I’ve been using the SoundHound smartphone app for years to identify songs, but my 15-year-old told me to switch to Shazam. She’s right, it’s much easier to use the features that I need. My favorite way to use: If I’m in a store or a coffee shop that’s playing unfamiliar music that sounds great, I just press the large button on the screen and it will grab the title and artist of every song and save it for later. I can then easily add the songs to Apple Music (you can also save to Spotify) and save them to my library. — MF

The free NaturalReader smartphone app (iOS and Android) converts text to speech. To use it, open the app, select a document from DropBox, Google Reader, or a website. NaturalReader will upload it and read it in a voice of your choosing. — MF

VoiceBase takes audio recordings and turns them into text. It also analyzes the text to identify subjects and keywords, and can play back the audio as it highlights the text. It’s not as good as a human transcriber, but it does a decent job and is much cheaper (2 cents a minute compared to $1 a minute for a human).You get $60 in free credit to try it out, too. — MF

I do most of my writing and editing in Google Docs. Sometimes, though, I am asked to edit a manuscript in Word. In those cases, I don’t really use Word because it is bloated and clunky. Instead, I use a free Word-compatible word processor called Bean (for OS X only). It’s snappy and the “full screen” view creates a distraction-free editing experience. — MF

Sometimes my eyes deceive me when proofreading. I came across this blog post and now I’ve been double-checking long paragraphs by right clicking on them (using Chrome) and selecting Speech > Start Speaking. If it sounds off, it usually means I dropped a word. — CD 

I use Evernote for work and personal note keeping, but I have to admit Bear, which is referred to as the “beautiful writing app”, is more enjoyable to use on my phone. It’s so clean and pretty and easy to format. I’ve been using it as a daily journal and for poem writing. — CD 

After decades of being a hunt-and-peck typist, I’m finally forcing myself to learn touch typing. After trying a bunch of different typing websites, I’ve settled on How To Type as my favorite. It’s not fancy, but the drills have helped me to become more accurate. — MF

FutureMe is a tried and true free service for sending yourself letters in the future. I use it to remind myself of goals I have or enlightening quotes I want to be reminded of. — CD 

I tend to write like I think, run on and using a lot of commas. If I drop my text into the Hemingway Editor it will highlight unnecessary words, and tell me what to fix to make my writing more concise. — CD

These succinct tips for how to write an op-ed piece are clear, 100% correct, and useful for any kind of factual writing. Compresses a whole course, or book, to 15 bullet points. — KK

Tyke is a free, simple MacOS menubar app that opens a small text-only scratch pad. It converts copied text into plain text, which I like. I’ve only had it for couple of days, but I’m already using it multiple times a day. — MF

I’ve long been a fan of blank (no-lines) Moleskine notebooks, large and small. I recently switched to Minimalism Art notebooks which are very similar, maybe better quality, and half the price. They also come in bright cover colors. — KK

This 8¼” x 6” spiral bound notebook costs $3.50. It has light green paper and 30 college-spaced rules per page. I like the smaller-than-usual size because it takes up less room on my desk and in my backpack. — MF

This small, watercolor kit by Sakura is perfect for the occasional wannabe artist like me. It comes with a brush that stores water, so you can always be ready to paint. It was so easy to incorporate this into my journaling/sketching routine. — CD

I bought this $8 Japanese pencil case a couple of years ago and my daughters liked it so much I ended up buying one for each of them. Despite its small size you can pack a lot of art supplies in it, thanks to its book-like middle “page” that holds pens and pencils on one side and small items on the other side. — MF

My daughter, an art student, bought this small hard shell pencil case ($7) to hold a few pens and an eraser. It’s just the right size for a small messenger bag or backpack. I ended up getting one for myself. — MF

I met one of my favorite cartoonists this week, Tom Gauld (his new book: Baking With Kafka ). He draws all of his cartoons with a Pilot Precise V5 Roller Ball Stick Pen. He gave me one of his and I love it. They are $13 for a pack of 12. Tom said the ink does not fade, even after many years. — MF

A good pen that writes reliably in opaque white is hard to find. Black or dark paper will kill an inferior white pen. Ways of failure are legion: skipping, too thin, too transparent, wavering, plugging up, etc. The best white pen is the Signo White Gel from Uni-ball. It puts down a serious, dense, even, opaque line of white immediately and consistently each time. — KK 

My friend Bob Knetzger is a toy inventor. He uses Paper Mate Flair felt-tip pens to sketch out his designs. I bought a dozen for $7 and was reminded why I liked them so much in the 1970s. The lines are smooth and you can vary the line weight by changing the angle between the pen and paper. — MF

Every now and then I try out a new pen but I keep returning to my trusty Pilot G2 Gel pens. Smooth, fine, dark, cheap to lose, and pocketable. YMMV, but they are perfect for me. — KK