Me? A power user?
“What apps do you use on a daily basis?”
The creator of Handpick posed this question to me when we met over lunch arranged by a mutual friend. Our friend N organised the lunch because he thought it would lead to an interesting conversation.
One was a maker of apps; the other was a power user who didn’t know he was one.
“Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Dropbox, Pocket, Buffer, Currents, MailChimp, Skitch, Gothere.sg, Trello, Telegram, Whatsapp, Reporter, Errands, Spending and Fathm,” I rattled off the apps on my iPhone Home screen.
“Wow! You’re a power user,” said the developer.
“What’s a power user?” I asked.
“People like you,” he said.
I didn’t get it, but just nodded. I later went to Google the term. It apparently means someone who uses advanced features of programs which are not used by the average user. Power users need not know how to code. Yup, sounds like me. TBH, it’s not the first time I heard that term in reference to me, but it’s the first time I went to look it up.
I don’t use apps just for the sake of using them, but I do make it a point to keep trying out new apps I find or am introduced to. If it’s useful, I add it to my systems. It also keeps me learning and exploring and growing.
When it comes to work, I use this flowchart:
This means that I end up doing things that are either enjoyable or cannot be done by anyone else. This is why on my off days, I spend time learning how to use new apps to implement in my systems. This fuels the automation part.
It also means that when I meet friends or clients, I can share with them the apps and services that I’ve found useful.
I learnt about half of this from Timothy Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Work Week”. It’s a life-changing book because when applied, the ideas inside the book really helped me spend less time at work and that time is much more highly productive.
Another one quarter was learnt from a personal friend and entrepreneur Nicholas Chan. These two individuals gave me the much-needed boost to get started on this “power user” journey. The rest I learnt on my own, and am still learning.
In case some of the apps I mentioned are unfamiliar to you, I’m including a brief description and what I use them for:
Reading
Facebook is how I keep in touch with my network. I share articles and snippets of my life here.
I use Twitter mainly as a curated news feed. I follow things I’m interested in from a variety of sources so as to have a balanced view.
Pocket contains my reading list. Whenever I come across a good article on Facebook, Twitter or Google Currents I save it here for later reading. I also use IFTTT to channel some news feeds here for later reading.
I use Buffer and Handpick to disseminate articles I find interesting and think others would like to read too. Of course there’s lots of topics that interest me and others, so I try to narrow them down to four: health, finances, productivity, and inspiration.
Collaboration
Evernote is my information database. I store notes from workshops, seminars, courses, meetings, etc. all in here. I also use it for collaboration with others and with clients.
Skitch is used to markup PDF files when working with clients.
Dropbox began as a backup for my files, and is now my go-to place for all my files. I use JustCloud as a back-up now. A bad experience with an old netbook resulted in loss of data. I only managed to save whatever was already uploaded to Dropbox. I use 2FA as additional security. Of course I also use it to share files with others, though some people prefer Google Drive.
Trello is my default project management tool. I used to use Basecamp, but Trello is free… and prettier.
Communication
Whatsapp is king here, but even in this day and age, not everyone has it. So there’s Facebook Messenger too. Same company anyway.
Telegram is used to communicate with two particular individuals, because it allows me to start a conversation on my phone and continue it on my laptop.
MailChimp is for sending newsletters to clients. I use it to provide ongoing financial education and financial updates.
Travel
My job requires me to move around the city quite a bit, so Gothere.sg and Google Maps are essential.
To-Do List
I don’t use a specific app for this. I have my own customised system that keeps track of the 70 things I have to do that I run on Excel. The system, which I call UXI (stands for Urgency x Importance) tells me what are the 6 most important and urgent things that need to be done at any point of time. I do, however, use Errands as a catch all.
Tracking
Also known as Quantified Self, my apps of choice here are Reporter, Spending, and Fathm.
Reporter is set up to ask me four times a day the following questions:
- What activity gave you most energy?
- What activity drained you of energy?
- How do you feel right now?
- What are you grateful for?
The idea behind this tracking is to find out my most life-giving activities and do more of these, to find out my most draining activities and do less of these, and to practise daily gratitude.
Spending helps me track my income and expenses. I’ve been using it since 2010.
Finally, Fathm helps me track my time, which is divided into the following categories: work, relationships, personal. This helps me lead a balanced life. I wrote a story about this here.
So, after writing all this, I think he’s right. I am a power user.
If you like what you just read, please hit the ‘Recommend’ button below so that others may chance across this story.
