Some leaders are tech geeks. Others are not.
The good news is that GeekPastor.com’s Wayne Cordova, my guest on Episode 34, is back with his best practical tips to help you get more done in less time.
Wayne will walk you through everything from free apps every team should be using, to how to get rid of most of your email, time hacking and more on this super practical episode.
Plus, he’s got a special bonus for podcast listeners.
Welcome to Episode 66 of the Podcast.
Guest Links: Wayne Cordova
Links Mentioned in this Episode
Michael Hyatt; Slack blog post
Free Apps
Google Apps, suite of apps for email, cloud storage, collaboration tools and more
Gmail, a very basic, user-friendly email system that can be customized to meet your organization’s needs
Google Docs, cloud-based documents to create, edit, and collaborate wherever you are
Google Sheets, cloud-based spreadsheets to create, edit, and collaborate wherever you are
Google Forms, collect and organize information, easily create surveys and sign-ups
Google Drive, cloud-based file storage that allows for easy sharing and access to files of all sizes
Google Chrome, fast, simple, powerful and secure web browser available on any device
Dropbox, cloud-based file storage that allows for easy sharing and access to files of all sizes
Evernote, a workspace that allows you to capture what’s important, move ideas and stay on task
If This Then That / IFTTT, an automation tool to create useful chains of simple conditional statements, called “recipes”
YouTube, video-sharing site, great for finding tutorials on the tools above
PicPlayPost, amazingly simple graphic design software
Word Swag ($3.99), text over pic editor, cool fonts, typography generator, creative quotes
Collaboration Apps
Slack, team communication tool for messaging and file sharing, fully searchable, and on all your devices
Wunderlist, an easy organizational tool to help you get things done faster
Trello, visual way to organize anything with anyone
Skype, video and audio conferencing with messaging and recording
Zoom, cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, and cross platform group chat
Google Hangouts, group communication with instant messaging, video chat, SMS and VOIP
Basecamp, web-based project management and collaboration tool
Todoist, best online task management app and to-do list
3 Things You Can Do Right Away
An app is never going to teach you leadership. It’s never going to teach you how to love people. So technology doesn’t lead. It simply enhances. When used as a tool, technology plays into the “how” when accomplishing the work of ministry and gives us margin to focus on building relationships. Wayne Cordova walks us through the apps that help him manage his ministry and gives you some great tips to hack your time and productivity.
- If it’s free, it’s for me. We get it. Your church probably doesn’t have a budget category for “apps”, and it can be difficult to sell them on new software and technology. Good news: there’s more free apps than ever to help you stay productive and collaborate with your team in real time. Check out Google Apps suite of free software, as well as some great apps for note taking, file storage, graphic design, and automation—all from your phone! What a time to be alive.
- Collaborate on-the-go. We’re seeing an increasing trend of remote staff, digital meetings, and online collaboration tools. You no longer need everyone in the room to stay productive and aligned. With the apps mentioned above, you can avoid the inbox all together with group messaging, beam in remote staff with audio/video conferencing, navigate complex projects with sophisticated project management, and share to-do lists to make sure it all gets done.
- Get up earlier. We all know the most precious resource we have is time. Feel like there’s not enough hours in the day? Here’s a novel idea: wake up earlier! You can easily gain an extra hour in the morning to knock out some work before the world (and kids) wakes up. Here’s a tip: wake up 15 minutes earlier each day by setting all your alarms for the week in advance. It will take some discipline, but the extra productivity will give you that energy boost you need!
