I use a range of tools and resources as part of my day job and running Database Star. Here’s a list of what I use.
Table of Contents
Productivity
Task Management: Todoist
I use Todoist to manage my to-do list. It’s an app I use daily. I’ve tried other apps but this works the best for me. Available on the web, iOS and Android.
todoist.com
Project Management & Documentation: Notion
Notion is an online tool that I’ve recently started using and I love it. I previously used Evernote to capture all of my notes and ideas, and Trello for project management, but I now use Notion. It’s fast, customisable, and easy to use. I use it to capture notes about books I have read, plans for the website, ideas, lists, and much more.
notion.so
Cloud Storage: Google Drive
I use Google Drive for cloud storage. It’s got a generous free tier and you can pay a small amount to have more storage. I use it to store images (using Google Photos), documents, scanned files, and much more. I like that it’s easy to use and accessible on my laptop and mobile.
drive.google.com
Office Applications: Google Docs/Sheets/Slides
Google Drive also comes with a suite of office applications: Docs (word processing), Sheets (spreadsheet), and Slides (presentation). I use these for writing blog posts, creating slides for videos, planning courses and data analysis in spreadsheets (I love a good spreadsheet!). I prefer using it instead of Apple’s range (as I’m on a MacBook) and Microsoft Office.
drive.google.com
Password Management: LastPass
LastPass is a tool that stores and manages all of your passwords. You have a single master password to log in to LastPass, and within it all of your other passwords are stored. There’s a browser extension to help you remember and fill out passwords on forms. I love it because I’m terrible at remembering passwords.
lastpass.com
Window Arrangement: Divvy
Divvy is a handly tool for Mac that lets you arrange your windows. MacOS doesn’t have keyboard shortcuts to let you snap windows to full screen or side-by-side like Windows does, but Divvy lets you do this easily.
mizage.com/divvy/
Development
Oracle SQL: Oracle SQL Developer
My Oracle SQL IDE of choice is Oracle SQL Developer. It’s free, runs on Mac and Windows, and does everything I need it to do.
www.oracle.com/tools/downloads/sqldev-v192-downloads.html
SQL Server: SQL Server Management Studio
When working with SQL Server, the IDE I use is SQL Server Management Studio. I’m sure there are others out there, but I just use this as it comes with SQL Server and it’s convenient.
docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms
MySQL: MySQL Workbench
When I work with MySQL, I use MySQL Workbench as an IDE. It’s free and easy to use.
www.mysql.com/products/workbench/
JetBrains DataGrip
I’ve recently started using DataGrip by JetBrains as an SQL IDE. It’s a very good tool, has a lot of features, well-designed, and can access many different vendors (which is helpful as I work with several of them as part of Database Star).
www.jetbrains.com/datagrip/
Text Editor: Atom
Atom is a free, open-source text editor available for Windows and Mac. I use it to edit all kinds of files. It’s easy to use, fast, and offers many plugins to help you work.
atom.io/
Other
Backups: Backblaze
I use Backblaze for backing up data on my computer. While I use Google Drive for storing many of my files, and the Time Machine feature in MacOS, I also use Backblaze as a backup solution for peace of mind and an additional backup. It lets you backup files and folders on your computer to their servers, allowing you to restore in the future if you need to.
backblaze.com
Podcasts: Overcast
Overcast is an iOS app for managing and listening to podcasts. I listen to quite a few podcasts and the Apple Podcast app is not as good as Overcast. I like the queue management feature, the downloading of podcasts, seeing which episodes I have played, and the speed-up feature.
overcast.fm