Happy weekend everyone! It’s a rainy day today, so we can’t go outside. Due to this, I thought “why not tell you guys about the services I use”? So, I decided to do just that. Enjoy!
Quick note: this is not a sponsored post. Also, I do not own a phone. All of these apps/services are computer-based unless otherwise specified. My OS is Windows 10. I’ll also be talking about non-digital services (e.g. pen-and-paper, devices) here as well.
Productivity & Task Management
School-Based
Homework Diary
This small book is absolutely priceless for everything I do that’s school-related. It allows me to write down all my subjects, write down my homework, and check each task off as I go. I would have a hard time managing my schoolwork if this book didn’t exist. Thank you, homework diary, for making my life so incredibly easy!
Student Planner
I went through a year of high school without using this, and to be honest, it isn’t that useful. It’s just a sheet where I can plan out my week. It’s helpful, but unlike my diary, I could live without it.
Not School-Based
Student Planner
I put down all of my non-school based activities on my planner as well.
Writing
Microsoft Word
This is my go-to writing app for both school and non-school related work. Be it writing a report for an English assignment, or a script for the next episode of Educated Earth, Word is a powerful word-processing application with a welcoming interface, which is why I use this program 99% of the time.
Notepad
I don’t use Notepad nearly as much as Word, but it’s useful for certain tasks. Its simplicity is both a blessing and a curse, and I normally use this app for planning a YouTube description, creating lists of useful links, and trying to improve my HTML skills.
Microsoft OneNote
OneNote is an application that I only use at school. It’s plagued with synchronisation issues, but it’s generally the best place to do something digitally, and give your teachers access to your work (for marking, etc). For now, I’m stuck with it.
Sticky Notes (Digital)
I use sticky notes on my laptops to remind me of important things. These include what to bring to certain lessons, the deadline to complete a certain task, and how many days there are until Friday.
Given my love for digital sticky notes, you might think I also have a pin-up board with lots of paper sticky notes on it. However, I find it ridiculous that people use paper sticky notes at all! They’re easy to lose, expensive and bad for the environment.
WordPress
For writing blog posts.
Making Videos
Adobe Illustrator
This is the application I use to make illustrations for my YouTube videos. Yes, it’s complex. Yes, the interface does not look good. But, it works for my purposes, and that’s all that matters.
Adobe Premiere Pro
What I generally use to edit clips together. It’s easy to use and has great features equipped to it.
Adobe After Effects
I stopped using this program for making all of my video, but sometimes I might use it to make part of my video.
Adobe Audition
Great for audio recording.
iPhone
My mum has an iPhone, and so does my dad. If I need to film anything (take this video as an example), I’ll borrow an iPhone.
Rode SmartLav+
An excellent microphone which clips onto my shirt. I use it to record all my videos.
Reading & Bookmarking
Feedly
I use Feedly to read and subscribe to blogs & podcasts using the RSS feed. It’s a great and easy way to get all my favourite content in one place.
Instapaper
If I find an interesting article that I want to read again later, I bookmark it using Instapaper. I use Feedly and Instapaper in different ways. The latter is for saving, the former is for subscribing.
Paper Books
I am yet to make the transition fully into e-books. For now, I still use paper books as my main source of book-reading.
Managing My Website
WordPress
A free & open-source content management system with a semi user-friendly interface which does the job for running https://www.amitkunnath.com.
DreamHost
An amazing solution for web-hosting. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to start a site. It would be greatly appreciated if you used my affiliate link!
Cloudflare
A very good content delivery network to make my website load faster.
Let’s Encrypt
I use Let’s Encrypt for my HTTPS certificate. This means that the connection between my site and your connection is secured and encrypted. As a bonus, Let’s Encrypt is completely free & open-source.
YouTube & Podcasts
YouTube.com
Unsurprisingly, I use YouTube to watch and subscribe to YouTube channels.
Overcast
My go-to podcast app is Overcast, when I use a parent’s iPhone. On my computer, I’ll either use the Overcast website, or try to find the podcast on YouTube (which is what I normally do for Hello Internet and Cortex).
Other
I feed my podcast subscriptions into Feedly, and I also use the podcast website for listening to podcasts. Regarding YouTube, I normally only use the YouTube website, but I’ve subscribed to an email list to be notified.
Internet Browsing
My only social media. I use reddit to browse /r/travel, /r/CGPGrey, /r/HelloInternet, /r/classicalmusic, /r/kurzgesagt, etc. Oh, and of course, /r/EducatedEarth!
Chrome
Chrome is my search engine of choice. It’s user-friendly and provides for a great browsing experience.
Ecosia
Ecosia is my search engine of choice. This great organisation uses it’s ad revenue to plant trees. I switched from Google as soon as I heard!
Tab for a Cause
This is my default new tab screen. They too donate to charities using their ad revenue.
Miscallaneous
Google Earth
For when I’m bored and have nothing to do.
Canon EOS 700D
My mum’s camera that I occasionally borrow for astrophotography, paired with the Samyang lens.
Conclusion
So these are the things that I use in my life and workflow. Do you use any of these services? I’d love to know! Let me know down below.