Wonder Tools — A tech writer's favorites 🐚
🎈A dozen useful sites and apps a tech journalist recommends
To discover new useful tools, I occasionally invite friends and fellow writers to share their toolkits. This week I asked Jared Newman to share simple sites and apps he relies on. Most are free or cheap. Read on for a curated collection of a dozen of his recommendations.
Plan ahead
Arrange your day: Bento is a simple app for prioritizing your day with the Bento Method. Each day you pick a small, medium, and large task to focus on. Each task gets a dedicated focus timer, plus soothing ambient sounds to help you stay in the zone. This app has a one-time purchase price of $4. [iOS]
JC notes: The Android app is unavailable at the moment. Alternative option: I rely on Sunsama to plan my day with a few priorities. Works across platforms.
Plan your week: If you’re overwhelmed by traditional to-do lists, Tweek is a welcome antidote. Type directly onto a weekly calendar view to create new tasks with minimal effort. Later check them off or drag them around. Tweek’s mobile app syncs with the web version, which has a nice printable version. Free, or $4/monthly for premium features like Google Calendar sync. [iOS, Android, web]
Pack as a group: Ditch spreadsheets and email chains for your next big outing and use Who Brings instead. With a simple shareable link, anyone in your group can add items to the list or claim responsibility for bringing something. You can even specify how much of something to bring and split the duties between people. Free, and no registration required. [Web]
Protect your time: Do you ever overbook yourself? Too many meetings? Reclaim for Google Calendar can help by blocking off time for deep work, lunch, or a meditation break. Just specify how much time you need and the app will find an available time slot within Google Calendar. It’s an extension of Reclaim’s freestanding web app, which also lets you make time for positive habits. Free with premium options for $8-$12/month. Video explanation. [Google Calendar]
A more polite meeting planner: In what seems like an act of magic, Boomerang has figured out how to embed your live calendar availability directly inside Gmail or Outlook. With its “Bookable Schedule” feature, you can send out scheduling emails with an embedded live view of your open time slots. All your recipient has to do is click the time that works best for them. [Web, iOS]
JC: I interviewed Boomerang CEO & co-founder Aye Moah. Free scheduling alternatives include Cal.com and ZCal.
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Streamline reading and writing
Consolidate your reading list: Unclutter your inbox and stop frittering away time on X/Twitter with an assist from Matter. This app automatically pulls in your newsletter subscriptions and interesting reads from your follows. Plus, you can save articles from the web for later or import your reading list from Pocket or Instapaper. [iOS, web, Android waitlist]
JC notes: Readwise Reader, described in this post, is a good alternative.
More natural note-taking: For stylus-equipped Windows PCs, Microsoft Journal offers a simple way to take handwritten notes. Scribble over an item to delete it, draw a circle around it for the selection tool, or draw a star to mark important items for later. You can also copy your handwriting and paste the text directly into apps like Word. It beats having to juggle clunky on-screen tools. [Windows]
JC: Goodnotes is a good handwriting app alternative for all platforms. Alternatives for Apple fans include Notability, or Notewise for Android.
A memory bank: Like a cross between a notepad and a clipboard manager, Jot & Paste lets you stash text snippets you want to come back to later. Press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Enter to bring up a simple scratchpad, type in what you want to save, then press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+L to show a list of your saved notes, which you can quickly paste into any text field. [Windows, Mac]
JC: Text Blaze is a good alternative for saving text snippets in Chrome. It lets you create keyboard shortcuts to quickly add commonly-used bits of text anywhere.
Easy speed reading: Next time you have to rush through a long article, try Bionic Reading. This browser extension and conversion tool starts each word with bold text to guide your eyes. It may look strange at first, but then feels faster. You can take a test to compare Bionic Reading with standard text. Jiffy Reader is an alternative. [Chrome, web]
Useful utilities
Stay focused: Great ambient noise apps are in short supply on Windows PCs, which is why Ambie is so refreshing. It includes dozens of high-quality background sounds, and you can save your own custom mixes. Focus timers and a simple notepad make this a one-stop concentration shop. [Windows]
JC: Noisli is a Web-based free alternative.
Free document signing: Adding your signature to a PDF shouldn’t require an expensive subscription or clunky login process. With SignFree, you can upload a document, draw your signature with a mouse or trackpad, add printed text if necessary, and download the results. The service is free, with optional subscriptions for extra features. [Web]
Blur it out: To avoid revealing sensitive info on your next Zoom call, try using Zeroblur. This free Chrome extension lets you blur out web page elements with one click. That’s useful for demoing a product or website that contains email addresses or other personal information. [Chrome, Firefox]
Sign up for Jared’s Advisorator newsletter to get more of his app ideas and tech tips in your inbox every Tuesday. This piece is adapted, edited and updated from a post Jared originally wrote for Fast Company.
What’s one little app you find useful? Leave a comment 👇
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WordTune is a game-changer.
Absolute game changer for me is capacities.io
I'm dyslexic and my brain is like a giant mind map. I think about a ton of different things, yet have always struggled to keep track. Also I know that what might appear to be a random collection of information, books, websites, thoughts are actually connected.
Capacities helps you see those connections.
Absolutely a game changer if you are anything like an information junkie like me.