Add Evernote to your productivity kit
Posted by Jered | Filed under Recommended
People talk about their productivity toolbox, but I find my productivity kit is more like a garage. Tools have a pretty unique use, but being a person who signs up for everything that comes out, I have a lot of tools that do the same thing, but each has their own unique style. Like having a garage full, two cars, a bike, maybe even a motorcycle, I can only ride in or on one at a time. That is how I feel about my productivity tools. It depends on how I feel. Most days I will use my car, but others I like to use my bicycle.
Evernote has made it past the 3 week tech trial and is now a car in my productivity garage. I am dumping a lot of information into it, via the web, desktop and email interfaces. Most of the notes I am adding are personal, but the ability tag and search are excellent. My wife and I have added questions for the doctors visits, blog post ideas, software I want to try, webpages I want to be able to keep and search.
The couple of reasons I would recommend Evernote include:
- The text search with in images is amazingly good. even cellphone camera shots are searchable, which means I can snap a photo of a business card and then search for it later
- The tagging feature lets me apply my personal taxonomy to my notes, which increases the chance that I will find what I want when I need it.
- The multiple vectors of entry are amazing! Being able to email notes and retrieve them on my iPhone (now in a fabulous iPhone interface) takes care of me on the road, while the desktop client lets me get everything the mobile does and then some. Adding check boxes and encrypting notes are slick features. The added ability to search on those check boxes, checked or otherwise, allows Evernote to be come a idea manager (checked for ideas I have blogged about).
Michael asked the question: “How may tags are too many tags?” I don’t think there can be too many tags. I don’t keep the tag sidebar expanded, I only do so when I am looking for something. The search is much more effective, and does the image search.
Pardon me while I go a fill up my Evernote car, I’ve got some more thoughts to capture.
Tags: capture, evernote, evernote.com, image search, search, taxonomy
KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid or Keyboards In Simplicity Success
Posted by Jered | Filed under Recommended
Michael and I started the Simplicity Habit to break through the “top 10 list” syndrome that permeates the lifehacking ethos. While this post will have numbers and will be a list, it is only because these are programs which have been very helpful in my quest for productivity. Please consider this not a “top 10 list” but a series of personal recommendations.
- Mail Act-On
I am a keyboard shortcut guy. The less mouse work I can do, the better. As a Mail.app user, I want a way to manipulate my messages without having to drag-and-drop them to my Archive folder (yes, just one folder).Mail Act-On, from indev software, allows me to hit the ` (reverse tick, just below the Escape key), followed by a letter or other key and my mail is moved, colored or added to my GTD application.
Setup is simple, just create Mail.app Rules with special prefix and best of all, Mail Act-On is free.
There is a difficult Windows work around using Outlook and some scripting, if you want to try it out, go here: http://justgeeks.blogspot.com/2007/04/outlook-keyboard-shortcuts-or-button-to.html.
- Quicksilver
Being a keyboard shortcut guy, Quicksilver is invaluable. I can get to or do most of the things I need to do on my computer by simply invoking Quicksilver by a two key combination, start typing and abracadabra, I’m getting that though completed.Quicksilver can / is a huge program, it feels like I am continually just scratching the surface. The best way to learn about it is to read some of Merlin Mann’s posts or go to the developers website: http://www.blacktree.com/
Quicksilver is free and now open-source.
Launchy is a Windows alternative: http://launchy.net/
- OmniFocus
Michael and I went back and forth a little bit about the use of a dedicated Getting Things Done application. OmniFocus, from the OmniGroup is my application of choice. I have tried a lot of them. GTD Apps are like breakfast cereals, every person likes a different one. I could write about why I like OmniFocus, but it all depends on how you want your system to work. The ability to invoke a “Quick Add” window with a keyboard shortcut, makes it very convenient.OmniFocus is $79.99 from the OmniGroup: http://omnigroup.com.
The closest windows alternative to OmniFocus would be David Allen’s Getting Things Done Outlook Integration from davidco.com.
- 1Password
I have hundreds thousands of passwords to remember, email, logins, etc. A password manager is really useful and for the Mac 1Password is the best. 1Password allow me to automatically fill and sign into sites with a single keyboard shortcut (sensing a theme?).The added ability to fill forms, sync to multiple computers and putting those same passwords on my iPhone in a simple list and login script makes 1Password in valuable.
