A Geek Goes Flying

Apple Watch Things app I guess I’ve always known, or at least suspected, it was possible to use Things with Siri, not sure why I haven’t been. Maybe because Reminders is so well integrated. But then I had two inboxes, and had to remember to move things out of Reminders and into Things. That’s ... not ideal. I need to be able to create a reminder for myself as I think of things, with as little friction as possible. Turns out, on the phone, I can create entries in the Things inbox by simply specifying “in Things” when talking to Siri . There’s also Things integration on the Apple Watch, though it wasn’t installed by default, by going into the Watch app on the phone and tapping “Install” for the Things app:     The first time you long-press the crown and ask Siri to add something to Things, you’ll be prompted to open the app (“You’ll need to continue in Things,” with a button to “Open Things”), and then Things will take a few moments to transfer data from Things’ cloud. Once that...

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...

My desk, my browser windows overflowing with open tabs ... Too much clutter. Next week we’re rolling out practice management software ( finally ). Now is the time: Everything gets cleaned and kept clean. Minimal. Spaces used for working, for doing, not cluttered as unintentional storage. From Spring Cleaning: 7 Things in the Office That Need to Go! , the what: Digital Clutter: Doing okay with this. I only keep currently active files on my workstation / laptop, sync handled by NextCloud. I back up regularly to our server, and archive old files to the server as well. When we move to a cloud-based solution, this will be even more clean. Desk Clutter: This. OMG so much this. “Your desk should be a workspace, not a storage space. Clear off your desk, and only keep the essentials within reach. At the end of every day, try to clear off everything but the one or two tasks you plan to focus on first thing in the morning.” Unhelpful Alerts: I already have most notifications turned off, and hav...

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...