Tag: evernote

Digital sermon prep

For the last 6 months, every time I’ve spoken publicly, I’ve done so without paper.

In other words, no trees are killed because I preach.

I realize that I’m going against the method that many of you use to prepare, using printed pieces of paper, napkins you jot notes on, and paper outlines you preach from.

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image credit: inmagine.com

Going digital was a big deal for me. I hate carrying around various papers. I hate writing notes down, only to forget where those notes are written. I hate wondering if I grabbed every note I need before I leave the house to preach. Hate it.

So here are the tools I use in the preparation, and delivery, of my sermon.

Digital sermon prep & delivery

Pre-sermon

YouVersion – my initial, first-pass reading comes here. I read daily from YouVersion.

Evernote – all of my notes, especially my sustained writing time, happens here. This is also my catch-all for creating a sermon over the course of time. As I’m prepping a sermon, I have two files: a “notes and ideas” file and a “final sermon” file. When I’m having lunch one day and an idea comes, I throw it in my “notes and ideas” file. Or I snap a picture for an illustration. Or I record myself speaking and come back to it later when I have time. Then, the week I’m preaching, I start compiling notes, illustrations, and ideas into my “final sermon” file.

iPhone – Instead of writing notes and ideas down on a random index card I find in my bag, I take them via Evernote on my iPhone. I don’t always have my computer or iPad with me, but I’ve always got my phone. For (as above) written notes, photos, videos, and voice records.

Things – In general, Things is a to-do list application. I keep all of my to-do lists here. For preaching, I have a “future sermon” to-do list (called a “project”) for capturing bigger ideas and checklists of additional resources to consult and additional thoughts to pursue. You can see more about Things HERE.

Google drive – at Grace, we keep our sermon series ideas, along with dates, Scriptures, and bottom line ideas, here (think “online share drive”). It’s shared (with all updates being reflected on everyone’s account) with our entire teaching team, giving all of us access to the remainder of the year’s flow of series and sermons. As I make more progress with a sermon, I’ll fill in more details on our Google drive, and everyone knows a clearer direction for my sermon.

Bible Gateway – I study a lot here, because it’s easy to switch back-and-forth between translations. They have just about every translation you’ve ever heard of. In addition, they have study tools and commentaries that are helpful (and free).

Monergism – This is a great resource of sermons and study resources such as commentaries, Bible resources, theology books, free books, and articles. This site can overwhelm you if you’re not careful. It’s well-done, but there’s a ton of information to slog through. This is never a “first pass” study resource for me. I use this in looking for specific, pointed information.

Delivery

Pages – I transfer everything over to Pages, which is Apple’s version of Microsoft Word. Since it offers page breaks (and Evernote does not), it feels more natural to preach from than Evernote. This is just a preference thing for me. Combine this with the fact that Pages now syncs over the cloud with my phone, iPad, and computer, and I love this even more.

iPad – This is what I preach from. I’ve found it incredibly easy to preach from, and even making changes up until the time I begin is easy…just click and start typing. Or click and delete. Changes are quick and easy. It’s not nearly as intrusive as bringing a laptop on stage with me, and is much easier to work from than my phone.

The JoyFactory Case – I needed a way to prop my iPad up just a little so that it was easier to read. And I found a case I love, made by The Joy Factory. There are tons of cases that work well…this is just the one I use.

Is there still a place for printed resources? Sure. I’ve got loads of books that are very much worth consulting when I preach. On my shelf are volumes of commentaries, Puritan classics, and books that I’ve been given at conferences.

But when I preach, I have entered the digital age. And I challenge you to join me.

Question:

When you preach, or speak, do you use digital notes or printed notes?

