The Essentials: Brad’s Productivity App Makeover (Premium)

If you have been listening to First Ring Daily or following me on Twitter for the past few weeks, you will have seen that I have been trying to change up my workflow and find new apps to help me stay organized. This entire process got kicked-started earlier this year when I decided to stop using Word as my writing utility and ever since that point, I have been looking to revamp other parts of my daily grind.

One reason for this is that companies that make only one specific app, treat that app as if it’s their first born child. The app typically gets updates frequently, feedback is integrated quickly, and honestly, stand-alone apps are usually better than those built by companies who are trying to solve every problem that has ever existed. Of course, the downside is that these types of companies have a higher chance of running out of money and your beloved app may go away forever.

There are four basic parts to my productivity workflow: email, notes, task management, and a calendar. I’ll focus on each one specifically about how it has changed (or hasn’t) and why I chose each app.

Email:

Previously, I was using the Windows 10 Mail app but I have switched to Newton Mail. Despite the fact that this email app comes at a premium, it is far superior to the Mail app and it syncs everywhere.

Embarrassingly, Microsoft’s Mail app does not sync settings across machines. When you review devices and jump between PCs frequently, not having your email settings sync automagically on each machine is frustrating. Newton Mail fixes this issue and I quite like the interface as well.

I stuck with Microsoft’s Mail app for two years but the company is not updating it fast enough and now that there is a high-quality alternative (bonus points that it is a store app), I could not justify sticking with the Microsoft app. Newton Mail is $50 but they send you a 20% off coupon a few days into your trial; it is quite expensive but I feel that it was worth the price.

Notes:

For First Ring Daily and the Sams Report, I use OneNote for basic note taking and our show notes. For the past year or so, I have been using this application in the browser. Going forward, I am using the dedicated Store apps.

Why? The store apps sync faster, are quicker to load, and generally work better than the browser-based counterpart. This slight change has resulted in a better experience as I am less dependent on a web browser (more on that later) and the local apps also have more features as well.

This is not a significant change but it helps me move forward with my goal of using a browser less and dedicated apps more.

Task Management:

This was likely the biggest update to my workflow. Prior to this change, I was using a whiteboard that is next to my monitor in my office.

The problem with using a whiteboard is that it’s only in one place and if I am upstairs or working remotely, I don’t know what’s on the board (obviously). To remedy this, I began searching for a task-based app that is available everywhere.

My requirements are simple: it must be available for iOS and Windows 10 as those are my primary platforms. I downloaded many different apps and finally settled on two that I devoted time to learning before selecting one as the final ‘winner’.

The two that I tested were Any.do and Todoist. Why didn’t I use Microsoft’s To-Do or Wunderlist? Simply put, we know Wunderlist is a dead-end, not going to invest time into using a tool I know is going to go away and To-Do is laughably far behind when compared to Wunderlist.

What I really like about Any.do is that it integrates a calendar and task management into one list. I love this as it is one place I have to look each day to see everything that I need to knock-out but there are two major problems.

While it is possible to use Any.do with Windows 10, it is via a web app. It’s not a bad experience but it also doesn’t show your calendar as that feature only works on iOS at this time.

The fact that I have to use a different calendar on the desktop and then use the web app which isn’t as good as a dedicated client with Windows 10 is a major letdown. I should point out that the company has said that they will be releasing a Windows 10 app in the future and I can only hope that it has a calendar built-in but I need a solution today, not one by the end of the year.

This leaves me using Todoist and it’s nearly perfect for my needs. There is a store app, an app for iOS, and it all syncs quickly. Further, it has the organization features that I need but sadly, it doesn’t have a calendar like Any.do; here’s to hoping that add that in the future.

Calendar:

As of right now, I am still using the stock Windows 10 calendar. I have looked for a replacement but have yet to find anything that is available on iOS and Windows 10. I know a lot of people love Fantastical but it’s only on iOS/MacOS right now.

If you look in the store, there is a massive void for third-party calendars. Seriously, if you are a developer, building a killer calendar for the Windows Store would likely grab a lot of attention as there is nothing other than a few apps that look like toys. If you are taking requests, build it for iOS as well.

Browsers-less Ways:

As I noted earlier, living in a browser is not a great experience. Before looking for new apps, I tried writing, email, task management, and notes all from the browser. Simply put, I replaced apps on my taskbar with tabs in a browser and then lived in that scenario for several days.

While it is possible to live only in a browser, individual apps are still a better experience for me at this time. I’m sure progressive web apps will someday surpass the polish of store apps but for now, local apps still rule my daily life.

I’m curious if there are any apps that you use on a daily basis that I should check out? As Paul and I often joke, when things are running too smoothly, we tend to try something new to see how we can screw up our workflow and this is my latest example of changing my habits to try and find a new, happy workflow.