I have developed a serious relationship with my iPad over the past month. My inner (okay, and outer) geek girl loves what seems like Star Trek technology.

I’ve heard people talk about how cool their iPads are but only use them to play games or surf the Internet. The iPad can help you with time management and productivity. Are you ready to go high tech, Savvy Aunties?

Productivity and Time Management

Evernote. Create digital notebooks by using Evernote. Capture your brilliant ideas, plan your next vacation or home renovation project, or just record the wine you had for dinner. Copy or upload PDF documents, links, and pictures in your notebooks.

Evernote is free, but you can pay for more space if you need it.

Dropbox. Since I work on writing and presentations at work and home, I would often have to email documents back and forth to myself or transport it via a flash drive. With Dropbox, I keep all of my files on the “cloud.” If you are working on a project with someone, you can share a folder. The person you share a folder with can only see the documents you put in the shared folder, not any of your other files.

If you make a change in a document, it will automatically be synced so you can access the updated version on your other computers. I downloaded Dropbox on my work and home computers, my iPad and even my iPhone. Dropbox gives you 2GB for free, and you have opportunities to earn more free space by taking their virtual tour or recommending Dropbox to other people.

Noteshelf. Love to write but hating typing on the iPad? With a rubber-tipped stylus, you can write your notes and keep them in digital notebooks. Depending on your mood, you can choose from blank paper, thin or wide-ruled paper, graph paper or the old school yellow notepad. Write like you would with a pen.

Noteshelf does include a wrist-protected feature so you only mark the page with your writing. If you want to save space, use the zoom feature so you can write in the zoom box but it appears smaller on the electronic page. You can email yourself a PDF of the notes or upload it to Evernote and Dropbox.

Toodledo. There are a ton of apps for time management, and it gets down to personal choice – selecting the one that works best for the way you work. One of my favorites is Toodledo for creating and managing your to do list. Prioritize your list by numbering them or adding due dates.

Home Routines. This is another to do list but for your life at home. You can set up morning, evening and weekly routines to keep your home life running smoothly. This works very well for those struggling with ADD/ADHD. When you check off a task, it puts the completed tasks under “Accomplishments,” complete with a smiley face.

Reading

The iPad is great for reading books and PDF documents. The most popular reading programs are iBooks, Kindle and Good Reader. You can upload PDF documents into your readers to be read there.

Flipboard is a cool tool to scan the headlines of your favorite newspapers and websites. Some of the diverse choices include: TED Talks, USA Today, NPR, Huffington Post, USA Today, Daily Candy and Mashable, just to name a few.

Life Management

Spark People and Livestrong both have apps you can use to track your food, water and exercise habits. Both are easy to use. Livestrong Lite is the free version, and it does keep asking you to upgrade to the paid app.

Kids think it’s cool

Kids love technology. It seems they were born with a DS game in one hand and a cell phone in the other. The iPad can entertain a child for hours with games. Before downloading a game app, check the rating.  In addition to the bevy of games you can download, you can use the iPad to watch movies and YouTube.

Star Walk. Very cool app to check out the stars in the night sky.  Using your finger, you can swirl around the sky to see the stars and planets from the perspective of Earth.  

The Future

Rumors of the iPad 2 are swirling around for a possible release this year. Also, other companies are developing their own versions of tablets.

No matter what happens, the technology is here to stay. Are you ready?

Published: January 25, 2011