 

7 Ways to Not Be a Slave to your Phone

You know you’ve got a problem with your smart phone when you check it during

  • church services you’re leading
  • your child’s recital
  • your morning commute
  • the middle of a counseling conversation
  • a meeting you’re leading
  • a bike ride with 4 other guys riding with you

image via unsafepictures.com

When I hear the “ding” on my phone,  I’m like Pavlov’s dog. I can’t not check it. It’s just not possible. Something inside of me goes off. If I can’t immediately check my phone when the ding happens, I start getting the cold sweats. My right eye starts to twitch uncontrollably, and my left big toe squirms.

I’ve talked with guys who just put their smart phone on the bedside table when they get home from work and don’t touch it until the next morning. But I can’t do that. Pastoral emergencies happen.

I was just tired of my smart phone controlling my life. I had a problem. So I decided to take action.

7 Ways to Not Be a Slave to your Phone

1. Turn off auto push for email.

Don’t have emails automatically come to your phone and alert you when they arrive. This is the #1, easiest way to make your phone work for you, instead of you working for your phone. See, when you do it this way, you get to check your email when you want…rather than hearing that “ding” when you’re in the middle of playing with your 3 year old.

2. Turn off push notification for all twitter and Facebook.

If you have someone’s updates ding your phone every time they post, you’re asking for trouble. And you’re asking to:

  1. Hate social media. “Gosh…don’t they know I’m eating dinner?”
  2. Hate the fact that ____ posts all of the time. “Why are they posting NOW? Shouldn’t they be working?”

3. Take pictures, but post later.

I love being able to capture moments and not fumble around looking for my camera only to realize it needs fresh batteries and I haven’t changed the SD card out since 2007. Taking a picture with my phone takes little to no time at all. HOWEVER, posting said picture to Instagram takes a bit more time. Tweaking the filter thinking of a witty text to go along with it completely removes me from the moment I’m trying to capture. So take as many pictures as you want…but post them later. Nobody cares if that cute picture of your baby in her infant tankini isn’t posted in real-time.

4. Use “Things.”

Or Wunderlist. Or some sort of note taking tool. Jot down to-dos so that you don’t forget them later. Oftentimes, my job depends on me remembering what small group leader I need to touch base with, what friend I need to pray for, or what task I still need to finish up before our next training event. But I don’t fully follow through with these things in the moment. It takes very little time or effort to open my to-do list manager, type in the task, and “save” it to the cloud. When I get back in front of my computer, voila…I’ve got my full list.

5. Yell mean things at your phone and tell it you’re boss.

If it doesn’t listen, yell louder. That’s what we pastors do when we’re preaching, right?

6. Use Evernote.

Jot down ideas here, but don’t flesh them out on the go. Similar to “Things” (above), I have lots of new, fresh ideas. Some for small groups, some for our church at large, and some for various writing projects I’m tackling. If those ideas don’t get jotted down, they’re gone. I’ll forget them. So I jot them down, and leave them until I have time later to go back and tweak/flesh them out. I rarely, if ever, flesh ideas out in the moment.

7. “No phones at the dinner table” rule.

We’ve just recently imposed this rule at our family dinner table. Phones are off-limit while we’re sitting down for dinner. I do get the shakes sometimes when I get a text message, but those shakes are easily disguised by popping another bite of chicken in my mouth. This rule will help your family feel valued, and help ensure you’re not a slave to your smart phone.

I was tired of being a slave to my smart phone. I’m guessing you are, too. Or if you aren’t…I bet your friends are tired of you being absent from the moment.

Question:

Are you a slave to your smart phone?

 

 

The best way to capture, record, & search data

Most of my posts here on the blog are for pastors and small group leaders.

Occasionally, though, I venture outside of that. Today happens to be one of those days.

As you may know, I’m an Evernote fanboy. I’ve found all kinds of great ways to use it. From gathering ideas, to capturing meeting notes, to traveling, I’ve found Evernote to be one of the most helpful software programs around.

public evernote iPad wallpaper

Recently, it’s taken another step forward for me in my workflow.

For the past few months, I’ve worked out at a local Cross Fit gym.

