Tools I'm Grateful For
Stuff that makes life in this industry easier!
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Hopefully you’re reading this in the peace and quiet of a relaxing day after Thanksgiving - and not working! Whether you’re getting ahead for next week or resting and refueling, it’s nice to take a moment and reflect for gratitude…tis the season for that!
So here’s a list of stuff I use in my business and work, that I’m very grateful for:
My clients! Without them, there’s no point to any of this. I truly *love* bringing my best work to them, and building a business that helps support *their* dreams, projects, and homes.
Harvest time tracking and invoicing. Intuitive, simple, and immensely powerful if used regularly - I have 10 years of data on how long it takes us to execute projects, comparisons between projects, projects broken down by effort per phase, etc. So much easier to run a business with this information!
Later. I love being able to schedule out all my social media posts well in advance - I just fill up the hopper and they are released on the schedule I set. This means I don’t have to come up with fresh content at the drop of a hat. On Twitter/X, I’m still pretty spontaneous though!
Twitter/X. I know, it’s kind of a mess right now. But it’s changed my personal and professional life profoundly. Find people to connect with, get an amazing free education, and watch your business accelerate and friendships blossom!
Varidesk. I love my standing desk! It’s nice to be able to switch it up instantly, and to not have to rely on strict pre-set heights [important for those of us who wear anything from flats to harness boots to platform sneakers to workboots - never know how tall I’ll need my desk that day]!
Stanley mini tape. The guys sometimes make fun of me on the jobsite when I whip out this little 10 footer, but it was given to me by my dad when I started in construction almost 20 years ago, and I carry it everywhere. And they say, size doesn’t matter, especially if everyone else is hunting around for their tape!
My mechanical keyboard. They can hear me typing a mile away, but man I can fly on that thing!
Trace paper. Yeah I know, old school! But for an architect, there’s nothing that can replace drawing by hand, and trace allows you to iterate and think without having the computer/software get in the way.
Pilot Precise V5 and TWSBI fountain pens. See #8.
Leatherman multitool. A person should never be without a pocket knife, or a screwdriver. I have the “Skeletool” model, but I’ve many different ones over the years. Be the person in your circle who carries a pocketknife!
Leatherman Skeletool Zoom. Lame? Nope. We were using Zoom before it was cool - we found it a much more practical way to get teams together for meetings in a city [Boston] where it can take 60 minutes to go only a few miles, and just rolled right into the pandemic craze with it. Nothing replaces in person meetings, especially for crucial collaborations, meeting people/developing relationships, etc, but when you’re just trying to get 6 engineers, the architect, the GC, and the owner in one room to go over some coordination stuff, Zoom is a God-send.
Soundpeats ear buds. I have *very* specific qualifications for headphones, and these hit every mark - including being not that expensive! For those who are looking for ear buds that don’t stick into your ear canal, have decent background noise reduction when you’re talking on a call, are *not* sound cancelling, are easy to pair, and come in different colors, these are for you.
Writing this post makes me realize I could make a series of separate ones, so I could go into more detail - my favorite handtools, powertools, software, productivity, kitchen…lots of ideas!
What are some of the tools you’re grateful for in your professional life?
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And don’t forget about our sale this week, over at the Runcible Shop - use BLACKFRIDAY2023 for 20% off til Monday 27 November!
Love all of these and use similar stuff for my biz. But apparently I have to get myself a mini tape and a multitool (definitely feels good to be the person in your group with the multitool. lol). My game changer over the last 10 years has been Personal Kanban/ Airtable. I could speak volumes about it but maybe that's for my own blog. In any case, I highly recommend the Personal Kanban book by Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria. Has absolutely changed the way I track tasks, projects, and to-do lists.