With the latest update to Things 3, version 3.17 to be precise, users have been given what feels like super powers to automate a crazy amount of the ways they use Things thanks to the wonderful integrations with Shortcuts that the fine folks at Cultured Code have introduced. It was enough for me to scrap my previous system, which I explained on episode 63 of Inner Dialogue.
Read MoreIf you've been following these monthly Home Screen updates you know that I've been on a mission to find the perfect Home Screen setup. Each month has been an iteration getting closer to what I want. Sometimes in these iterative cycles you see small changes, sometimes you see huge ones. This month definitely falls into the latter category...huge change.
Read MoreThe concepts, shown in this Tweet, look to add functionality to your ride. What if you could catch up with a friend over a latte while a robot drove you to work? What if you could work in an office while you commuted?
Read MoreSince last month’s Home Screen article I’ve moved 500 miles, stopped working at the Coffee Shop, and begun focusing more intently on my Podcast Network, Super Mega Corp, and this website. As such, my Home Screen has changed to accommodate this major shift in my life.
My apps are still arranged by color but due to the number of changes this month I’ve had to get a little creative with the finish product. My white row is now vertical, leaving room for four rows of three apps to complete the square. I now have a red/orange row as well as the ever present green row, purple row, and now an almost perfect blue row.
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A few things have changed on my Home Screen but overall this month maintains the organizational ideas from last month.
The biggest change is the absence of a Blue row. I've kept Trello and Day One (Which just received a big update) but gotten rid of the dedicated icons for my Toggl timer Workflows. I did this because the Workflows themselves are better when triggered from the Workflow widget itself. When launched from the Home Screen the Toggl Workflows open the Workflow app, run the Workflow, and then show on-screen popups with the relevant information. When triggered from the Workflow widget, however, the Workflow runs in the background and then displays the relevant information from within the widget itself. No app switching, no popups...much nicer to use and to look at, plus this decision frees up two slots on my Home Screen, so I consider this a big win.
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My iPhone is a tool that I love to use. As such, I take particular care to make sure that my home screen is set up to work for me (link to taking back my iPhone). Each month I plan on sharing my home screen with you all as a way to let you know about any new cool apps I’m using, to provide my thoughts on productivity and technological usefulness, as well as to provide an online archive for myself of how I was thinking and working in the past. Ultimately, however, I hope you will find these posts helpful and informative.
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We live in a time where access to information and other people is ubiquitous. Need an answer to a question? Google it. Want to know what your friends are up to? Check their Social Media profiles. Want to communicate at all hours of the day with co-workers? Email them, Slack them, assign a new task on the company Trello Board.
This constant access has its benefits but it can also cause stress, ruin our work focus, and cause mental health problems. Our lives can easily become overrun with the requests for our time, attention, and focus whether they be from other people or from the apps and services we rely on. This is not right. Technology is supposed to work for us not against us.
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My steam of consciousness thoughts on the 2016 Google I/O Keynote.
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I’d always wanted to learn to code. I’d dabbled a little bit, but I didn’t know anything about web programming. I also wanted to learn new aspects of user experience design.
I was tired of having ideas and not being able to execute on them myself. I had that creative itch, but I couldn’t quite scratch it.
Read MoreWorkflow is an incredible app for iOS. It takes what I love about Launch Center Pro, powerful actions covered in a friendly UI, and couples it with unparalleled power to automate iOS. I didn't expect an app that can do more than LCP while also making it easier to understand and build complex workflows, for at least another year...but I'm happy to be wrong in this instance. Workflow is incredible. Instead of telling you why I think Workflow is so amazing, I decided to just show you. The rest of this post will be filled with some useful and fun worfklows that I built as well as some built by more practiced iOS gurus. With each workflow I'll include pictures, explanations and a link to install the workflow right on your very own iOS device.
By clicking on each workflow, inside the app, you are able to see and edit the workflow's components, as well as run the workflow. You can also add the workflow to your homescreen, add it to LCP, share the workflow, or submit it to the 'Gallery', a curated selection of quality workflows. But enough of the preliminary stuff, let's dive in.
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