A New Criterion for Choosing a Productivity App

The Mac App Store is now in a quiet war with the Android Marketplace and Amazon has entered the fray as well.

It's never been easier to take a productivity app for a test drive.  Many offer a free version for a week or two.  This allows you to see if you like it and to learn how easy it is to use.

I have been testing out The Hit List for Mac and it's quite impressive.  I'm delighting Apple's architects by doing exactly what they wanted users to do- play around.

Most reviews of apps like The Hit List focus on the ability to multitask, expand windows, sync wirelessly or whatever.  A New Englander's approach to getting work done- rugged and simple.

So I'm adding today a new criterion for how you should choose a productivity app.

Is it fun to use?

So many apps are powerful but boring (yes OmniFocus I'm looking at you).  Others are just copies of each other.

Why not make a pledge to enjoy your own productivity with tools that match your attitude? Work is hard enough as it is; we don't need our tech tools to make it any harder.

If the learning curve is more than 5 minutes, ditch the app.  Do this for a while and you'll shave that time limit to 60 seconds.

So far, The Hit List is passing the grade.  Anyone can figure it out in less than two minutes.

Oh and one more thing, it's fun to use.  I think I'll keep it around for a while longer.

A Good Hobby for Techies

My friend Kevin is amazing.  I admire his ability to maintain hobbies outside of work and even his family life.  He enjoys Civil War community groups, golf and gardening. All of these keep him balanced and his outlook is remarkably positive.

I've developed a new hobby of my own since Twitter has come online: saved searches. First I'll tell you why I like saved searches and then I'll tell you how to do it for yourself.

Why saved searches?  Saved searches allow you to scan the conversations on Twitter and identify anything that matches your search.  For example, I've been saddened by the latest news about Fr. John Corapi and the poor choices that he's made in the last few years.  Twitter has allowed me to stay up to speed on updates and accurate news about him.

Saved searches also allow you to join in on the conversation.  I've been able to help people with questions about technology and with others, entered into meaningful dialogue about the faith.  These small bits of communication go a long way.

How do you create saved searches?

Step one is to open up Twitter.  I use the official Twitter app for my iPhone and iPad.  When I'm on my desktop, I might also use TweetDeck because it allows for an easy pull of multiple different accounts.

This morning's Twitter feed looks like this:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From here I click on the magnifying glass and type in a search keyword.  In this case, my keyword is Wunderlist, a productivity app that I want to learn more about:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there, you can follow someone's link to a recommended article or simply reply to someone's point of view.  I also use Instapaper to batch my reading items for a later time.

Right now, my saved search list looks like the following and I check it about once a day:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lower three items are what's trending on a given day in Twitter.

How are you using Twitter to follow important information that's of interest in your life?

Should You Ditch Your Productivity System?

We're all susceptible to the straying eye.  A new piece of software comes out and you just can't help yourself.  Like the latest tablet that is unveiled at Staples, you want to test it out and see how it feels.  The recent creations of the Amazon App Store and Mac App Store make it all too easy to explore new apps and techniques for getting things done.  I'm hoping that I'm not the only one who does this on a regular basis.

Some have called it "productivity porn".

A new planner.  A sleeker smartphone.  A simpler bit of software.  The latest TO DO app.  Just watch- something new will come out tomorrow that will call out to you, "try me out, you know you want me!"  This tug of war will test you at every curve and your will power (just like in the spiritual life) may not be as reliable as you think.

I recently gave in to this as I had been reading by Michael Hyatt (along with everyone else I suppose based on his obscene comment list; sure a little jealousy for sure) about how great Mac Mail is for email.  As a three year Gmail devotee, I waded into the water and tried it out.

Folders all set- check.  Digital signatures- check.  Mailbox rules- check.

And then I tried it out and actually missed my old friend, Gmail.

I missed the fact that I can use it anywhere.  I missed the keyboard shortcuts that I don't even have to think about.  And then it struck me- I had strayed again. Can you relate?  Did you ditch a part of your system in the past six months only to realize that it wasn't all that it was hyped up to be?

So I decided, bravely I think, to go back home to Gmail.  So long Apple Mail.  As sweet as some think you are, my Gmail works just fine thank you.  Heck, I don't even see the ads anymore.

How do you know that you should stay put instead of try out the latest and greatest?  Here are three signs that work for me:

  • You haven't thought about another system for months. If it's not broken, don't try to fix it with something new.  Trust me, the level of improvement with a new gadget is minimal at best.

  • You are currently very productive. If you're getting a lot done (and the right things), why bother messing with a finely oiled machine?

  • You are at peace. This is the spiritual part of the discussion.  If God is using you to get a lot of things done and you actually feel good about it, your current system might be a-ok just as it is.  The negative consequence of new stuff is the added stress of learning how to use it.