1Password costs $34.95 from http://1password.com/.
Roboform is the suggested Windows alternative: http://roboform.com
Tags: 1password, GTD, keyboard, keyboard shortcut, launchy, Mail Act-On, Mail.app, Merlin Mann, omnifocus, omnigroup, quicksilver, shortcut
TaskPaper = OmniFocus Light
Posted by Michael | Filed under GTD, Recommended
For the most part, the applications that are specifically designed for project organizing are way too complex, with too much horsepower to really be functional for 98 percent of what most people need to manage. — David Allen
Jered and I often mention the Mac OS X application OmniFocus. It’s a terrific application to bring the concepts of GTD to your computer in an elegant, yet effective way. If you haven’t tried OmniFocus, but are looking for a rock-solid project task manager, definitely head over to The Omni Group site and give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
My first impression when Jered introduced me to OmniFocus was one of amazement. It does everything I’ve ever wanted in a task manager, so I gave it a trial for a few weeks. Unfortunately, OmniFocus was still a bit too much for me. I’m easily distracted by bright and shiny things (taking me shopping is a dangerous proposition), so I found myself managing (okay, playing with…) the application more than tracking and completing tasks. Not that I didn’t like OmniFocus; quite the opposite. I simply didn’t need all the features. On the other hand, Jered swears by OmniFocus, and given what I understand of his workflow, it definitely fits well. Sometimes we don’t need all the features applications such as Omnifocus have to offer.
As my workflow is a bit more straightforward than Jered’s, (at least for now) I decided that I needed something simpler… an “OmniFocus Light” if you will. Enter Hog Bay Software’s TaskPaper. The comany’s odd name aside, the application’s promise is simple: ”For Mac users who want a simpler way to stay organized and get things done. TaskPaper is a simple to-do list that’s surprisingly adept. Unlike the competition, TaskPaper’s text based interface is focused on paper-like simplicity.”
At first glance, TaskPaper doesn’t seem to be much more than the built-in Mac applications Stickies and TextEdit, which I often use for note taking and braindumps. The simplicity of TaskPaper is that it isn’t much more than these, but that seems to be the point. Just the basics, plus a bit more (e.g., the tagging feature is cool).
In addition to TaskPaper, HogBay Software is well-known for their other application, WriteRoom, the back-to-basics writing program that gives you a “full-screen writing experience” and nothing else. I’m giving both TaskPaper and WriteRoom the 3-Week Tech Trial (well, 15 days as that’s how long the trial version allows).
Tags: GTD
Lifehack.org posting on Living Scared
Posted by Michael | Filed under Asides, Recommended, Site
Check out this great posting over on Lifehack.org about the fear of living life. Definitely a thought-provoking posting to read in its entirety. Towards the middle, and relevant to this blog, are the following passages:
[Excerpt] Some people have been almost creating their best life for far too long. Some people have been standing at the threshold of greatness for years, twiddling their thumbs, wasting their time and talent and hoping in vain that success might somehow find it’s way to them. An interesting, if not totally unrealistic notion.
[Excerpt] Some Personal Development Junkies are masters of this. Just one more workshop, one more conversation, one more mentoring session, one more self-help book and just one more day and then I’ll do it. Okay, maybe two more days. Sadly, they don’t understand that what they really need is not more time, books, workshops or more motivational fluff, what they really need is some balls.
Tags: craphacks, fear, Lifehack, productivity
Alltop – The distillation of everything
Posted by Jered | Filed under Recommended
I have found a fabulous site by Guy Kawasaki, Alltop.com. Alltop is aggregation of the best of the web, by category. With the latest posts headlines, with a cool rollover summary box, it makes it very easy to keep the number of RSS feeds down and not having to remember hundreds of URLs. They are what I would consider the best of the best of the web, some categories are quite extensive. The three categories of post I can’t go a day without perusing: mac.alltop, lifehacks.alltop.com and egos.alltop.com. Although I have to say, the social networking life and small business categories are starting to grow on me.
Check out http://alltop.com
Tags: best of the web, Web site
