Productivity Tools
I spent this past weekend in Chicago, for a Hackathon event, and it was so much fun. Chicago is an amazing city and the weather was perfect while I was there.
I had to spend most of my weekend inside but I did manage to get out for a stroll here and there and I also had my first taste of real Chicago deep dish pizza. I actually thought it was quite good, even though I’m more of a thin crust fan. Now I’m back in Richmond attempting to catch up on things while running a little short on sleep. So let’s talk about productivity.
I might I have a weird obsession with productivity. I just think efficiency is so crucial for getting everything done. It’s not that I want to be busy all the time, it’s just that I want to get everything done as efficiently as possible so that I do have down time to just relax. Ya know?
So I thought I’d share a few of my favorite tools for making some of those everyday tasks a tiny bit easier.
Unroll.Me– If you’re not using this, stop what you’re doing and sign up. It aggregates all of your e-mail subscriptions into one daily e-mail. You can choose which one’s to add (so I still get the ones I really want in my inbox). It means that Loft, Gap, J Crew, and The Limited can tell me they’re having 50% off every single day… but I only get one e-mail about it. Seriously, it’s the best for cleaning up your inbox.
The Skimm– Speaking of e-mails, this is the one subscription that I send straight to my inbox. It’s basically a summary of all the news you really need to know. It’s just handy for knowing a little bit about current events without having to dig through a bunch of news sites.
Mint– You probably already know that Mint is an online budgeting tool but I use it as a real-time monitor to make sure that my bills get paid, I know which checks have been cashed, and that I haven’t totally over-spent at Target this month. The mobile app works really well, so I rarely check it on my desktop. It’s easier, since I don’t have to log into each mobile app for each account.
Do you use any special tools to get things done?
I Have Unroll.Up but …. I don’t get it. It doesn’t seem to work for me because I still get all these emails I don’t want! LOL!
I really need to sign up for Unroll Me. My email is loaded with so much crap and I swear I spend at least an hour a day going through all of it.
I’m also signed up for Mint but it’s been out of date forever. But I need to budget now more than ever so I’ll have to update it soon. Thanks for the reminder!
I’m still so bummed we missed each other! Next time 🙂 Glad you loved Chicago. Also, I feel so efficient because I use all three of those apps/websites/tools too! That NEVER happens to me in these types of blog posts 🙂 I’m usually so behind the curve!
I love productivity tools, but all I could focus on with this post was Chicago pizza…. We went there a couple of years ago, and I still fantasize about the pizza we had from Lou Malnati’s.
I’ve never even heard of any of these apps before. I’m not a fan of using apps, but I can see how they’d come in handy for other people. Thanks for sharing, Liz. I bet this post has been very benefical to some. Glad you had a nice time in Chicago. We have a 9 hour lay over there when we head back to Kuwait after vacation in September. Where did you get the pizza from if you dont mind me askng? 🙂
Not sure where Liz ate, but Lou Malnati’s is my absolute favorite Chicago pizza, and they have TONS of locations all over the area.
Definitely checking out Unrollme.com asap- sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when I signed up for certain mailers!! I find the “Notes” app keeps me productive- it’s so handy for jotting down to-do tasks as soon as they come to me!
Yes!!! The Notes app is super handy!
Hello Liz, I’m so jealous Chicago is one of my favorite cities (but only during the warm months) I hope you had a chance to explore a little. I like using Mint to manage finances and I like Evernote to organize all documents and articles. Thank you for sharing your tips, it will free up some of my Inbox space. 🙂
I really love knowing the top two you shared. Mint I have known about but now I use CreditKarma instead of Mint. Anyhew, I have lots of timesaving gadgets that I love – Evernote is probably the biggest asset to my day-to-day life!
Before we got married our pastor recommended Mint so that we could set up our bills and look at how each month would play out. That freaking app is so dang useful!