Introducing Dena Doolin’s Set Up
Let’s explore how they use their productivity tools and optimise those apps for the best result.
Dena shares tips, tools and insights to help you along your self-discovery journey, cultivate creativity and grow your skills as a creator.
👀 What do you do?
Creating and sharing digital designs here 👇
📱 Apps Used
I would say I'm a bit of a contextual maximalist when it comes to apps.
Each app serves a different context, purpose & outcome.
✅ Tasks - TickTick
🗓️ Calendar - Fantastical
📝 Notes - Craft, Apple Notes, Notion
📓 Journal - GoodNotes, DayOne
📘 Read it later - Reader/Readwise
🧭 Browser - Arc Browser
📥 Email - Spark
🧩 Extensions - Raycast & Paste
🎨 Design - Canva, Keynote & Procreate
🙋🏼♀️ What’s in your toolkit?
✅ How do you use tasks tool daily?
TickTick is a tried and true app I've been using since 2017 when I was finishing college. Since then it has improved and has the best value for the price point, given it features tasks, templates, notes, habits, time blocking, a calendar & more.
I primarily use it for time blocking & staying focused. I also collaborate on a shopping list & family task list with my husband so it helps streamline our communication and tasks.
I like the ability to filter lists, use sticky notes on the desktop, and check in with habits & the best feature of all is using a Pomo timer to stay focused.
Notion also provides a great visual way to plan. I use it to create a structured overview for planning projects.
In tandem, I use DayOne for journaling & Goodnotes for digital weekly/daily planning templates.
📝 Why do you like your notes application?
My current notes app is Craft. Been using it since 2021. I'm a visual person and love the ability to host public links, PDF deliverables, customize the pages & share designs.
I start by using Apple Notes to take quick notes and link to references, and then I copy over and finalize my notes in Craft to edit, format & publish.
I previously used Tana for a couple of months and shared some Tana tips on Twitter & in the Living by Design Newsletter. It's still on my radar. I may come back to it once it becomes a fully developed app since I primarily use my iPad.
📆 What makes your calendar app great?
Fantastical is the calendar I've stuck with the longest. I like the ability to filter your calendar view, and I like to view the weather to plan what to wear and when to work out. Since it works well with the apple ecosystem I don't think I'll be switching to another calendar app anytime soon.
Let’s explore how they use their productivity tools and optimise those apps for the best result.
