Three Tools Every Ministry Leader Should Know About

I’m a sucker for any tool that will make my life and ministry easier. There. I said it. I like shortcuts.

Judge me all you want, but I’m guessing you like tools that make things easier, too.

Here are three of my absolute favorites.

OneNote

OneNote is a Microsoft application that I could not live without (alright, fine, I could live without it, but I’d probably miss a ton of deadlines).

It basically allows you to create as many “notebooks” as you want. For example, I have an entire notebook called “Family.” I have every birthday listed and throughout the year I add gift ideas under each name when I come across something I think they’d love. I have another notebook called “Learning” where I link resources and articles I want to explore but I haven’t gotten to just yet. I have probably a dozen notebooks archived in my OneNote account.

Here's where I think it might help you. OneNote has a task list option. I have a notebook entitled “Capture List” and it’s just that. A list where I’ve captured everything I need to do. OneNote allows for headings and categories so I have a lengthy and detailed list of to-dos broken down by category (personal, church, family, work, etc.) and then I use my Capture List to fill in my calendar every week.

Long story short. OneNote is the best way to organize thoughts, idea, tasks, and so forth that I’ve found. And I’ve tried EVERYTHING. It is simple and intuitive, and I would recommend nothing else for dumping, as I said, your thoughts, ideas, and tasks.

You can find it here.

Toggl

I think we highlighted this in a 5 Stars post but it’s worth highlighting again.

Toggl is basically a time-tracking program.

I had to use Toggl in a previous job to track how I was spending my time. That probably makes it sound like my boss was a micro-manager, but he actually wanted to make sure we were using our time according to (a) what we were hired to do and (b) our greatest strengths.

I’ve long since left that role but I still use Toggl every week because it gives me an accurate assessment of how I’m spending my time.

It’s a fantastic tool to use with your teams – again, not to micro-manage but to make sure they’re spending the majority of their time in their job description and (more importantly) giftedness). It’s also just a fantastic tool to use personally if you want to track how you’re actually spending your time (I was shocked at how much time I spent on email before I started tracking my days on Toggl).

You can find it here.

Canva

If you’ve never used Canva, you need to know about this. It’s hands down the best graphics application available on the internet. They have a free version (which is amazing) but for $120 a year (their premium package) you can have access to a WORLD of easily accessible graphics.

If you’re a GO! Curriculum subscriber, we give you all the slides and social media posts you need to teach the lesson, but we also give you themed templates for each unit so you can create your own slides, social media posts, posters, Bible verse signs, flyers, or anything you can imagine. Canva is a great tool for taking the pieces we give you and making your own creation. If you haven’t already, give it a try…you’ll love it!

You can find it here.

There are so many tools we love, but these are three we think you’ll love, too! Check them out and let us know what you think by responding or leaving us a comment!