Austin Family Photographer | [My Favorites] Tuesday

Ah! It feels so wonderful to be back to blogging, editing, and scheduling sessions!  I’ve been on vacation with my husband and his family to the lovely state of Colorado. I’m back (as of yesterday, technically) and ready to go!  Today’s [insert word here] Tuesday post is going to be a little different. I want to share two things with you that I use on a daily basis. They’re time savers and help keep me extremely organized!  Not to mention, they are both FREE!

First up is evernote.  You know how elephants supposedly have a great memory?  Well, evernote can be your elephant. If you’re browsing the Internet and you see a book you absolutely have to put on your reading list, you can copy the text into evernote and create tags for it. It can hold screenshots of websites, pictures, etc. My husband always talks about how it can OCR (no idea what that stands for) text; in layman’s terms, I think it simply means that the program does a better job finding information and searching. I tag each note I make; I keep lists of books I want to read for business or personal, websites I adore, helpful websites for off-camera flash, business information like sales tax, etc.  What’s even better is that this useful program also has an iPhone app. When I’m out and about running my errands, I don’t have to fret about remembering what the post-it note on my desk says. I can easily access my lists and information on my phone.  (It was the 2009 App of the Year, fyi.)

Here’s a screenshot of a piece of information I saved. Someone told me I should read these books.  I added a screenshot of the books and evernote (to the right) translated the picture to words. (That’s what OCR-ing is.)

Next up… Google Reader. I am a huge Google fan – I love gmail, Google chat, Google searching, etc.  I follow tons of blogs. I don’t want all those bookmarks floating around disorganized. I want to know when someone has updated their blog instead of me blindly going to their site to find out they haven’t done so for three weeks.  The simple way of keeping all this information together and organized is Google Reader.  It makes the website bold and shows me how many new posts I have to read when I log in. It lets me categorize all the different types of blogs I subscribe to. For example, I have Photography, Lighting, Inspiration, Submission Websites, and Personal Friends categories.  I don’t have to weed through to find my friend’s blog. It’s simple and easy to find.

To add a blog to your Google Reader, you simply have to know the RSS feed.  Most websites will say “subscribe” or will have the little orange square (as seen on the menu bar above next to the search button). When you click on the button, it will take you to a specific website that you insert in Google Reader under “Add a Subscription.”  Then you’re free to add it to a category or move it wherever you choose!

Here’s a screen shot of what Google Reader looks like. (Please don’t judge how many unread items I have. I’ve been on vacation!)

What are your favorite time savers? Do you use anything like evernote or Google Reader?  Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to know more.