MY DIGITAL LIFE OVERHAUL

So, I've been an apple user since before Apple was well, Apple.  I have never owned a PC... like I went to college with an apple IIGS.

Yup. I'm that old.

Anyway... I now have either an iphone, an ipad, or my macbook pro tethered to me pretty much all the time.  Not to mention a slew of other macs for my wife and kids.  I've been told that computers and such were supposed to help us save time, but most of the time, we all know they do the reverse.  So, as part of the brand new me overhaul in 2011, I declared war on that to and decided to try and use them more efficiently to do my job and manage my life.

So, here's the web based apps I use to keep my mojo goin':

WWW.ME.COM   I use my mobile me account to:

• upload files that are too big to e-mail and that others can download via a link I send them.
• coordinate my calendar and contacts between my wife and I.  I have several calendars for work stuff, each family member also has their own color and individual calendar too.  They all auto sync to our iphones and laptops and this my friends is how we keep our crazy lives sorted out. 

WWW.TWITTER.COM  I trimmed down and cleaned up my twitter account and I use my twitter account to:

• get my news.  I get subscribe to CNN, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and the San Diego Union Tribune.  Seriously... I get enough news from those brief feeds that the evening news on TV is like a bad re-run.  If I could get them to stop re-tweeting their affiliates, it'd be perfect. 
• I use it exclusively to update my facebook status.   
• I only look at this feed 2 or 3x a day.

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM  I use my facebook account to:

• connect with students and as another e-mail alternative
• update our student ministry facebook page
• find or reconnect with old friends.  It's like a giant personal yellow pages or something. 
• get this blog easily accessible to that community of friends via notes
• I'm rarely actually on facebook... cuz I just have no time to truly try and be social with it.  But a couple of times a week, I bounce in and spend some time and make some comments and laugh and even cry at some stuff and then move on.  

WWW.YOUNEEDABUDGET.COM   I use this program to:

• create and track our family financial budget
• sync my purchases between my iphone and my desktop using their iphone app.
• I love this program.  Super easy, super customizable, and super helpful for communication in our home about where money is or is not going.

WWW.YOUVERSION.COM  I use you version to:

• read my bible on my iphone, ipad, or computer
• it instantly tracks my reading plan and syncs my reading plan from any of those computers.
• it has zillions of reading plans and translations, is free, and is my new favorite thing.

WWW.EVERNOTE.COM  I am growing to Love evernote.  It's my newest favorite thing since I got a tutoring lesson from adam mclane last week. I'm already using it to:

• I use my ipad, iphone, or mac to create lists, to do's, or new projects.  I have one labeled ASAP and another labeled "contacts" which is a list of people I need to follow up with, and a bunch more in the big categories of "desk drawer", "dreaming", "ministry", and "family" and yeah... I love this thing. 
• They auto sync to a web based "cloud" so they are all constantly up to date, no matter where I made the changes. 
• I can e-mail myself stuff to a custom e-mail and it holds whatever I send in my "desk drawer" there.
• In one click, I can save webpages or info I find while browsing that I want to use later.  I can tag it and search it for future reference.
• I can send photos direct from my iphone.  
• I keep a running list of teaching ideas, blog ideas, ministry brainstorms, and more so that I can update them on the go, anytime I need to.  Seriously, this thing is genius. 

There ya go.  My entire digital world... now I just got a new recommendation for an exercise tracking app... so I'm off to the races now and probably officially some kinda nerd.