I am a baby boomer that knows just enough about electronics and technology to be dangerous. However there are a few “apps” and techie things that I really have grown to rely on to help me be more efficient in many areas of my life. I wish I could say I had grown smart enough to know how to get Affiliate payments and get kickbacks on my recommendations, but I just have not had the time to teach myself and have not had the time to learn……but one day!
Here are a few of them and probably the top 4 on my list.
Google seems a little silly to post here because most everyone is familiar with Google. The reason I chose Google is simple, it makes me feel smart. If I want to know if the St. Louis Cardinals won their game the night before, I Google it. If I want to remember how many ounces are in a pint (yes, sometimes I get that really mixed up), I Google it. If I want to know the name of the actress in a movie I am watching and I cannot remember her name, what do I do? Google it. Google provides me with quick easy answers to help me solve computer problems, find products for my clients, and find out answers to frivolous questions.
Evernote is really one of my favorite things. I am sure there are other apps that will do what Evernote does but I just have not found it and do not feel the need to go anywhere else and look. Evernote is quite simply a place where I can keep up with notes, quotes, websites, ideas, and anything else that, in the past, I would have written on a piece of paper and would have then wondered where I had written that information and on which piece of paper!
Evernote allows me to create different notebooks and sort information into each of those notebooks. For example, for this Ultimate Blog Challenge, I went to my notebook, Blog Ideas, and saved ideas in that notebook to refer to later. I have also been saving all of the Ultimate Blog Challenge Blogging Tips to use at a later date, when I run out of my own blogging ideas.
Evernote makes it incredibly easy to save websites, selections and emails from your computer. Check them out at evernote.com
Carbonite literally saved me many tears, headaches and gnashing of teeth. I downloaded Carbonite onto an old computer that was beginning to act very whonky. Carbonite saved everything, except videos, of which I had none. It saved all my documents and my photos and would have saved my music if I had any of that saved but I didn’t. When that old computer took it’s last breath I had nothing to fear. I got my new laptop, signed on to Carbonite and it uploaded everything from the old computer to my new. It did take a couple of days to complete the upload but I could still work on my computer as it was uploading. Now, each day, Carbonite makes a pass and saves anything on my computer that is new and hasn’t been saved to Carbonite. The best thing is I can see all my documents on my IPHONE, too! All of this for $60 per year – $5 per month. So worth the peace of mind, for me. Check them out at carbonite.com
Last of all but not least is Pinterest. Pinterest is many things to me but basically Pinterest is a big virtual bulletin board. On my account, I have several bulletin boards broken into categories: Organizing Ideas, Organizing Products, Recipes, Chicken Recipes, Cleaning, Decorating Ideas, and so forth. You can check out all my Boards at http://www.pinterest.com/declutterbug/
Pinterest is a great reference point for recipes when I have forgotten to write down the ingredients and am sitting in the grocery store stumped. Pinterest is the place where I get some magnificent organizing ideas. Pinterest is a place where I see some fashion ideas that I might be able to pull off and lastly Pinterest makes me feel smart, too. I see some DIY ideas that I would have never thought to attempt but when I see the people on Pinterest taking it on, I feel empowered and inspired. Check them out at pinterest.com.
So there you have it. I hope you find some things you can use and will help you be more efficient, too. If this baby boomer can figure this stuff out, so can you….so dive in…..the water’s fine!