A Geek Goes Flying

I’m forever trying to find the best solution for staying on task. If I try to use Things on my phone as my “today” list, I’m doomed, there are too many rabbit holes waiting for me to go down, behind every technicolor icon. (I love Things, as a “reliable storage container” to dump things in, but not  for the rubber-meets-the-road act of actually getting those things done.) I have to have a paper list. I’ve gone through several solutions, but at the office it always seemed like I was grabbing the back of an envelope, or using a 3.75x3.75" pad a vendor dropped off, or ... (I still use the blackboard , but only for the Most Immediate Pressing Task I Should Be Focusing On Right Now™.) I found these To Do List cards from Sweetzer & Orange  (that I like more than these  Jot & Mark cards ; the items are spaced just a bit more apart, making it much less cramped and busy), but they come loose. I thought about getting a box, with a little stand for the current list, but tha...

Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter for DAC / Amp Connection Picked up a “used – like new” Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter , which is specifically recommended by, e.g., DragonFly (“[i]n our tests, Apple's Lightning-to-USB 3 Camera Adapter (with charging port) sounds better and is more reliable than Apple’s less expensive Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter, while also providing the ability to charge during playback”) and Schiit . Photos show, e.g., the DragonFly being used without external power, but mine won’t. In fact, basically nothing worked: Cannot Use Accessory AudioQuest DragonFly: This accessory requires too much power. Cannot Use Accessory SanDisk 3.2Gen1: This accessory requires too much power. The Schiit Fulla E, even when connected to a beefy USB-C power supply, just clicked in the headphones repeatedly, or every second would play a tone for a fraction of a second, click softly, go silent, and then repeat. Hooking up an external USB A to Lightning cable to provide po...

Pomodoro timer counting down I’m getting so saturated with tasks, I really need to upgrade my scheduling and tracking game. I need to re-read Getting Things Done . And Hyperfocus . I invested in a Pomodoro timer . Downloaded an every-thirty-minute day planner . I have Things on my iPhone, iPad, and macOS computers (all cloud synching). The Pomodoro Technique . (Race against the clock. Stay focused. Ding . (Are you doing what you should be doing?)) (The Pomodoro Technique Really Works, Says This Productivity-Hack Skeptic .) Eliminate distractions. I’m not taking unsolicited calls, I have my assistant schedule a call-back time. Jol on Software has a great discussion (Item 8, on quiet working conditions.) “It takes an average of about 25 minutes (23 minutes and 15 seconds, to be exact) to return to the original task after an interruption.” How Distractions At Work Take Up More Time Than You Think . The other day I started just putting down a list of tasks and the time I expected each o...

In my never-ending war against distraction and pro-focus, I’ve started making very short “what’s next” lists I can keep more or less in my sight line during the workday. The best solution I’ve found so far is the Desktop Black Glass Weekly Planner Dry Erase Whiteboard with Detachable Wood Stand coupled with the Liquid Chalk Markers (3mm) by Lana and Luca . The Yeoux board comes with a white “chalk glass marker” that’s ... fine ... But you can’t leave it horizontal on the stand, it has to be stored upside down or it ends up writing barely legible “ghost’ letters. The Lana & Luca liquid chalk markers are bright, vibrant, and have a finer point. You have to shake them before use, and you have to press down on the tip a bit more than “a few seconds” at first use before they’ll start writing (about 18 seconds actually), but once they get going they look amazing, and it’s nice to be able to differentiate easily with different colors. (Update: I mostly use white these days, and buy pack...