High Tech Tools for the Productive Pastor #1
This week I want to highlight five high tech tools for the productive pastor. These are five tricks and tools I use to stay on top of the massive number of details those of us in ministry are expected to stay on top of. The first is my assistant, Sandy.
Okay, she is not my assistant, but Sandy is my virtual assistant. Sandy reminds me of things I need to be reminded of and does it with a little spunk and style. “She” reminds of of them when I ask her to…she has never missed an assignment…never called in sick.
Sandy understands terms like “remember” and “remind” and then acts on them accordingly. It really acts as an online tickler system for me.
How do I use this? A couple of ways.
1. I use it to keep my inbox clean. Suppose I get an e-mail I need to act on next Friday. I simply forward the message to Sandy with the content of the message being, “Sandy, remind me to act on this Friday at 10 AM. Then Friday at 10 AM Sandy sends me a note reminding me to do whatever it is I need to.
2. I use it to send quick notes to myself. I recently made the move to a Blackberry and the portable e-mail functionality has been quite convenient with Sandy. As an example, recently I saw a person across the sanctuary I needed to follow up with. I simply pulled out my Blackberry discreatly, send a quick email to Sandy reminding me to follow up Monday at 9 AM, fired it off, and then got back to being attentive to worship.
3. I use it with Jott. When on the go and an action items pops into my mind, I now Jott it to Sandy and get the reminder when I need it. Jott now has a built in reminder service, but I go with Sandy for the “daily digest” feature. (The Daily Digest is a list of all my reminders for the day.)
Sandy can also work in a group though I have never done so. I could simply CC Sandy on a message with the term remember or remind with a specific date and action item. Sandy would remind both of us.
There are really only two things I do not like about Sandy. The first is her e-mails back to me letting me know the action item has been received correctly. I guess I trust e-mail enough to know it will get there. Please, only send me a message to let me know if there is a problem. I don’t need a dozen more messages to erase ever day. Regarding the second – I am a little spooked out that I am so polite to the this computer. For some reason I just can’t send a message without saying, “please remind me to _____________.” Other than that, Sandy is great.
This neat little web application is free and much to my surprise, has become an essential part of my ministry toolbox. Check out I Want Sandy for yourself.
- I am losing my virtual assistant
- My Sandy Alternative, ReQall
- Thanks Sandy!
- Smartpastor’s best of 2008
- High Tech Tools for the Productive Pastor #3
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Hi Pastor!
What a lovely review — very much appreciated!
I did want to make sure you knew about Sandy’s setting to stop sending out replies to each and every one of your email messages. Just visit http://www.iwantsandy.com/settings/email#replies_and_reminders, under “Email replies” select “No”, and click the “Save” button to save your settings.
Sandy will then no longer reply to your every missive. And should you for some reason like to hear back from her, you can go ahead and tag the email you send her with @reply, as in: Sandy, please remind me to take a walk around the block in 30 minutes @reply.
As for your not being able to address Sandy without being polite, I’m afraid that’s simply a “problem” I’m not willing to fix
.
All the best!
Rael
Rael Dornfest
CEO, Values of n, Inc.
#1 friend of Sandy’s
[Reply]
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Hey thanks, I turned it off. That is gold.
[Reply]
June 4th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
[...] 3.) I’m always interested in making better use of electronic tools to help manage my work and productivity. Well, the smart pastor has done it again by telling us how he uses “Sandy,” his personal assistant, to keep track of what he’s doing. I’ve been meaning to explore ways to use Jott too, so hopefully when I get a free moment I’ll be thinking about ways to take the Smart Pastor’s advice. [...]