My Top 4 Apps
Organization is one of the top skill sets needed to run a smooth production. There are too many details that can easily be forgotten, people to communicate with, and delegation that takes place to not have a good system for organizing. Over the years, I’ve adjusted and made tweaks to continue making the system better and better. This post is dedicate my top favorite apps that I use on a daily basis.
1. Alfred
Just like Batman’s assistant, Alfred has been assisting me for over seven years now. By pressing a hotkey on the keyboard, Alfred appears and is ready to help in lots of ways.
App Features Include:
Launch Applications - I know that sounds like a simple use, but it saves me time to launch the application with Alfred instead of opening up applications, finding it, then opening.
Find Files - It’s great to locate files for those times you can’t remember what folder it’s in on your computer.
Reveal Files in Finder - This will locate your file and pull it up in Finder instead of just opening. I use this a lot when I’m trying to find a few files that I know are stored together.
Calculate - You may think this one is funny, but being able to do quick math calculations or even complex ones without having to open a calculator app is so helpful. And once you do the math, you can copy the result to your clipboard and paste it.
Spell and Define - I use the “define feature” a lot instead of opening the dictionary app when I need a quick reminder of a definition.
Clipboard History - You know when you’ve copied something to your clipboard, and then had to copy something else, and you wish you could have both, well with Alfred you can. It keeps a history of what you’ve copied to your clipboard for easy access to paste again.
View Contacts - Search the people you have in your contacts app to copy/paste their email, phone number, address, etc.
Other App Integration - There are lots of apps you can setup to control from Alfred instead of opening the app. Example: In Alfred, I can type “email Colin Harman” and it will open up my mail client, start a new email, and have it addressed to Colin ready for me to type.
And there’s A LOT more that I haven’t tapped into like using AppleScripts, snippet expansion, hotkeys, and more.
I highly recommend you check Alfred’s site out to see their extensive list of features. There is a free version, but I’m telling you, it’s worth it to just go ahead and purchase the powerpack.
2. 1Password
This one is a lifesaver for me! In a world where you need a password for everything, you need this app. The first step is to make up ONE password to launch the app. Then basically, this app securely stores all of your other passwords, and all you have to do is remember that ONE password you created at the beginning.
For instance, say you sign up for a new account with Amazon. You go through the normal process of setting up that account, then 1Password will help you create a unique password and store the username and password. Then the next time you need to login to Amazon, you hit a keyboard shortcut which pulls up the 1Password vault, you type in that original ONE password you created, and then 1Password fills in the username/password for that Amazon account.
App Features Include:
Helps you create secure/unique passwords for all accounts
Stores all your usernames and unique passwords
Store secure notes (ex. Driver’s License number, Passport number, Bank Account, Credit Cards, etc.)
Includes a plugin that integrates with your Internet browser to fill in username/passwords for websites, credit card numbers when you’re purchasing something, or even just your normal identity information like your home address.
Sync it all together with an app on your computer and phone
If it’s not making sense yet, check out this video from 1Password that explains how it works.
I think 1Password has a free trial you can start with, but if you’re like me and can’t keep up with all the passwords, I think you’ll love it.
3. OmniFocus
If you haven’t read the book Getting Things Done by David Allen, go check it out. OmniFocus and Getting Things Done (GTD) go hand in hand. In fact, I believe OmniFocus was created out of GTD’s concept of how to work.
OmniFocus has lots of features that I haven’t tapped into, but I can’t imagine what I’d forget without this app. I’ll be honest, at first it’s a bit overwhelming because it’s so powerful, but give yourself time to adjust and you’ll see the benefits.
App Features Include:
Repeatable Tasks - I use this for reminders like taking out the trash every Thursday, someone’s birthday, or monthly reminders to check on my work budgets.
Inbox for Brain Dumping - Learn more about brain dumping from Getting Things Done. It frees up your brain!
Location Reminders - shows tasks based on your location
Cloud Syncing - Sync your phone and computer app so you always have it with you.
Quick Entry - allows you to add tasks while you’re in another app
Customizable - change the way the app looks and how you see information
Forecast - I use this every day. It helps me know what I have to get done today, while seeing what my week looks like.
Project Review - set reminders to review a project as frequently as you want
Organize with Projects and Contexts - see below for more understanding
OmniFocus organizes information in multiple ways. You can label each tasks with a project, context, and due date. A project is pretty self explanatory, and context is someone or something (computer or grocery store) you need in order to get the task done.
Example: Let’s say I need to get a budget proposal for the Fam Jam production approved. I would have the task listed as “Get budget proposal approved”, and that task would be under the project “Fam Jam” with the context of “Boss” because I need her to approve it. Now when I’m working on the Fam Jam project, I see the task listed, but also if I’m with my boss for a meeting or she stops by my cube, I can pull up the context “Boss” and see everything related to her no matter what project a task is under. I use this method a lot with meetings. When I’m in a Directors meeting, I open my context called “Directors” to see all tasks (or questions) related to that meeting even if it’s from multiple projects.
I could go on and on about all the benefits of using OmniFocus, but I’ll keep this surface level for now. If you’re interested, I’ll take some screenshots of how my workflow is organized in OmniFocus for another post.
If you want to have a more in-depth overview of how OmniFocus and GTD work together, watch the video below. It’s about seven minutes long, but gives you an deeper understanding.
4. TextExpander
This app is more about efficency than organization. TextExpander helps you save time typing out frequent words or emails by shortening them. You choose the keystrokes you want to represent a word, and TextExpander automatically expands that word.
Examples - I type the word KidStuf a lot. So instead of typing it out every time, I chose the keystrokes ;ks to represent KidStuf. Which means that’s all I type and it expands to the full word automatically. Here’s a few more that I use a lot ;?which expands to “Let me know if you have any questions!” Or ;enp which expands to my work email address. Or ;adnp expands to my work’s address.
You can also use TextExpander for boilerplate emails where you can choose what fill-ins you want customized per email. Example: When I have to order lunch for a meeting, I type ;lunch and this message (see below) pops up with custom fill-ins for me to quickly type and send the email.
App Features Include:
Time Saver! I don’t even realize how often or secondhand it’s become to use this app until I’m typing on someone else’s computer.
Typos - Automatically fixes common typos/misspelled words.
Boilerplate Emails - Speeds up the process of sending those frequent emails with customization.
Today’s Date - There are snippets to type out the current date so no mistakes are made.
It may seem like a small list of features compared to some of the other apps above, but don’t let that fool you. There’s a 30-day free trial on TextExpander’s website.
There’s a few other apps I use, but these four apps I use every single day, and at this point couldn’t work without them. What apps do you love? What other tools do you use to organzie or save time?
Let me know if you have any questions about these apps, or if you want to know more in detail of how I use them.