Task Manager – I use Evernote for its simplicity, but many people recommend other apps for task management. Many people recommend Todoist. My weekly productivity template is actually one of the templates I give away for free when you subscribe to RookiePreacher.com.
Pomodora Challenge Timer takes the Pomodoro technique and gives you a challenge-based app that will help you get more done. Don’t know what the Pomodoro technique is? Read this. For the quick explanation, you’ll focus on one thing for 25 minutes without doing ANYTHING else. I just installed this app and am excited to see what it does for my productivity.
IFTTT is a very powerful automation tool. If This Then That has a lot of pre-made recipes of actions or you can make your own. I haven’t tapped into the depth that many people have, but I use this primarily for automation of my Twitter account. I have identified a number of bloggers who always produce great content. So I automated a recipe that says if they post something it is added to my buffer account that schedules a tweet. More on Buffer below. I also have a recipe that whenever someone uses the #sermonprep on Twitter, they are added to a Twitter list called Preachers. You can subscribe to that list to connect with other preachers.
A Pastor App for Social Media
Hootsuite is a powerful social media management tool. I use this to manage all of the social media accounts for The Crossing. If you have multiple social media accounts to keep track of, give Hootsuite a try.
Buffer is my favorite social media management tool. I use this to manage my personal Twitter account and Facebook page. What I love about Buffer is that it will maximize your scheduling of posts in light of when your followers are most active. A new upgrade they just did now allows their Chrome browser extension to identify pictures within blog posts when you go to share them so you can add the picture to your Tweet which increases engagement. It doesn’t allow as many accounts as Hootsuite under the free version, but I think it offers more power than Hootsuite.
Canva is a great graphic design tool for people who aren’t graphic design savvy—like me. I use this to create quote graphics from Sunday sermons, Scripture quotes and all the blog graphics on my blog posts on here and my personal blog. If you like to make engaging slides for your sermons, there is a setting for that as well.
A Pastor App for Personal Growth
Kindle App is available on every device you have and allows you to read great books wherever you are. I have an actual Kindle, but also use the app on my iPad, smartphone and laptop. There’s a great way also to utilize your highlights and add them to Evernote for later use. See this article on how to do so.
Podcast Republic is my podcasting app of choice. I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 so, in other words, I don’t have an iPhone. If you are an iPhone user, you should have the Podcast app on your device already. Podcast Republic gives you access to the entire iTunes library and allows you to subscribe to podcasts, see the show notes and much more.
Digg Reader is the way I keep up with all the blogs I follow. It is an RSS reader where you can upload as many blog feeds to. You can read and share blog posts without ever having to leave the Digg Reader. I also have a IFTTT recipe setup to where anytime I “digg” a post, it adds that post to my Buffer account.
YouVersion is my Bible reading app of choice along with millions of others. It offers a great number of reading plans. You can connect with friends on the app and see what they are reading as well.
Tools Are Only Tools
What you do with each pastor app is what counts.
What tools do you use that weren’t included in my list above?
This article about finding a good pastor app originally appeared here.
