I use a lot of different technology tools to keep my life, and my blog, productive. Many of these tools have free and paid versions and I’m still not paying for many of them because the free versions are so great. On the other hand, some of the paid versions are so great that I’m promoting them here. If you sign up, Relishments will benefit, but as always, I’d never encourage you to buy something that I didn’t think was worth it. Thanks for supporting the site!
Evernote
I’ve been loving Evernote since way back in 2009 and I’ve written about it several times:
- New Favorite Site: Evernote (May 2009)
- I <3 Evernote (November 2011)
- Tech: Optimize Your Evernote Experience (April 2013)
I love Evernote because, using their Web Clipper browser extension, I can easily save recipes to my account. Currently, I’m at over 3500 notes, most of which are recipes that I can easily search from anywhere. Evernote also makes it easy to share notes via email, which is perfect for passing along my favorite recipes to family and friends. (affiliate link)
Todoist
Todoist has been my preferred task management application since January of 2014. I tried a lot of different tools and struggled to find something that works for me, but this one stuck! I appreciate the ability to create different projects and recurring tasks, as well as the Premium account functions of attaching notes to my tasks and getting mobile and email reminders. Todoist works great on my phone and my laptop computers at home and at work. I’d be forgetting an awful lot of things without it!
- Tech: My New Task Management Tool: Todoist (January 2014)
BackBlaze
In the spring of 2015, my computer stalled during a routine update. Luckily, a friend of mine who’s good with computers was able to have it back up and running fairly quickly and I didn’t lose any data. But it reminded me that I really shouldn’t wait any longer to sign up for something to back up my computer’s files. I signed up for BackBlaze and the resulting peace of mind has been great. BackBlaze runs in the background of my computer and costs just $5 a month. That’s a small price to pay to know that all my blog photos…plus my master’s thesis, music and lesson plans…are safely backed up no matter what happens to my machine. (affiliate link)
Trello
Trello is one of the newer tools in my digital tool belt. It’s a more visual medium for task management which allows you to create a board for a project and add lists with cards to organize your tasks. I like Trello because I can make cards with information that I need to access regularly and find easily, like the color codes and quick links for this site, drafts of emails and recurring to do items. I’ve also used Trello to plan Brian’s 30th birthday and organize his present (a trip to Canada), track prices at different supermarkets and share plans for house projects with Brian. (affiliate link)
- Trello was featured in Tips and Tools for Menu Planning – 2015 Edition
IFTTT
IFTTT is a way to automate your online life by connecting various services you use. There are now 214 available channels (way up from the 69 they had when I started using it!) including Blogger, Buffer, Dropbox, Email, Evernote, Facebook, Feedly, Drive, Instagram, Trello, Tumblr, WordPress and YouTube. You activate the channels by connecting your accounts to IFTTT, then use the channels to create recipes. Recipes follow the formula “if _______________, then _______________”. You can automate sharing, to do lists, reminders, posting and so, so much more.
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
Google Drive™
Google Drive seems like the type of tool that I could skip over. Chances are good that you’ve been using it as long as I have. And I use a lot of tools that can do the things I used to rely on Google Drive for. Nevertheless, I still love Google Drive. I use it to manage my editorial and menu planning calendars. There’s nothing easier for collaborating on projects with others and I love that I can access my documents from anywhere. I explained a lot more about the integration of Drive and my blog in the post below:
- TECH: How Google Drive Keeps Me Blogging
- Google Drive was featured in Tips and Tools for Menu Planning – 2015 Edition
Site Hosting and Theme
SiteGround
After a year of blogging, I knew it was time to make the move to a self-hosted site. After nearly 9 years of blogging, I switched from my original host to SiteGround. Less than a week after I made the purchase, I was so happy with my choice. The price was right, but even more so, their customer service was outstanding and super-fast. If you need a website host, I highly recommend SiteGround.
Genesis + Foodie Pro from Studio Press
Relishments is built using the Genesis Framework and the Foodie Pro Theme from StudioPress. I switched to Genesis after years of hearing great things about it. Foodie Pro has taken Relishments to the next level in terms of customization, professionalism and overall appearance. (affiliate link)
This page contains affiliate links. Thank you for your continued support of Relishments!
EVERNOTE, the Evernote Elephant logo and REMEMBER EVERYTHING are trademarks of Evernote Corporation and used under a license.
