Tools and Links January 2015

I had some random thoughts I thought about sharing, but I’ve been sick this week and just could not get them together as a coherent thought. Instead, I want to point you to a few tools and links that I like and tend to use.

First, some general reading:

I pastor and I write, and while the two tend to overlap there are some differences. Additionally, there are leadership development resources that I like to read. All that to say this: not every link on this list is from Bible believing Christians. I am firmly convinced that Christianity is the only path to God and that the Bible is God’s perfect revelation of Himself through words.

I also know God puts wisdom in the mouths of many, sometimes in the mouths of those who I would love to sit down with and bring to the faith.

On writing and creativity:

Steven Pressfield’s blog/website here: http://www.stevenpressfield.com/ He has multiple contributors and I haven’t seen a bad post yet. I read Pressfield to both challenge and encourage me.

Jeff Goins over at http://goinswriter.com/blog/ He’s written a few good books, but his next one, called The Art of Work is head and shoulders above those. Look for me to promote that one a lot.

On leadership and organization:

Jonathan Milligan’s website here: http://jonathanmilligan.com/ is worth your time. He thinks through some process points that slip past me.

Pastorally, Thom Rainer’s blog is usually good here http://thomrainer.com/blog/

On Education and Family:

Yes, this is personal because Ann works for them, but HEDUA’s website at HEDUA.com is very useful. Here’s the direct blog link.

Also worth reading: http://blog.drwile.com/

Second, some tools for usage:

Printed organizers and planners:

While my wife helps design the planners at HEDUA (above), I don’t use them. I’m still thinking that someday I need to help design a “Pastor Planner” that fits my niche, but until then:

1. I’ve got one the Spark Notebooks from http://katemats.com/my-passion-project-the-spark-notebook/ on its way. I’ve looked at and used the PDF she sent, and I like the look of this as a tracking/big idea notebook. You can’t get one right now—but more will be printed later this year. Kate’s blog is also worth reading on organization and work.

2. There’s also the Week Dominator.  I’m a fan of NeuYear.net’s materials, especially their giant wall calendars. This planner is better on the week-to-week, for me, than the Spark but I like both.

Digital tools

1. Evernote. What can I say? Nothing does what Evernote does. If you use multiple digital devices for important things and don’t use Evernote, I think you’re missing out.

2. I’m trying out ZenDone as a tasklist type organizer. The jury’s still out. It’s a little more customizable than I found Nozbe to be, but I’m not sure yet.

3. Sunrise Calendar does a good job doing the final harmonization of all the digital calendars of my world. I just forget to check it.

One thing: if you use all of the above on your digital device, DISABLE NOTIFICATIONS for most of them. For example, Evernote reminders will alarm. Then Zendone will alarm for the Evernote reminder. Then Sunrise goes off for it as well. I’m using just Sunrise for notifications because it consolidates all of my calendars.

That’s about it. Just thought I’d peel back and show you how I keep track of what I should be doing.