What tools do I use in Ministry?

From time to time people have asked me what I use on my computer and iPhone to manage my schedule and tasks.  How do I keep track of everything that needs tracking.  My tools have evolved over the years but currently this is what I use:

Hardware
     Computers:
          iMac
          Macbook Air
     Phone
          iPhone
     Devices
          iPad

When I look for software tools, it is vital that things sync between all my devices.  If I make a note on my phone, it must show up on my computers and iPad.  To this end, I have stopped using some tools in favor of these

Calendar Management:

Google Calendar stores the church calendar, the calendar for my denomination's region, public meetings that other things that the church is used for.  There are four other people, besides me who can enter events on the church calendar.  Good Calendar is good at allowing multiple editors and handling conflicts.

iCloud Calendar stores all my personal things.  If it is just for me, it is on this calendar.  I wanted my personal calendar on a different system than the church calendar so some reason.

Software on my computers:  Apple's built in iCal calendar.  It syncs with both systems and does not have many bells or whistles.  I never invite anything to an event so this is a good choice. 

Apps on my devices:  Pocket Informant.  This works with iPhone and iPad and can handle both google and iCloud format.   It allows me to hide certain calendars to see schedules more quickly.  It allows alarms.  I am playing around with Fantastical 2 for my personal calendar only.  It does not give a good enough overview for my church calendar.

Task Management:

I use OmniFocus on both my computer and mobile devices.  It syncs through their own cloud service, it quick and allows many features that help manage tasks.  My favorite feature is that I can tell OmniFocus when I want to start a task and when it must be finished, so I can see all available tasks or all tasks that are in process and when they are due.

Notes:

I have two types of notes.  The first is my reference file.  Everything that I might need some day goes into Evernote.  Evernote contains thoughts, ideas, receipts, sermon notes, scans of documents, pictures of places I visit and anything else I might want to save.  It is available for all computers, all mobile devices and the web.  It syncs with their own cloud service. 

The second type of note is ephemeral.   If it only has to be around for a day or two or only needs to be synced between systems, then deleted, I use Simplenote.  Simplenote has an app for all Apple products and writes to a format that can be read by Windows apps.  It uses its own syncing system.  Some have asked why I do not use the built in Notes app on all Apple devices.  Up to this point, it has been too limited.  At the WWDC 2015 Keynote, they talked about an update for notes that makes it much more robust.  I will take a look at the new notes when it is released in September of 2015

Journal:

I keep a journal.  Not every day and not about everything.  It is mostly my reflection on life, being a pastor and what God is doing in my life.  The app I use is DayOne.  It is available on all Apple computers and devices and syncs through icloud. 

Writing:

From time to time I will write for my own pleasure, to take meeting notes, to prepare for Sunday or to prepare for this blog.  My writing took of choice is ByWord.  If it is sermon preparation proper, I do that in Apple's Pages because those end up on my iPad when saved to iCloud.  But for writing I want to keep and refer to back later it is ByWord.  ByWord exists for all Apple platforms and syncs through iCloud.  One reason I like ByWord is that it offers distracted writing on the computer.  It has a mode where the background goes blank and the only thing on the screen is ByWord.

Bibles:

I use Logos Bible Software, which is now Faithlife.  It is clearly the most comprehensive Bible study and sermon preparation software.  There are limited versions for mobile devices.  I also use OliveTree on my iPhone.  Olive Tree is faster, stores all files locally and has a better interface than Faithlife.  I started using OliveTree back when I had a Palm device. 

Prayer Request Management:

I use an app called Prayer Notebook.  It can handle a large number of prayer requests, sorts them by category and had a great looking graphical interface to use when praying.  And if you want to pray for two hours, there is a timer build into the app.  This app exists for all mobile devices, but not my computers.  I am still looking for a good prayer request manager that syncs everywhere, but this works on my phone and iPad, which is what I have with me when I pray.

This is about it.  I post to Facebook and Twitter using their apps and I have a dictionary app to look up words.  I use Pandora to listen to music and I use dropbox to share files between people in my church and to backup my pictures.  I try to read books whenever I can and as stated I have Bibles on my devices. I also have the Kindle app and iBooks with books in both. These will sync position of reading between devices. 

God bless you as you service our king

--
Grace and Peace,

Dr. Michael Wilson
Pastor
Cornerstone Fellowship
180 Lewelling Blvd
San Lorenzo, CA  94580

http://www.livingfreetoday.org