This past year I made numerous changes to my workflows and the tools I use to get my work done. And those tools are ones I love talking about. Thus, I needed to put this together.
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Folks are quite passionate about the software they use to access their email. I fell in that camp for a while but anymore I just don't get it. I think that stems from my intent to touch emails only once, keep my inbox as empty as possible, and use a single archive folder for all emails I want to keep.
When the Omni Group implemented the new automation methods in OmniFocus for iOS, I was both excited and worried. I had over 30 actions in Drafts that send text to OmniFocus using background emails as an action method. Switching all of those to use URLs was going to take some time.
One habit that Evernote taught me was that of creating databases, collections of text and pictures that revolve around a specific topic or item. I'm yet to export my Evernote data into my alternative storage system but I have solved my most glaring issue: searching and viewing these databases on iOS.
I've got a bonus for you this week: my Alfred theme. I've tweaked the look of Alfred quite a bit over the few years I've been using it. I wanted something simple and unobtrusive, but I also wanted it to be compact and cram a lot of data into a small space. If that sounds appealing, give it a try.
My Mac is useless without Alfred. That's no joke. I try to use my wife's profile once in a while. It's painful for me and hilarious for her to watch. I keep hitting the Alfred shortcuts and staring at it like it's broken.
Lately I've been tracking my time and starting to correlate it with dollars earned. The idea is to help me decide which types of work are the most valuable. This is a look at how I'm doing the time tracking portion using Launch Center Pro.
Drafts is one of those apps that I cannot go without. The funny thing is that my tech-resistant wife is now dependent on it as well. And you can be sure that I am pretty excited about her use of it.
I like to share articles on Twitter. And I want to make sure I give the author credit in the tweet. But it’s not always easy to find their Twitter handle.
Last week, I mentioned I had purchased a new MacBook Pro. Instead of the migration process, I set it up as a new machine. That means I had to decide which apps needed to be installed first. Simple, right? Well, not so much.
Task managers. There are so many options available and it’s painful making a decision, especially when it takes real dollars to get into them.
Memory is a limited resource. And we usually ask it to do too much - from what task to work on to our kid’s birth date to a new business strategy.
An infinity app is one with a never-ending stream of some kind. It’s an app that always has new updates for you to consume.
I had just introduced myself to the executive leading the meeting. He handed me his business card and I quickly snapped a picture of it with my phone. A few seconds later his phone dinged. He glanced at his phone, then looked at me in shock.
Do you ever find yourself typing the same thing over and over again? Stuff like an email address, the date, a URL, or even a template of some kind? If so, a text expansion app might be just what you need.
OmniFocus is a powerful tool designed to follow David Allen’s Getting Things Done. I go into the details of GTD here but the simple version is that it’s a method of getting things out of your mind and into a trusted organizational system. The main purpose is to free up your mind to have ideas, not hold them.
👋 I'm Joe. I strive to build productivity systems that stand the test of time and help me do more than check boxes. I'm here to help you do the same.
🎙 I read a lot of books and talk about it.
🐿 I can't focus on one thing for long, so I write a lot of code for an eclectic grouping of projects.
📓 And I'm a bit obsessed with finding non-proprietary solutions to digital problems. Thus, text files for the win! 🎉
