How to Choose the Best Productivity Tools

 

 

What tools are your favorites, for staying organized and getting things done throughout your busy day?

For example, even though I’m kind of a high-tech guy who loves gadgets — my favorite productivity tool is still a good old-fashioned clipboard!I have several that I use for my various checklists.

Which Tools Help You to Get Things Done?

By having my lists — each on their own designated clipboard — I am far less likely to misplace a list, or start using a list as “scratch paper,” etc. Having clipboards keeps me reverent about my process and assists me greatly in getting things done.

But that’s what works for me. What works for you is probably something completely different.

Many people find keeping a big spiral notebook with them — a sort of log within which they write everything, like their shopping lists, their to-dos, their phone numbers, etc. — to be the easiest solution. Me? I can’t stand that method! I don’t have time to start flipping through earlier pages to locate something I know I jotted down a few days earlier. Blech!

But hey, that’s my point: everyone’s different, and whatever tool works for you, no matter what it is, is the right tool.

Tracking Your Tasks with Great Tools

I work almost exclusively from the home office. I don’t travel a lot right now, and I don’t spend a lot of time in my car. For this reason, clipboards work great for me to help me track how I’m getting things done. However, one of my lists is digital: the work-related list of tasks that I want to be able to share with my business partners and staff — and they share their lists with me. Good project management requires good collaboration tools (we use a product called Backpack by 37 signals).

 
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3 Questions to Help You Determine What Tools Are Best for You

Here are some questions that can help you to decide which tools might work uniquely well for you and help you to get more done:

Question #1:   Do you work in one place mostly, or are you on-the-go?

Generally, if you’re at a central desk most of the workday, than you can use low-tech tools if you prefer them. But if you work in the field and spend a lot of time in your car, you might need to go digital.

Question #2:   Are you a parent of young children, or a free-and-easy single?

If you’re a parent of young children, you can hold yourself to different standards. Sometimes, just getting through the day with everyone in the family happy, healthy, and fed is a huge accomplishment!

Question #3:   Do you like technology (or do you find it irksome and a waste of time)?

If you’re easily frustrated by gadgetry, that’s okay; low-tech tools can be just as effective. Go with your natural strengths!
 
This short video (below) is about using simple, specific productivity tools for potentially complex projects. It’s “from the vault,” back before Bionic Butler turned into InstantDane.tv, but I keep this video because it still feels as relevant to me today as it did the day I filmed it:
 

 
Do you feel organized today? I hope that you will experiment a bit with different tools and organizational systems so that you find the ones that work best for you and your own unique style for getting things done!