Make Sh*t Happen Tools

This is an excerpt from my Make Sh*t Happen program. Click here to learn more and sign-up for the early notification list!

Below is a sampling of tools that I’ve used or that come highly recommended:

Websites to help with general goal pursuit: 

  • 43 Things – list goals, share progress, and get support from a massive goal-setting community
  • 42 Goals – Tracks your goals with a “user-friendly interface and copious charts”
  • Bubble.us – Free web application for brainstorming online
  • MindMeister – online mind-mapping and brainstorming
  • Postica – virtual sticky notes that you can share with friends
  • Howcast – video tutorials 

Staying organized / to-do list software:

  • Todoist.com and RememberTheMilk.com - Task-management programs that can help you group tasks by projects.
  • TeuxDeux.com - a personal favorite with an interface that shows you the days of the week across the top, with room to input tasks for each day. Set this up on Monday with your most important tasks, and experience that great feeling of accomplishment as you complete things throughout the week.
  • NowDoThis.com - Having trouble getting focused or feeling completely overwhelmed with too much to do? Enter a handful of tasks into NowDoThis.com, and don’t get up until you see the “all done!” message at the end.

Creative (i.e. writing, visioning):

  • Google Docs – I keep all of my ideas and to-do lists in a doc for each project. You can also easily share drafts of your writing with others for feedback.
  • OhLife – sends daily or weekly prompts. “The easiest way to write your life story.”
  • 750 Words – Online answer to the concept of morning pages (from The Artist’s Way)
  • WriteRoom – Write without distractions – program for Mac or iPhone
  • Prezi – The zooming presentation editor
  • Image Spark – Discover, share, tag and converge images that inspire you and your work
  • Scribd – Easily upload, share, and promote your documents online

Money/Saving related:

  • Mint.com – online money-management software; handy goal-tracking feature
  • Smarty Pig – social savings – have friends help you fund your goal
  • IndieGoGo – a collaborative way to fund ideas
  • DebtGoal – pay down debt faster by paying smarter

Health/Fitness:

  • LiveStrong.com – Daily Plate feature helps track food and fitness
  • Betterfly.com – Find people to help you look, learn and feel better
  • Map My Run – Track runs, map routes, and log progress

Organizing an event / Scheduling:

  • Pingg – artist designed online invitations
  • Eventbrite – super easy to use, good integration with maps, calendar
  • Evite – the old standby – lots of improvements in recent years.
  • Tungle.me: for speedier appointment-booking (so you don’t have to go back and forth via email)
  • Google’s appointment feature (similar to Tungle.me).

Gmail Tools:

  • Boomerang: Enables delayed send and allows you to “hide” an email and boomerang it back to yourself at a set time.
  • Rappaportive: Shows you all of someone’s social media profiles and latest updates in the right-hand sidebar.
  • NutshellMail (not specific to gmail): Sends a daily digest (or at a frequency you suggest) of social media activity.

Starting a blog or business:

Travel:

  • TripIt – Keeps all your travel plans in one spot; even has a gmail plug-in that grabs reservations automatically; easy to see where friends and family in your network are traveling.
  • Travel Toolbox: 75+ online travel resources
  • Trip Advisor – Another social trip planning & review app

Other Tips and Tricks 

  • Droplr: Allows you to quickly take screenshots, and drag, drop and share easily.
  • TransPacific Medical Transcription Services: I used them to transcribe my dad’s lectures on the History of Post-Modernism, and they are incredibly fast and accurate, with amazing customer service. They charge $1 per minute, and you can request a free trial (for 30 minutes or 300 lines).

E-Books:

  • Chris Guillebeau’s Unconventional Guides: Chris’ guides are some of the best in town for those of you wanting to start your own online blog or business. His suite includes the following books: Business – Empire Building Kit, Travel – Become a Frequent Flyer Master, Create your own freedom: break out of the 9 to 5.
  • Danielle LaPorte’s SPARK KIT: “A digital experience for entrepreneurs” – ridiculously kick-ass advice, exercises and resources for taking action.
  • Ashley Ambirge’s You Don’t Need a Job, You Need Guts – Ashley’s ebook “teaches you how to stop surrendering your soul to the rat race and instead, create a meaningful, delightfully unapologetic career based around YOU + YOUR INTERESTS by leveraging the web + harnessing the magnetic power of authentic passion, guts & glory.”
  • Sean Ogle’s Overcoming Uncertainty – Sean says the mission of this program is to “arm you with the mental fortitude and tactical know-how necessary to escape the paralyzing grip of uncertainty and help you navigate your way to the life you really want to be living.”

Note: Let me know if you think there are any MUST-HAVES that should make it into the next edition of this book!