Discover our staff’s favorite productivity and time management tools!
Best of luck getting sh*t done!
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\\ Excel // This is an old school one but honestly, it’s one of the best pieces of software ever written and when you think about Google, they essentially mocked what Excel was for their “Google Sheets” program. I’ve been able to manage budgets, do quarterly reports for record labels and artists, and even my own personal budget and summaries. Excel is by far to me, one of the most productive softwares that I use on a constant basis.
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\\ Wrike // Wrike is a project management software that gives you full visibility and control over your tasks. It has the ability to track time, create reports, create creative briefs, see a full calendar of to-dos, it looks beautiful and flows seamlessly and has an add-on for Adobe programs.
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\\ Next Big Sound // I personally feel Next Big Sound is one of the best platforms out there for a full overview on how you’re performing in all your social media platforms. For artists it’s a great tool since it allows you to see where your fans are located plus you can also discover the location of the fans of similar artists like yourself. You can also see specifically what sort of content is popular for them so you are able to replicate similar topics.[/vc_column_text][thb_gap height=”12″][vc_column_text]
\\ Google Drive // Storage, sharing and collaborating platform. serves as a great productivity aid due to its integration with the rest of the Google ecosystem. Users can easily upload and download any file, and efficient file sharing and collaboration features let you easily work on shared projects collaboratively. Easy configuration of sharing settings, folder structure, quick access to recent files and details, and built-in viewing of documents, PDFs, photos and videos make for a versatile cloud storage tool whatever mobile OS you use.
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\\ Workbench // This is an animation website that my best friend, Joe Clay, put together with After Effect tutorials and tools to make animating easier or just to have a quick refresher on how to do something.
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\\ Camelback // I always say: “stay woke, stay lit, stay hydrated”. Step one fill with water. Step two attach the pack to your chair. Step three keep that hose in your mouth all day and never get thirsty. A lot of people don’t know that Water is actually a great supply of daily H20 so thats how I get my daily fix.
Honorable mention: Trello
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\\ Medium // When people refer to productivity tools they may refer to things such as Slack, Dropbox, or a time management software. Those are all excellent tools for managing work but knowledge is your greatest asset in any environment. Medium allows someone to no longer hunt down 15 different blogs and subscribe to them via RSS. Everything is collated into one platform. A beautifully designed platform. One that gets to the point of why you are there, to read. Once you use their sweet sweet highlighting tool you’ll smack yourself on the forward and say “Of course!” You can subscribe to whole industries, Music, Technology, Programming. Wherever your interests lie you can probably find stories tagged as such. If you can’t, you should start a publication about it and become a contributor. Intelligently they recognize that reading different perspectives on a common theme or industry leads to more informed and healthier communities. It allows me to keep up to date and challenged, ever-sharpening the ol’ noggin.[/vc_column_text][thb_gap height=”12″][vc_column_text]
\\ Power Sheets // I like it because it helps to stay focused and ensure that you’re being action-oriented. You get to know yourself better through analyzing the thoughts that consume you on a daily basis. Also, it helps improve your overall well-being through scheduling out “refreshment days” to ensure you’re also getting the proper rest you need. It helps to declutter your inner world allowing you to not only set goals, but meet them as well.
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\\ Motion Graphics Exchange // If I don’t know how to animate something a certain way, I can always search on this website and they always have a shortcut for how to do so. Comes in handy with those rush animation jobs!
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\\ Canva // Canva is a tool loaded with enough easy-to-use features and functionality that anyone can create a variety of engaging content that gets shared. It’s a great tool for a quick turn around on anything you need designed, whether it is a social media post or a Spotify playlist cover. Canva is my go to and it’s FREE!
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\\ WeWork // I find WeWork to be a huge contributor to my productivity based on the resources and environment that it provides. Given that Symphonic’s New York offices are held in a WeWork, being here allows me to focus clearly and collaborate with other like-minded individuals in a motivating workplace that also provides an endless amount of resources, such as printing, etc. Also, free coffee definitely doesn’t hurt.
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\\ Trello // I would say my favorite productivity tool is Trello for the reason that it is an extremely easy way to keep work projects organized into categories. Trello is also very helpful in promoting collaboration between employees, showing due dates for tasks clearly, and a reliable database for storing information.
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\\ Dremel // You really can do anything with it. It sharpens, grinds, cuts, etches, polishes, sands. Truly a one stop shop for any DIY hobbyist.
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\\ G Suite // As cliche as it may sound, this is my favorite tool. It helps to keep me organized and stay on top of all of my tasks.
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\\ Evernote // I use Evernote for personal, work and school organization. Evernote is a cross-platform, freemium app designed for note taking, organizing, and archiving. The app allows users to create a “note” which can be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten “ink” note.[/vc_column_text][thb_gap height=”25″][vc_column_text]
\\ iTerm2 // iTerm2 is a Terminal emulator on macOS that includes many useful features including split panes, a hotkey window, paste history, etc. I like it because it allows me to be a lot more effective when working in the Terminal. I can easy switch between panes using custom key mappings, and the ability to go back into my history if I do not remember a command is always a life saver.
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\\ Dropbox // They provide a free account, or you can get 1TB of cloud space for $10/month. Dropbox has been a service/tool I’ve been using for about 6 years now and don’t know what I would do without it. Not only does it allow me to back up all my files as a musician and mastering engineer, it also allows me to easily share and collaborate with others on the business end of things.