Sometimes readers as me about my current system.  The details will be included in a future post but I'll spill the beans on at least some of what's working for me right now: Evernote mixed with Nozbe mixed with Gmail and plenty of pad and paper.  I'm sure this will change and evolve over time.

The next time you're tempted to stray, think twice.  Will it really make you that much more productive or can your current system do the job with an added focus and commitment?

What's working in your current productivity system?

 

How to Set Up Shared Folders in Evernote


Evernote is an amazing product.  I use it for personal use and as of late, for use with my students. Its flexibility with multiple platforms and computers makes it one of the most popular items in Apple's App Store.


In this screen cast, I show you how to set up a shared folder in Evernote. You might want to do this to share a resource with a group of colleagues or simply to share with others what you're looking at.

A few disclaimers:

  • Sharing folders works best by using the downloaded desktop version. The mobile or online versions of Evernote are great but the desktop version is my favorite.

  • In order to give participants the ability to edit or modify items within the folder, you'll need to upgrade to the Premium version. This is only $5 a month- not a bad investment.

  • Evernote is not what I use for my project management. I use Nozbe for that as it's more of an active, moving target that I need to update all of the time.  Evernote is a bucket system for ideas and scraps of information that you may need later in time.


The first few seconds of this screen cast are fuzzy but you'll see it get clearer as it progresses.

How are you using Evernote to get more productive?



How Two Software Companies are Helping the Japanese in a Time of Crisis

 

When was the last time that you ran across a company that cared about something besides making a profit?


When I worked in New Hampshire, one of my favorite field trips  was to Timberland headquarters.  We would meet with some designers and tour an assembly line.  The best part of the day was when we discussed their commitment to "doing well and doing good".  As a company that is dedicated to community service and fair treatment of laborers around the world, we left feeling very impressed by the company.

As all of us are watching the tragedy in Japan, I came across two companies that, like Timberland, are putting their resources to good use.

Nozbe, my current favorite GTD app, just created Nozbe Public Projects.  These are essentially versions of projects that anyone can then view and use.  Think of them as repeating task lists that you might need for an event that is well, repeating.  Michael Sliwinski, founder of Nozbe, happened to be visiting Japan when the earthquake and subsequent damage occurred.  He ditched his business schedule and began coding.  Public Projects was born out of a need for the Japanese to find their relatives more easily.

Kudos Michael for enabling your skills and your products to help people in need.


Another company that has impressed me of late is Evernote.  I use Evernote to share resources with colleagues as well as to capture information on the fly.  I have notebooks with scanned documents,  photos of things around the house and much more.

According to the Evernote blog, the following steps were announced the days immediately following the disaster in Japan:


  • Donating 100% of this month’s revenue from currently-paying Evernote Premium subscribers in Japan to local earthquake relief efforts.

  • Upgrading all of our free Japanese users to Evernote Premium for one month.


To both Nozbe and Evernote, great job!

Function and Form: A Review of Wunderlist



We talk a lot at The Daily Saint about productivity apps.  Some of it is because I enjoy technology and any productivity edge you can get is worth the money.  With the exploding growth of the Android and iOS platforms, there's much to be happy about.

More importantly, many of our readers are folks who are working to blend their daily responsibilities with their faith.

Here are a few of our posts over the years that deal with productivity apps:

While I have used Things for a few months, I miss OTA (over the air) sync as I typically use 2-3 different computers each day.  Throw in an iPad and and iPhone and it's critical that whatever app I use can flow from one platform to the next. 

Nozbe fits the bill for that and for now, I'm very content with their product line.  I am however tempted to beta test a newcomer that everyone will want to take a look at in the coming months.

Introducing Wunderlist

Wunderlist was built by a German company called 6Wunderkinder.  It's truly unique in that it blends both function and form.  It feels like a marriage between DropBox and Mac OS.  They have downloadable versions for Windows and Mac.  They promise an online version in the coming months and already make a terrific set of iOS versions.

Wunderlist syncs over the air and is simple enough to learn in less than 60 seconds. I've been replicating my work on Nozbe with Wunderlist and it works flawlessly.  Its speed is a plus and it's simply beautiful to look at.  The makers of Things and Omnifocus should be more than a little nervous and I suspect are watching Wunderlist carefully.

Wunderlist even comes with changeable backgrounds, a delightful feature that shows that the developers truly understand the importance of design.  To Do attempts this with templates that you can switch out but they're child's play compared to those of Wunderlist.

Did I mention that Wunderlist is 100% free?

Here is a tutorial from LifeHacker that provides a great look at this newcomer.

App Judgment also has a review, with a few criticisms that I think are fair enough.