They encourage you to buy a journal to log your workouts, times, max reps, and goals. There is a section to daily write in the details of your workout, and another space to write in your personal records. Which is not a bad system…for the 1950s.

Evernote does all of this, and more.

After every workout, I type in the details of the workout, the weight I used, and my time.

I also make sure to add in my max rep/weight. Know how I do that? I record it like this:

Max bench press: ___

Murph time: ____

I can do this on my phone or on my computer. In fact, I can even snap a picture of the white board before I leave, and import it in. (this image is searchable…Evernote recognizes your handwriting in the premium version)

The great part about this is that Evernote is searchable. So next time we’re doing bench press, I don’t have to try to wrack my brain to figure out what my last max weight/rep was. I just search Evernote, on my phone right before I work out…and voila…I’m reminded.

Some workouts are repeated, and it’s easy to search for a particular workout, or personal record (PR) for a movement.

And since it’s all searchable on my computer or my phone, it’s easy to quickly jog my memory, and keep a record in one place, syncing between my devices, forever.

No more accidentally forgetting a journal. No more paying money for another device to carry around. No more flipping between pages to figure out where to put the information. Evernote does it all.

Where else could this data capture work for you?

Using Evernote to capture data

  • Practicing for a sport
  • Recording test results for a class you’re taking
  • Recording travel mileage for tax purposes
  • Keeping up with sermon illustration ideas
  • Tagging your favorite Bible verses
  • Snapping pictures of receipts for use during tax season
  • Jotting down quotes from books you’re reading
  • Remembering web pages.
  • Keeping up with places you’ve traveled
  • Storing your thoughts from restaurants you’ve eaten
  • Keeping up with your medical/immunization records
  • Storing gift ideas
  • Remembering names of people you meet
  • Keeping up with your to-do lists

Any time you may need to capture, and later search for, information, Evernote does it.

For free.

Question:

Do you use Evernote?

 

 

Evernote for travel: 5 new uses

image via iStock Photo user: Maurits Vink

I’ve written a few times about my love of Evernote. I’m a big fan.

I use it in so many ways, and it’s become my go-to app for writing, idea generation, travel plans, meeting notes, and collaboration. I wanted to share a couple of new ways I’m using it. Last week, I led a missions team to Costa Rica. Evernote helped in big ways.

Next time you travel, I think it will help you, too.

Using Evernote for traveling

1. In coordination with IdeaPaint

I shared last time that I had a white board sticker that I put on my wall. The only problem with the sticker was that it kept falling down, which is not very professional during a meeting. So I decided to use IdeaPaint, a paint that is used like a whiteboard. I can write and erase on it, and it leaves no ghost marks or faint colors behind. As I was planning things out for our trip, I could write them on my wall, snap a pic when I’m done, and save the pics to Evernote.

2. Scanning in important info

As part of being a team leader of our trip to Costa Rica, I had to gather lots of info from each team member. And lots of info for the organization we were going through. And lots of information for Grace. And I needed to have all of that info with me. I had passports, emergency contact info, insurance information, etc. I had hundreds of pieces of paper I needed to travel with. So I scanned every one of them in to Evernote, and they were instantly searchable. So, for instance, if I needed to search for Justin’s drug allergies, I didn’t have to dig for the right paper…I just typed it into Evernote and voila!

3. Collaboration with key documents

I’m the small groups pastor at Grace, not the missions pastor. So I don’t personally need to keep a record of everything from our travels to Costa Rica. That’s the responsibility of Lindsey Frey. So I “shared” the “Costa Rica” notebook with Lindsey, and she’s able to file away every document I put together. And when I make changes to the notebook, those changes are reflected in her notebook, too. Which means I don’t have to make a second copy of everything, or update her every time a change is made.

