Digital Update

Greetings all,

I thought since I haven't blogged in a while that I would do an update on my attempt to step into a totally digital work environment.

So far . . . so good.  It hasn't been easy, and I bought a new mechanical pencil the other day just to remind myself where I came from . . . but the transition is going smoother than I anticipated.

First, the iPad . . . I was able to purchase, on sale from Best Buy, an iPad Air 3 along with a Logi iPad and keyboard holder.  The neat thing is that the Logi keypad does not need Bluetooth.  It has a live magnetic connection to the iPad.  Battery on the iPad Air is great, a lot better than my now almost 10 year old iPad 3 9.7 inch, which was one heavy sucker!   The iPad Air is very light.  Mind you, I know when I have the iPad in my bag, but the weight is much lighter overall.

I am using the iPad when I preach.  I simply disconnect the iPad from the keyboard, and open up Google Docs and off I go.  Nice not having to print paper copies of a sermon or lesson.

I also purchased an Apple Pencil 1.  I thought to myself, "let's waste $99 and buy an Apple Pencil."  Well, I'm using it more and more, especially since I purchased the Good Notes 5 app.  Good Notes is more than I will ever use or figure out.  I pretty much take all my meeting and daily notes on the iPad Air using the Day One Journal app (Premium . . . $30+ a year).  Day One Journal has been an answer to a prayer I didn't know I was praying.  It is simply awesome, and I am journalling 10x more than I ever have in the past.  Its easy to review and the search function is the best.

However, I still like to write sometimes . . . that old school feel of pencil in hand.  So far I have been pleased with the Apple Pencil and Good Notes combination.  I will be exploring this relationship more.  I still have my KLYC brand Traveler's Notebook for personal private journaling.

The other app I purchased (also $30+ for Premium) was the Get It Done App.  If you like David Allen's GTD method, then this may be the app for you.  I used it for a month . . . and now I haven't used it since, but will be meeting with my professional coach soon to get some extra training.  He suggested that I try Get It Done.

For years I have used the Planner Pad, a professional planning notebook that lets you manage a week's worth of appointments and projects.   I've gotten used to it.   With the GID app, I had to do a deep review every night or early morning before stating the new day.  With some help, I'm sure I can make GID work.  But for the current time, I adapted a Trello spread to look like to top part of a Planner Pad spread.  Its been working great!

Most of the apps sync to all my devices, except the Day One Journal, which doesn't yet sync to a Windows computer.

With this new digital system, I only need to take my cell phone with me to appointments, and just the iPad to meetings as long as I have access to Wi-fi.

The effort to go digital has been successful so far.  I seem to be more focused on the right thing to do at the right time.  I'm getting a lot done, and still finding time to be in the community singing and visiting.

More to come!