My Productivity App Arsenal

Robin Hood had a bow and arrow. Paul Bunyan had an axe and an ox. Morpheus had a freaking sword and a slew of high-powered artillery. Popeye had spinach.

Look at that beautiful bean footage.

Everyone has their go-to weapons. Their bread-and-butter. The items they can’t live without. Reader and friend Dave suggested I write a post about the apps that make up my MacBook Air menu bar arsenal. (He didn’t say “arsenal.” Dave’s too sophisticated for that. I added it because the five-year-old in me still likes playing “Cops and Robbers.”)

Since I’m a sucker for productivity apps, I thought I’d oblige the request and walk you through my collection.

Here are the apps I use every single day to accomplish workflow domination:

1. Skitch

• Skitch is a must for anyone who needs to share their screen quickly. Add annotations, text, and arrows easily to any screen cap imaginable.
• I use this to show coworkers what I’m looking at, what needs to change, and clarify questions I have about a design or product.
• With Skitch’s recent acquisition by the folks at Evernote, the entire service has become noticeably faster. Extra bonus? It now integrates fully with Evernote Desktop. HUGE!

2. Flux

• This app keeps my screen from frying my brain. Flux automatically adjusts your screen brightness based on your timezone. Why? To keep  you from being bug-eyed at bedtime.
• You can set your lighting preferences based on the type of ambient light in your surroundings. Flux then gives your screen a funky glow that tells your brainwaves, “Hey, simmer down. Let the poor man rest.”
• A must if you do any sort of computing late at night.

3. CloudApp

• If you need to share a file, CloudApp is the app for you.
• Simply drag and drop any file you need to share to the menu bar droplet and it will upload and copy a public link right to your clipboard.
• The aforementioned Skitch, while super helpful, lacks the speed of CloudApp. I’ll often drag files straight from Skitch to CloudApp to cut down on lag time.
• There are upload limits to the free account, but I’ve rarely found it to be an issue.

4. Dropbox

• The gold standard in cloud computing.
• Writing about the benefits of Dropbox feels a little like describing the pros of breathing air. You just need to be using Dropbox. It’s that simple.
• Seriously though, it makes working with teams 100 times easier. Share folders, files, get public download links, sync apps across multiple devices, generous amounts of free storage…Yeah. It’s like that.

5. TextExpander

• TextExpander works by pre-defining a snippet of text that you want associated with a shortcut. For instance, “ty” becomes “thank you”, “galot” becomes “get a load of this!”
• I got tired of writing the same work-related email over and over, so I found TextExpander. Now, when I need to give a canned response, I engage my TextExpander snippet and it writes the email for me.
• Another step towards automation domination.

6. Backblaze

• This is the online backup service we trust at MonkDev. It works by installing a small snippet of code onto your Mac. Then you’ve got a preference listing in System Preferences to control the app.
• Mindless backup. That’s what I need. That’s what Backblaze provides. Backing up files is so important, but few of us do it. Until it’s too late.
• Additionally, this service is crafted by folks who used to work for Mac. Integration is seamless.

7. PomodoroApp

• I live and die by this little app. It keeps my workflow organized, 25 minutes at a time.
• The Pomodoro Method works by giving you a small window of focused time to produce and then rewards you with a small break.
• You can name tasks and track how long projects take. So important. So helpful.

8. Divvy

• I use Divvy to keep my screen organized. Nothing’s worse than dozens of open windows, all chaotically scattered around your desktop. Divvy takes care of that.
• Engage the app and it gives you a sexy grid to organize the top window on your screen. Super helpful if you have a small screen. Even better if you’re working with big, beautiful dual monitors.
• I admit, some may not be as OCD as I am, but organization is key to any productivity workflow.

9. Timing Menu

• I’m still playing around with this one, but a teammate of mine introduced me to Timing Menu. So far, so good.
• If you want to know where you’re spending the majority of your time, Timing Menu will show you.
• Categorize apps by subject and you’ve got a reliable readout of how your workday is spent. See below for my grid yesterday.

10. iStat Menus

• Sometimes my laptop, for lack of a better term, freaks out. I want to know why without having to dig through Activity Monitor. iStat Menu gives me that info at a glance.
• They have a whole slew of options (battery indicators, unit temperature, fan speed, etc.), but I stick with hard drive space, CPU usage, and network speed.
• This is probably the geekiest app I own.