The tools I use

ASD-creativetools.jpg

Technology appears to make our lives easier, but there are a lot of other tools we use to help facilitate that ease. I often get asked which tools I use in my business, so it seemed time to put together a post.

TECHNOLOGY

My main computer is a MacBook Air + old MacBookPro. A year ago I bought a 24" HP monitor. I love having a light computer to travel with, and a second screen at home when I'm working on projects. It helps minimize my distractions, as I'm prone to getting lost opening too many tabs. I did have to get a special adaptor that connects from HDMI to the fire port of my computer.

I probably should use the cloud more (we'll get to that), but I still back up on hard drives. I tend to get a new one every 1-2 years. I switch between Lacie + Passport, as I once had a hard drive die on me. Luckily, I make sure there is overlap between drives. I also have a hard drive that I back up photos and important files that I keep in the states. My mom always taught me to have backups of backups.

I back up my photos directly to my hard drive. (But also have a million photos on my phone.)

I have an iPhone 7+ with 128GB of space. For over a year now it's had 50k+ photos on it. I back up all my photos to my hard drive, organized by month. One of the reasons I keep so many photos is that I love the feature where you can search the map to find an image. I'm more likely to be able to find something by location than the date I took it. I also have too many images, because I'm not good at deleting.

I have an Apple basic case + PopSocket which makes me feel like I’m less likely to drop my phone + it’s fun to play with. Pickpockets are real in Paris, so it helps ensure I have a good hold on my phone.

I often carry an Anker external battery pack with me because I run out of power before the day is over, and for days where I take a lot of photos. I always have a short charger cord in my purse as well. I like the extra long cords for staying in hotels.

I love my AirPods too because I’d lose hours unwrapping my cords. I always keep a set of normal Apple headphones that plug into my computer in my computer bag so I have them with me for flights too.

AppleWatch
My favorite feature is the Activity tracking and the reminder that I should stand up (key when you work from home). Getting alerts on my wrist also helps keep me from looking at my phone.

FAVORITE APPS

  • Overcast.fm – favorite podcast app

  • Twitter, Instagram, FB – yes, I check social media. I took these off my homescreen and hid them in a folder a few screens over so they're not always screaming at me to look

  • NYTimes alerts

  • TurboScan – to "scan" documents which I'm able to save as PDFs. I regularly digitize notes from interviews this way.

  • CityMapper – for getting around Paris (and major cities)

  • WhatsApp˘– for keeping in touch with friends around the world (also like that they have a desktop app so I can respond straight from my computer)

  • iMessage˘– for texting with friends in Paris + those with iPhones (also like being able to respond via my computer)

  • Notes – I really should make it a happy to clean up and move notes to somewhere where I’ll actually use them.

  • Notion.so – syncs between the app, desktop, and web (more below)

  • Evernote – (when there's enough space on my phone) – where I save articles these days and tag them

MANAGING THE WEB

Squarespace – How I designed anneditmeyer.com. I like the simple, clean templates that are hard to mess up. There is a bit of a learning curve when you're new.

Wordpress – Home of pret-a-voyager.com. Switching it feels like a lot of work, even though I really could use a responsive site that was mobile friendly.

Bluehost – Where I have hosting for my Wordpress site.

Hover – For buying new domains. (I sadly have to manage domains across a few providers, but Hover is my favorite.)

Teachable – Online teaching platform I use to host navigateparisonline.com (and hopefully future offerings).

DIGITAL TOOLS

Notion.so – My favorite place to write. It's where I draft most of my blog posts. I love the platform because it's so clean and simple. It's nice that it syncs with the app. I also use Notion to manage my own "wiki" – a personal resource library where I can find my favorite tools, etc. in one place. I first learned about this platform when working for a tech start-up.

Google Drive – Mainly GoogleDocs for sharing docs and collaboration. I also have some images stored here in folders.

Google Calendar – I have all my email accounts linked, and synced with my phone

Dropbox – I pay for the PRO account. I find navigating the platform oddly confusing at times to do simple things like "share" but I use it when I need to keep albums of photos or folders with files. It's often what I use to transfer files with clients (sometimes I use TransferWise, but those files expire.)

Evernote – I save inspiration and articles here. (I know people who write books in Evernote where each chapter gets a different note.)

Slack – I'm not active now, but have used it in the past when contracting for companies as a quicker way to check in than email. There are a couple e

Gmail – I manage 4 email accounts. I don't recommend this. Anything over 3 gets confusing. (I'm currently streamlining.)

MailChimp – The newsletter platform I use to send my weekly Connect the Dots newsletter.

TinyLetter – The (free) no-frills newsletter platform I use for my monthly Navigate Paris newsletter.

Moo.com – for biz cards (I get a referral bonus if you use this link)

Skillshare – to learn new skills (enter through my referral link. Map Making + Redesign Your Résumé are still my favorite classes I’ve taught. More coming soon too I hope.)

Zoom, Skype, GoogleHangouts – How I talk to my clients in other parts of the world

Calendly – How I automate my “calls with strangers” + offer my 15 min “Curiosity Calls” with potential clients. (I have Zoom integration, which automates a “room” for the video call, and sends a calendar invite automatically.) At the moment I still am on the free version.

What are your favorite tools? Share them in the comments!