4. Keeping up with travel arrangements

I saved all of our itineraries to Evernote. Most of our team were traveling on the exact same schedule. Two team members, however, were traveling back home 3 days later. So things could easily get a little sticky. But with Evernote, I was able to keep the itineraries separate, and quickly and easily pull up the various airline information for each team member. Which was nice, because I was able to share those itineraries in a flash with our team, and with anyone in the States who needed the info.

5. Writing blogs

I wrote blog posts every day updating our progress. When I was at The Abraham Project, I didn’t have access to internet. But even without access to internet, Evernote works. So I’d jot down my blog post ideas throughout the day, then when I got back to the bed-and-breakfast where we were staying, Evernote would sync up, and I’d have access to the notes on my computer. Rather than just trying to remember my thoughts throughout the day, I had downloaded them when they came to mind. Which made the writing process much quicker and easier.

Next time you’re leading a missions team, or taking a trip of any kind, consider using Evernote. It’ll make your life much easier.

Have you converted to using Evernote? Are you “sold” on it?

* image via iStock Photo user: Maurits Vink

 

Getting the perfect gift for the blogger you love

We all want to get that perfect gift for someone for Christmas, right?

image via creation swap user Travis Silva

The one that says, “I know you so well that I didn’t even have to ask you what you would want, I can pick the perfect gift you didn’t even know you wanted or needed.”

Allow me to help.

If you’re looking for a gift for a blogger, I’ve got your back.

1. 31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo

This is a great e-book resource from Bryan Allain. It’ll help kickstart a new blog or restart an old one. And it’s only $4.99. 

2. Evernote Premium

I’ve made it no secret that I love Evernote. I’ve found some new uses. It’s revolutionized the way I capture information, which I believe is key to having fresh blog content. An Evernote premium account just takes Evernote to a whole new level. I’m finding more and more every day just how key Evernote is to blogging success. Pay for a year’s subscription for $45.

3. Standard Theme

This is the theme that I use here on my blog. It’s fantastically simple to use, but beautifully robust on the back-end. It’s a great theme that’s easily customizable. If the blogger you love doesn’t have it, this would be a great gift. The theme is $49, but for $99 you can get lifetime support and updates.

4. Idea Paint

I use a big dry-erase sticker, but Idea Paint is even more awesome. You can get it on their website, or you can snag a much cheaper can at Lowe’s HERE. It’s $30 for enough paint to cover a 6 square foot area.

5. Kindle Fire

This is a great new tool that gives the blogger flexibility to read e-books and post updates to their blog as well. And you’ll be someone’s hero. Priceless. Or, if you’re counting change, it’s $199.

6. Coffee

I prefer Starbucks VIA or Starbucks cards. If you’re not a Starbucks fan, just head to your local coffee shop and get a pound of coffee. Your blogger will love you for it. Average price: $10/pound.

7. Moleskine Notebook

Sometimes it’s easier to write our thoughts out, or sketch an idea on paper. Enter the Moleskine. With a variety of colors, cover-types, and paper, you can pick just the right one. Soft cover: $12; Hard cover: $17.95

8. Apple gift cards

From music to apps, bloggers can find a variety of useful things. Most of them serve as distractions, but that’s beside the point. Price: starts at $5…but depends on how much you love your blogger.

9. Headphones

If we’re going to listen to music in public places, respect dictates we listen to music through headphones. I’ve got my eye on a set of Beats by Dr. Dre that have a built-in mic for talking on my phone through the headset. Those are $179, but the Plantronics Backbeat are great, too, have a built-in mic, and are $19.99.

10. Laptop bag

If you’ve got a laptop you carry around, you’ve got to have something to carry it in. I have an STM bag that I love. A new laptop bag is always a good idea. The STM bag I’ve got is $49.99.

11. MacBook Air

I know, I know…this is a stretch. But for those you really love, this may be just the right gift! The portability and power of a new MacBook Air is perfect for the person that travels throughout the day and needs something light and easy to move with, but that’s still got plenty of power. It’s a steal at $999.

Have a blogger in mind? What are you getting them?

