16 Ways How I Use Backpack For Productivity, Learning and Fun
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Do you have favorite software? I do. I know it’s geeky and all, but Backpack from 37Signals does what it’s supposed to do with such elegance and simplified style that it has got me hooked.
I have said it before, but this is something I’m not afraid to repeat: I am a fan of that fine piece of handicraft.
The beauty of Backpack is that while it’s clearly defined and simple, you can use it for virtually anything. Here’s a list of 16 ways how I use Backpack to improve productivity, collect information, have more fun and gather inspiration. The list keeps growing as new needs arise, so I’m sure if I would do this list again in a few months from now, it would be even longer than today.
- Sharing files with my friends: You can attach any kinds of files to your Backpack pages, and then share the page to everyone or just selected people. For example when Oiva was born and we didn’t yet have Oiva’s own blog in place I put his photos on a Backpack page, made the page public and sent out a link.
- Clipboard 2.0: Lately this has become my number one usage for Backpack. At work I’m using two computers: a laptop for e-mail and other Windows stuff such as word processing and a desktop machine for server programming in Linux. Quite often I have cases where I need to copy paste something from the Linux machine to Windows, so what I do is that I drop the text to Backpack and then on my other machine get it from there.
- Writing down learnings: When studying new things it’s important to write notes. Otherwise you will most likely forget what you have learned. I have tried using Word documents or text files to do that, but I find it really hard to archive those files properly. Backpack pages provide an even easier way to write down the lessons learned, and lets me organize them nicely using tags.
- Writing down ideas: Being insanely interested in everything my head is full of ideas. Many of them are never implemented but I try to write down as many of them as I can. When I’m not connected to the Internet I write my ideas in a notebook, but when online, Backpack provides a nice interface for storing them.
- Collecting wish lists: Everyone has things they’d like to buy at some point. So do I. I keep a list of interesting items and then when I have enough money check through it to see if there is something I should buy now.
- Selling your home: Some months ago we sold our apartment and moved to a new one. We didn’t use the services of a real estate agent but instead sold it ourselves. I created an information page with lots of pictures and put it in Backpack - it looked great! We sold our apartment for a good price and both we and the buyer were happy for the result.
- Reminders of monthly events: Backpack lets you add reminders and then sends e-mail to you so that you don’t forget the important events. I’m not using this that much, I have only one monthly reminder. But that reminder has saved me many times from forgetting to report my taxes.
- Listing great songs that I hear in my Internet radio: This is one of the newest ideas I have come up. At work I’m listening to Internet radio and whenever I hear a song I like, I list it on a Backpack page so that the next time when I’m buying music from iTunes I can get those songs to my music library.
- Task lists: I have five different “to do” lists on Backpack related to different areas in life. Some of them are more long term and some are more project specific. When I get tasks done, I just check the check boxes next to them and they become grayed. Nice, simple and effective.
- Calendar
- Drafting articles: When I work on guest posts, magazine articles or something similar, I use Backpack extensively. First I create a “to do” list for the task, then I collect notes on the Backpack page, and when it’s time to actually write the article, I use the Writeboard feature so that I can not only do the writing online but also archive the article in Backpack.
- Working on shared projects: I have also used Backpack in some study projects so that we the study group shared a Backpack page. Everyone wrote their notes there, attached related files and finally we all wrote the text together on a Writeboard.
- Storing passwords: I have a page for storing some passwords that I don’t use that often and that aren’t super sensitive.
- Address book
- Storing links: When I find interesting links that I don’t have time to check out right away, I often put them to a Backpack page.
- Storing recipes: Sometimes when I’m away from home I might come across a good recipe that I would like to try at some point. Instead of writing the recipe on paper, I copy it to a Backpack page.
As you can see, I use Backpack for pretty much everything I can think of. Because the tool is so simple, it lets the user find the ways how to use it instead of dictating them from above. Give it a try, you might like it (and no, this is not affiliate marketing - just a guy telling about his favorite software).
What about you, do you have favorite software? What is it? And what do you use it for? Why is it so great?
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October 26th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I use Google Docs pretty much like you use Backpack. I know, I’m a Google fanboy, but I prefer GDocs over Backpack because most of my friends are Google users. In fact, I don’t know any other Backpacker than you. Sharing documents (and tagging them) is the main reason I use online documentation systems, so it’s easier to use a web application that is widely spread. Though I’m currently not too much into Backpack, I should try it again and re-judge it.
Google has a special tool for notetaking - Google Notebook. It could be useful for you while jumping between OS’s. It installs straight to Firefox and can be opened with a single click. You might be aware of this, but it doesn’t hurt to mention it.
October 27th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Yeah, I’m sure there are other tools that you can use to do the same things I do on Backpack - Google’s tools are a good example. And your reason for using Google (your friends use it too) is a pretty good one.
I know I get a bit too sentimental but to me Google represents a big corporation whereas 37 Signals is a small and friendly group of people passionate about creating software. I can pretty much name every employee of 37 Signals, which feels good to me when choosing whom I want to give my money to.
But yeah, I’m sure Google has great tools too, and don’t want to force anyone to switch to Backpack just because I say so. You are a Google fan-boy and I’m a 37 Signals fan-boy. And I think that’s great!
October 28th, 2007 at 11:26 am
But don’t forget that I’m a 37 Signals fan too! I deeply appreciate what they are doing and how. For now it’s passive support. I have not ignored their software even though I currently use mainly Google applications. I could very well choose both.
October 28th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Good point! :)
Naturally you can look up at more than just one company, or idol, at once.
October 29th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I actually have a paid backpack account but I really don’t use it much I’m afraid :(. I’m going to have to start making better use of it if I’m going to use it more. I am also a tadalist subscriber and I do use that every day though.