5 tools I can't live without

One thing I think I’m most known for are my tech recs. So without further ado, here are the 5 tools doing the heaviest lifting in my business and my life right now — and why I’d genuinely cry if any of them disappeared tomorrow.

The project management system that has run my entire business since the day I became an entrepreneur. Every task, every client project, every launch — it all lives here. Single source of truth.

My take on PM tools: any tool is great as long as you actually use it. The best tool for you is the one you’ll open every day.

For me, that’s always been ClickUp. Flexible. Powerful. Somehow fits the way my brain works, which is not a small thing.

Why I feel lucky: Because I’ve watched people spend six months evaluating project management tools and never actually doing the work. I picked one years ago and never looked back.

A dictation tool from the team at Every. I’m using it right now to write this newsletter.

I use it to send messages to my team. To brainstorm. To talk to Claude Code all day long. I can dictate three times faster than I can type, and as a verbal processor, I move through ideas more cleanly when I’m talking than typing.

The downside: my sister and my assistant are permanently confused about whether I’m talking to a real person or to my computer. Turns out, 90% of the time, it’s the computer.

A great alternative is Wispr Flow. I just prefer Monologue because it’s bundled with my Every subscription.

Why I feel lucky: Because the fastest writer in the room is the one who isn’t typing.

Regular Claude is great. I love the whole ecosystem. But Claude Code is that girl for me right now.

Every piece of client documentation, every plan, every content brainstorm, every launch doc — it all lives inside Claude Code. It’s an active thinking partner. It audits our work. It concepts new projects, executes on plans, reviews data, drafts launch strategy.

It’s an extension of our team. It’s the reason we can operate as a small, nimble crew with the output of a team three times our size.

Why I feel lucky: Because I get to work with the smartest junior employee in the world, and she never needs a nap.

My browser of choice lately. I’m already hyper-organized with how I separate client accounts and documents, and Dia’s tab organizing features make the whole setup feel effortless.

If you’re somebody who lives with 40 tabs open across 5 client projects, you owe it to yourself to try it.

Why I feel lucky: Because staying organized shouldn’t require willpower.

My note-taking tool of choice. Always open on my computer. I use it for meetings, for brainstorming, for any moment I need to think out loud.

It’s the best note-taker I’ve tried, and I’ve tried them all. Accurate transcription. Fast processing. Summaries I actually read. I keep every client’s meetings in a dedicated folder and can query the whole folder for follow-ups or questions later.

Here’s the move: Granola is connected through Zapier to the Claude Code repo that holds all our client content. After every meeting, the notes flow in automatically. The meeting is cataloged under that client. Action items immediately create tasks in ClickUp.

Nobody is doing data entry on meeting notes. Ever.

Why I feel lucky: Because I can’t remember what I said in a Tuesday meeting three weeks ago — but Granola can, and that’s enough.

One thing worth noticing — I use AI as an operational efficiency machine more than a creative partner. Probably 70% of my AI usage is ops and admin. The other 30% is creative sparring.

That’s intentional. AI handles the boring work so my team and I can stay in our zone of genius — marketing and creative — at a level of scale and speed I couldn’t hit otherwise.

A good stack isn’t about more tools. It’s about the right ones doing the boring work so you can do the lucky work.

What’s the one tool you’d add to my list? I love a good rec.

Cheers,
Audrey

P.S. Most of the links above are affiliate links, meaning you get some bonus credit/access for nearly all of them if you sign up using my link (and I do, too!).