* photo credit: creation swap user Travis Silva

 

 

 

 

 

Two great new uses for Evernote

I use Evernote more than any other 3rd party software on my computer. I’ve been using it for a while now.It’s changed the way I capture and process information. It has become a part of my everyday workflow. (if you’re interested, my pastor and friend, Ron Edmondson, just released an eBook called “Evernote for Pastors.” It’s just $1.99. You can pick up a copy HERE.)

I use Evernote in place of a few things:

  • Microsoft Word/Pages
  • Sticky notes
  • Moleskine
  • Journal
  • Storage notebook

If you don’t already use Evernote, find out more basics on their blog HERE.

Let me tell you about two ways I’ve recently been Evernote that I think you’ll like.

Two Game-Changing Uses for Evernote

1. Image capture post-meeting.

I have a whiteboard sticker on my wall. I collaborate on it during meetings so that it’s a collaborative effort with the people I’m meeting with and they don’t feel like I’m just staring at my computer screen. When the meeting is over, I snap a picture of the whiteboard with my phone and drop it in Evernote into my ‘meetings’ folder, tagged with the appropriate type of meeting. Now I can go back later and reference my notes. In fact, the image (composed of my handwritten notes) is digitally searchable via Evernote’s built-in search.

2. Collaboration

Some people use Google Docs, but to be honest, I have never been crazy about it. I don’t like the absence of a desktop app, which forces me to navigate to the web-browser interface every time. It’s never become a part of my workflow.

But I’ve just started using Evernote for collaboration. I share entire notebooks with other team members. For example, I’m sharing a notebook with some staff members as we’re working through developing a pastoral care ministry. In that notebook we’re putting all of our notes documents that we’re creating (Evernote supports any type of document via Evernote Premium). Any changes or additions that are made in the notebook are reflected with all that are sharing. Everybody has the ability to upload files, take notes, and make changes.

Evernote is a fantastic program. And it’s free. There’s no reason you shouldn’t pick it up right now.

It just may change the way you gather and process information, too.

Do you use Evernote? If not, what do you use to capture and process information?

 

Software tools I’m using right now

You probably already know about Hootsuite as a Twitter client…and hopefully you use it.  I do. See why HERE.

You also probably already have an RSS reader (see my explanation of what RSS is HERE). No?  Then check out NetNewsWire (and my review HERE). I love how it syncs with my iPhone, and I can stay within the application to leave comments, ReTweet, and subscribe to new feeds.

But I want to tell you about a couple of software tools I’m using right now that are helping me to be more productive.

Productivity apps

EvernoteI use Evernote primarily for idea capture.  When I have an idea I want to remember, I record it in Evernote.  I used to use a Moleskine notebook to write things down…or whatever paper I found closest to me.  But what kept happening is that I would lose the paper, or didn’t have my notebook with me when I needed it.  Evernote is with me wherever I go…as long as I have my phone or computer with me…and it syncs up between my devices.

In addition to capturing ideas, I also use it when there’s a website or blog I need to go back and check later.  I just click the Evernote icon that I have installed as a plugin for Google Chrome (details on how to do that HERE), the web browser I use.

Wunderlist – I use Wunderlist for ongoing task management.  Whenever I have a task, I just add it to Wunderlist.  If I need a reminder, Wunderlist can send push notifications to my phone.

I have my lists divided up into the various areas that I am responsible for at work.  Each area has its own list.  So over the course of time, whether leading up to meetings or for projects I’m working on, I just add them to the list and don’t have to worry about forgetting to talk about it in the next meeting.

I can also share my lists, and have others collaborate on them, by clicking the icon and sending collaborators an email.  And when we make a change, it’s reflected on everybody’s lists.

The great news is that both of these applications are free cross-platform.  Meaning that they’re free as a desktop client or a mobile application.

Which means that you have no good excuse to not give these a shot.

Are there tools you’re using right now that are helping you be more productive?

 

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