. Use Dropbox a lot, too.
I've been using Yatimer for time tracking, but I keep meaning to try something new. I'll take a look at Toggl.
I'm afraid, I'm much like Bruce.
I use Gmail, Google Calendar for the obvious and Word and Excel for quotes, invoices and keeping track of my projects. Mind you, I currently do only a dozen projects a year next to my day job and it's mostly Articulate Studio and Storyline training.
When I'm actually talking to a client I use a notepad and pen (old-school) to make my notes and sketch some examples if need be.
One thing I could not do without is Dropbox. I store everything there so no matter where I am, as long as I got an internet connection I can get to all my files and projects. One thing I've started doing last year is always using full uppercase folder names. I've seen this done by a friend and when I asked why she did that she told me it increased readability... and you know... it's actually true! Scanning your project folders becomes so much easier. Go ahead, give it a try!
Agree about DropBox
I actually enjoy the mental discipline (?) of paper and pens sometimes. It is so easy to get caught up in a world of technology, that sitting back on the sofa, pad open, pen in hand forces me to think - forces me to ensure that I have thought something through rather than rely on the "tech".
When in Face-to-Face meetings, I always take notes using pen and paper, but I find that if those notes don't get transcribed electronically at some point, they're lost in the shuffle - unless of course I remember writing something down previously, in which case I'll go back to my paper-based notes and look.
It sounds as though your organisation of written notes is the issue! Taking notes with pen & paper in general or in a notebook has immense benefits to both information retention and deeper understanding of concepts.
I would recommend you to give a try to hours tracking tool from Replicon. The hassle free tool is featured with the cloud based and user friendly interface that makes it an intuitive tool to keep track of my working hours and manage the things in a better manner. Check it out here - http://www.replicon.com/olp/hours-tracking-software.aspx
Hey Ashley,
Thanks for sharing your experiences regarding the tools that you use. Though I had been using various apps such as Google Calendar and Basecamp, there had been a need for some great time management software application and that made me switch to Replicon software application. I personally use and would recommend Replicon project time management application which is definitely a great application with the ease of access from anywhere.
I therefore liked Replicon product suite personally as it is pretty simple and at the same time it is much easy to use it as a intergrated product suite.
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