Sydney-based Bri Matkovich, an EA at 1835i, shares the apps and Google Chrome extensions that make her life easier…
CHROME EXTENSION: PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCESSIBILITY
Readme
Available on all devices when used with Chrome
“Readme is text-to-speech technology that works within your Chrome browser. I use it to listen to (instead of read) articles, blog posts, and other written content but I know EAs who use it to listen to their drafts aloud for proofreading purposes.
It has now integrated a summary function using ChatGPT so you can get a quick summary of any webpage. I find this helpful when compiling company information or research for my exec before a meeting. It’s also brilliant from an accessibility perspective.
It supports multiple languages, you can choose a male/or female voice and you can adjust the speed at which they speak. Just like a podcast, you can pause, skip ahead or go back to replay any section.”
CHROME EXTENSION: PRODUCTIVITY
Boomerang
Available on all devices for Gmail and Outlook
“Boomerang isn’t new but it’s fab! It offers a variety of productivity tools but I use the ‘follow up reminder’ function the most.
I’m a big fan of ‘inbox zero’ but never want to forget about anything important. Boomerang will archive emails, removing them from your inbox until you actually need them. You simply choose a date and time for the email to ‘boomerang’ back to your inbox; marked unread or at the top.
For example, I may reply to an email that requires follow up the following week. I then click ‘boomerang’ so it disappears from my inbox. It then returns to my inbox the next week as a reminder for me to follow up.”
APP – SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
Grammarly
Available on all devices for Google, Microsoft and social media
“Again, Grammarly is an oldie but a goodie. For EAs who spend a lot of time writing newsletters, reports or emails, this is one of the best apps to quickly check your grammar and spelling. It also assists with style and tone.
It’s available for email (Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail), as well documents (Google Docs and Word) and even Notion (a productivity and note-taking web-based app). You can also use it within LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
APP – COLLABORATION AND CHAT
Slack
Available on all devices
“Thank goodness for Slack! Internally, we don’t email each other – we opt for Slack’s more informal chat environment.
It is really easy to use, it can integrate with your calendar and it has a search function. I find Slack more user friendly in terms of user face and group chats, when compared to Google Chat or Teams.”
