Our connected world is filled with free tools that make work easier. In today’s post, I’m giving you a list of digital tools I use or have used. To make them easy to access, I have this list within a single note in Evernote. To go a step further, on Evernote Home, I have that note saved as a “pinned note.” Click on each to explore the site.
Productivity Treasure Chest
This first group consists of the digital tools I use daily. I also have them saved as buttons on my browser’s bookmarks toolbar.
- 01. Google Calendar
- 02. Remember the Milk
- 03. Google Contacts
- 04. Evernote
- 05. Gmail
- 06. Feedly
- 07. Google News
- 08. Google Photos
- 09. Google Maps
- 10. Google Drive
- 11. Google Advanced Search
- 12. Google Trips
Converters
We constantly have the need to convert data from one form to another. Having the right tool for the specific job saves hours on any given project. Check them out and see which ones will fit your needs.
- Cloud Convert
- Cloud
- HQCometdocs
- Compress JPG
- Fillable PDF
- HTML Cleaner
- Optimizilla
- Online Converter
- PDF Candy
- PDFBear
- PDF Mergy
- PDF Rotate
- PDF to Epub
- Picresize
- ResizeImage
- Small PDF
- Tiny PNG
- Webpage to PDF
- YouTube Start & End Times
- Zamzar
Junk
We all get too much junk email. We’re asked to give our email addresses and are then inundated with email we don’t want. The solution? Provide a “junk” email address. You satisfy the requirement of the website without giving over permission to fill your inbox. Here are three candidates.
Photo Editing
There’s an old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” We want the visual elements we use online to look good. Here are a variety of tools that do the job. In particular, if you’re not familiar with Canva, create a free account. Whether your project is a flyer, some social media images, or any other design project, Canva does an amazing job.
- Awesome Screenshot
- Background Burner
- Canva
- Compress JPG
- Ezgif
- Let’s Enhance
- Image Compressor Optimizilla
- Online Converter
- Photo Scissors
- Picresize
- Remove Background
- CleanPNG
- ResizeImage
- Tiny PNG
Productivity
Time is our friend, or at least it ought to be. This section contains a variety of tools for a variety of uses. The common thread is the time they save over doing things manually.
- Calculators
- Calendly
- Digital Signature-HelloSign
- Evernote Help
- Personal Productivity Club
- QR Code Generator
- QR Code Generator 2
- Snipboard
- TaskClone
- Timer
- You Can Book Me
Public Speaking
If you make videos, it helps to have a script in front of you. There’s no need to memorize. And talking off the top of your head is rarely the best move. Here are two teleprompters you can use. To be honest, I have moved away from a teleprompter when recording at my computer. I put the text in an Evernote note, increase the font size, and decrease the width of the note to minimize the distance my eyes move back and forth. With a wireless mouse, I’m able to scroll the text.
Research
Whether it’s locating a person, getting past a telephone tree, or conducting a search that goes way beyond Google, here are some tools that will help.
Social Media
Enjoy these tools to make posting to social media easier and more enjoyable for you and those who follow you.
Travel
I recently did an entire post on Google Travel. Check it out.
Writing
Nobody likes to organize footnotes. When I was in high school, it was a tedious process. With the right tool, it’s easy. As for Hemingway App, it’s phenomenal for making your writing clean and clear. I wrote about it here.
I hope you’ll go through the digital tools a few at a time to see what they do. Adopt what works. Ignore what doesn’t apply to you. Revisit this post multiple times to work through the list.
Want to get your desk clean and everything you have to do in one place? I’ve got two free gifts for you that do exactly that. But it’s only for email subscribers. Want to join? You get them both. Plus, each week you’ll hear from me with nuts & bolts tools and strategies to make life easier and more productive. You’re one click away from making it happen.
Eric Snyder
April 19, 2022 4:08 pmFrank. I find your list of tools really useful. But, pinning it in Evernote isn’t quite as handy as I’d like. So, I use the Activeword “tbx” to launch it when I need it.
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April 19, 2022 6:28 pmEric,
Thanks! Great to see you have found an even easier way to get to the tools. Iknow you have been a fan of Activeword for some time. Great service.