I've seen a lot of people talk about Alfred in the past year. I don't use it — apart from a quick download/launch/delete I have no experience at all with it. Not because it isn't a great tool, but simply because I already have a better option in my tool belt. But whenever I see someone writing or tweeting about it, I wonder why more folks don't give LaunchBar [http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html] a try. So many of us started out with Quicksilver. But, until quite recently…
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If you're an OmniFocus user, you need to give two [http://www.practicallyefficient.com/2011/03/14/Omnifocus-what-now-p1/] posts [http://www.practicallyefficient.com/2011/03/15/Omnifocus-what-now-p2/] from J. Eddie Smith IV a read. He's sharing his setup and usage of the application, but the real essence of his message is that OmniFocus is just a tool. And like any tool, it's usage is only as good as the execution of the one yielding the tool. I know that OmniFocus has a lot of power that I'm no…
I have many memories of my dad working around the house on various renovations or working on a vehicle in the driveway. He had a workshop full of tools and a large toolbox filled to overflowing. Many of the tools within were mysterious to me as I had no idea what their intended purpose was. But whatever the job, there were a few tools that were always included. One in particular stands out in my mind — an orange screwdriver with a cap on the end. You could unscrew this cap and inside were 10-15…
I never intended for interviews to be a regular feature here. But after my discussion with Dan Benjamin [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/probing-the-hive-mind], I realized how informing it can be conducting an interview—and enjoyable. It seems the easiest way to really gain insight into a person and the subjects they specialize in. So here is the second ever interview in this space, and a third is in the works as we speak. There has been some discussion lately on the merits of interviews, and h…
We live in a time where it has become extremely difficult to be focused on any one thing at a time. If we are able to achieve this proper focus, lack of proper environment and our own abilities are not able to sustain this focus for long. The disciplines of simplicity and solitude are not practiced by many and I fear we are slowly losing the ability to do so even when a chance presents itself. > Where shall the world be found, where will the word resound? Not here, there is not enough silence.…
It's easy to have a routine or setup that keeps you organized when things are slow. But a lot of people (should I say all?) lose trust in their system when things get crazy. When you're so busy things like eating and sleeping start falling by the wayside. So busy that things you care about get no attention. For the first three months of this year, that's what my life has felt like. With a full time job, a large family, starting a new home business, Fusion, and some client work, as well as…
With this attempt to focus more on doing [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/in-search-of-depth/], it's helpful to first examine why so many people struggle with the constant desire to tinker with, tweak, or worst of all, completely change their productivity system. Whether this is a problem only for us technical folks or whether there are certain types of people with this tendency who exist across all industries and focuses, I'm not sure. But I am sure of this—it's a problem for me. And I'm not a…
Man, Merlin stole my thunder. Not that there's a lot of thunder emanating from here, but I feel like somebody tapped into my brain and wrote out a lot of my thoughts. Except better. I spent a lot of time thinking things through this past weekend, focusing once again on simplicity and how to improve my life, while also improving the lives of others. For several weeks I've had a half written post based on the negativity I've seen lately towards GTD, just sitting on my laptop, waiting for the idea…