My Top Apps for Productivity

It is no secret that I love my iPhone and my iPad. I feel blessed to have two of the greatest pieces of technology in my possession. These aren’t simply toys and fashion accessories. They are tools for productivity and they enable me to get better at what I do each and every day. I am very selective about the apps I put on these devices and whatever does make the cut had better perform. Here are the apps that are currently making the grade and helping me get stuff done!

Evernote
I have a lot of notes laying around. I have notes from my last staff meeting, notes from that podcast I listened to yesterday, notes from a creative meeting last week, a recipe for some BBQ that I want to try out, a To-Do list for this week, a To-Do Vision list for the coming year, and even a list of lists!

Evernote helps me stay organized.

For example, I have to outline my class for Wednesday and I have ideas I’m collecting for a sermon series at the end of the Summer. Evernote allows me to compile all these notes, organize them by category (stacks) and have them accessible at all times on all my devices. Each note is stored in the cloud, searchable, and taggable. I can insert pictures, clips from the web, or documents. I can email notes to my Evernote account and I can share notes through email or social networks.

Michael Hyatt has written extensively about Evernote and how to maximize the effectiveness of this app. Check out his definitive posts on the greatness that is Evernote.

Wunderkit
The best To-Do, To-Collaborate, To-Plan, and To-Execute app out there. Wunderkit allows me to organize my life and achieve goals based on the different areas of focus in my life or projects. It also allows me to invite friends or colleagues to join me in those tasks. For example, the youth minister and I share a folder where we can assign tasks to one another, collaborate on notes, and communicate changes to one another. It has been a real asset in helping us come together on a shared agenda for weekly staff meetings.

Right now, Wunderkit is available on the iPhone and the Mac (you can get Wunderlist HD for the iPad. It is the best To-Do list I’ve used.)

Pulse
The app is all about helping you “take control” of all the information, news, blogs, and articles you read. With a clean and beautiful interface, I am about to gather all the blogs that I read in one place so I can read them offline when it is convenient for me. No more watching my RSS feed fill up and mock me with some ridiculous number of unread posts. With Pulse, I open it up, sync with the new content, and then read at my leisure. This app also allows me to post articles I like to Facebook or Twitter. I can even email posts to friends directly from this app.

Dropbox
Do you need to share documents and files between different computers or devices? I know I do. Often I don’t have a flash drive handy or I need to move something from my MacBook to my iPad. Dropbox is the solution.

Dropbox allows me to easily share files between devices or share files with friends. It is the easiest cloud-based digital firebox I have used. One of my favorite uses it a community file where you and your friends/team members can share files for better collaboration. I use this app almost every single day and twice on Sundays! I love it.

So what about you? What are your top apps for helping you get stuff dine? Share your Top Productivity Apps in the comment section.

Links of the Week

Here is a list of the best stories, articles, and various commentaries from the web this week:

Follow me on Twitter to get links like these each and every day: @michealfelker

 

What’s Your Rhythm?

In 2012, I made it a goal to communicate with my leadership team more consistently each week. One way that I have tried to accomplish this is through a weekly leadership email that I send out to the ministry staff, deacons, and shepherds. This month’s theme has been focused on Rhythm. It is my hope that this short message will be meaningful to you and your situation and that you may be encouraged. Enjoy.

The rhythms in our lives can strengthen us personally, professionally and spiritually.

The problem is that we struggle to balance the different rhythms that we are moving in. We must learn to live and work at a rhythm that is sustainable and life-giving. You don’t just stumble into this type of rhythm. Living life at the right pace takes intentional action and relentless focus. It is tough work but the pay off is incredible.

No doubt, two things happened this week that impacted your normal rhythm or routine- Daylight Savings Time and Spring Break.

With DST, the upside is that the sun is still out after dinner giving you and your family a few extra hours to bond, play, and spend time together. No complaining there! The downside, for me at least, is that I have really struggled to get going each morning because it is still dark at 7am.

