A List Making App For Us!

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17oTr569List makers rejoice! There’s an app just for us!

It’s called The List App — and it’s like Twitter for lists.

You can create and share all your best lists. You can also request a list from users – so you could ask your friend what they favorite food is, or you can ask Snoop Dogg for a list of his favorite movies. (Yes, even Snoop Dogg has an account!)

The app was created by The Office actor and writer B J Novak along with Dev Flaherty. On producthunt.com Novak explains why he created the app:

“I just love ’em. I’m always asking people for lists of favorite restaurants in certain cities, or documentaries on Netflix that are good, and originally wanted a place where people could request and share those types of lists with friends. There’s still a lot of that.

But we’ve also discovered what I think we all knew deep down – that lists are addictive, because they’re the way our brains naturally order things anyway. It enables substance way easier than other forms of writing because it is often the connective tissue that gets in the way.”

The app encourages people to share all kinds of lists, not just shopping lists. There are lists on hot new music alongside lists of favorite emojis! Read more

Listen to News and Me On-The-Go

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rivet-thelistproducer-ad-300x250_NEWAfter the departure of Umano, I’ve been listening to a lot of audio books. It’s been a good chance to catch up on everything I’ve been meaning to read. However I feel there is still a void where Umano used to be.  Remember Umano — it was the platform where you could get your news read to you by professionals.  I even read these blog posts on Umano and shared my stuff in a whole new way.  I was bummed when they closed down.  

Until I discover Rivet. Like Umano, Rivet reads to you all the latest news, over a range of different categories. With a mix of local, national, and world news. You can get all the latest on:

  • Breaking News
  • Technology
  • Science
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Law, Order & Disorder
  • Government & Politics
  • Weather & Traffic

Rivet also remembers what you like to listen to and curates a playlist for you.

Plus if you’ve been missing the audio content I uploaded to Umano – then you’ll definitely want to download Rivet. I’m doing a weekly podcast show for them where I talk about a different productivity topic each week.

Click this link and download the app for iOS or Android.  Can’t wait to hear what you think of this new platform.  I’m excited to be on board and bring you a new and easy way to get your news…and productivity tips too!

How To Read Twice As Much In Half The Time

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girl-791686_1280I love reading. I’ve always been a book worm.  In school I would start a new book every few days.

While I still try to read as much as possible, I’m a little ashamed to admit down to about one book a month (if that!)

The slower I progress through my book list, the more guilty I feel.

The problem with reading is that it doesn’t really fit in with our “on-the-go” lifestyle. You can’t read a book while you walk (unless you are exceptionally talented). Which is why I’ve started listening to audio books.

When you’re no longer constrained to sitting down to read, it’s much easier to make time to learn something new or escape to a far off land in a book.   Read more

Be Less Forgetful With These Apps

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adult-15814_640Here’s a secret — I’m pretty forgetful.  I really need to write things down immediately or they fly right out of my head. Between working as a news producer and managing this blog I have a lot to remember. I rely heavily on lists of course and programs like Asana, but sometimes things fall through the gaps. So I’m always looking for new technology to help me keep track of everything I need to remember.

Here are some of the new apps I’ve been trying lately: Read more

Quicker Than a Celeb Marriage — Zirtual Is Back

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Zirtual WebsiteUPDATE: This is a correction to a post I wrote this week called, “Outsourcing Site Zirtual Goes Bye Bye…Don’t Panic.”

Great news…you really don’t have to panic…

Zirtual is BACK!

Yep — just like that.

In the blink of an eye all those annoying tasks you didn’t want to do yourself — can be outsourced to a Zirtual assistant again!

I’ve rarely had to cover breaking news on this blog — I reserve that for my day job as a TV producer.  But I’m excited to bring you this up-to-the-minute update.

I heard from the CEO at Startups.co, which bought out Zirual after their payroll snafu.  Wil Schroter wrote via email:

We bought the company and are operating as per before.  Your article is inaccurate.  Happy to answer questions.

I didn’t realize they had gotten operations up and running so quickly.

Well that’s fabulous and that means you need to get going on that to-do list you’ve been putting off.  And by get to… I mean give it to someone else to do!

Outsourcing is your friend.

Sometimes Productivity Falls Through the Cracks

I have to admit when I got this email from Wil my heart sank.  I thought, “oh no! I got it wrong! I let my readers down.”

You see — as a producer working in news — “getting it right” is something that is really important to me — really it’s the only thing that matters.

I’m sorry I got this one wrong.  When I published that first post — the Zirtual blog still said it was in limbo and to stay tuned so that’s what I went with.

As soon as I learned about the update though — I preempted the blog post that was supposed to run today so I could bring you the most accurate information.

Sometimes productivity and accuracy does fall through the cracks. We are all human — remember not to be too hard on yourself today.

Thanks for understanding about my oversight and I hope you’re just as excited as I am that Zirtual is back!