While I am not a morning person, I have found that one of my rhythms is that I am more productive in the hours leading up to lunch time. I do my best administrative work and my best studying before noon. If I don’t get cracking first thing in the morning, I feel like my back gets put up against a wall. Struggling through the first two hours of the day this week has thrown me off my game a bit. Since I know that my sweet spot to be at my most productive is before lunch than I must fight to keep this rhythm going. That means choosing to go to bed a little earlier, laying out the night before everything I need for the next day, and dedicating those first few hours to getting things done. It has definitely not been easy this week to keep my rhythm going.

For some of you, your routine has been impacted this week because of the rhythm of the school year. That’s not always a bad thing. Weeks like Spring Break can provide an opportunity for us to unplug from our normal routine and reevaluate where our time is being spent, where we need a more sustainable rhythm, and can give us the energy to make the changes needed to start a brand new rhythm.

Next week, we will look at the elements that will make up a life-giving and sustainable life rhythm. Until then, here are some things to think through this week:

1) What does your normal day look like? Try and sketch out an hour by hour look at your day.

2) How much of you time is spent and work and at home? Do you have time built in for reflecting on your day? Do you have time set aside where you can plan the next day?

3) Is there any non-essential thing you are doing right now, that if you STOPPED doing it, would give you more time to accomplish the things you really need to do? How can you begin to move that task to your TO (NOT) DO list?

Prayer Resources

This past weekend, I wrapped up a four week series on Prayer that I called The Prayer Circle. God uses prayer to help grow our faith in him and prayer is transformative because it challenges us to realign our hearts and minds with the Father. I was initially inspired by the book, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson for this series. I used a good deal of Mark’s excellent material in week one and two in order to lay a foundation for the series. I would highly recommend that book as an excellent resource for you and your family. Be forewarned- it will rock the way you approach your prayer life from this point forward.

Below I’ve listed a handful of the resources I’ve found over the years that have positively impacted my prayer life. I hope that you can connect with one of the books and that you will continue to pursue a deep and meaningful relationship with the Father through prayer.

The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Prayer by Richard Foster
Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels
The Autobiography of George Muller by George Muller
Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
The Inner Life by Thomas a Kempis

The Dreamers and Me

Can you imagine how boring life would be without dreams? Without a vision for the future? Without innovation? Without next steps?

As a very young kid I realized that I had a very active imagination. When I caught a glimpse of something fantastic in my mind’s eye I was convinced that it would become a reality. I wasn’t allowed to sit by the windows in school because my imagination would take me out that window and into places much better suited for me than dingy old classrooms.

My heart resonates with dreamers. The people who can see the potential of a situation or who can take the ordinary into the extraordinary gather high marks in my book.

A dreamer isn’t someone who has their head in the clouds. Make no mistake: A dreamer is deeply entrenched in the here and now. They are fully aware of their surroundings. They are just unable to survive in the status quo. They are willing to break out of the box to seek a better way.

Take Walt Disney for example. I once read about Walt’s dreaming exercises. On day one of a new project he would set aside everything and allow himself the freedom to come up with the most audacious, fantastic plans. He was in dreamer mode. Nothing was off limits. Anything could and would be considered.

On day two he would become the realist. He would look at the plans and bring them into reality. There were some things that from a production standpoint just could not be rendered. He would table those ideas and seek out what was truly within grasp.

On day three he would play the critic. What would and would work? What was too fantastic? What would be a home run? What would foul out? What ever survived day three Walt would then make his singular focus.

Most people skip over a day one. Why waste time on things that might not ever come to fruition? “I don’t pay the bills with dreams,” some might say.

Yes you do.

Walt’s dreams paid off. Dreams pay off because they lead people to new places.

Another dreamer on my iBoard is Kermit the Frog. Whenever I’m asked which 5 people I would have to a fantasy dinner Kermit is always there.

In the Muppet Movie, Kermit embodies everything that I admire in dreamers.

He strikes out for a better life and on the way brings others along with him.

That is what dreamers do. They give hope and cast a vision to others often at a great expense to themselves.

Leaders are in the dreaming business whether they know it or not. It is our job to connect the longing of people’s hearts with the Ultimate Dreamer. It is our job to constantly put before our people the vision of a new life. A life marked by grace. A life of hope not despair. Love not hate. Ministry is about more than teaching about sin management. It is about living in the glory of God. It is about motivating people to experience the hope that one has in Christ.

“You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

“Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:9-11; 27-31)