I tried OmniFocus, but found it too complicated and fiddly for my simple needs. When I’m researching for a blog post, I can copy the names of articles, links, author’s names, and quotations without constantly having to jump back and forth between my source and the app I’m writing in. Since my original 128K Mac, I’ve been in the habit of clicking on app icons, but this past year I’ve been transitioning to mostly using Alfred.Īnother feature I use multiple times a day in Alfred is the clipboard history. I use Alfred constantly to open apps and find files and folders.
It includes my role descriptions and ideals, a “checklist” series of questions I intend to ask myself each week, and app locations I want to check each week. I have a template in Drafts that generates my weekly review. Furthermore, I keep a few items I want to have instant access to - things like Kourosh’s task words, my updated roles descriptions, and Alfred keyboard shortcuts. I maintain an updated list of ideas for blog posts. I also use it to quick-capture ideas I have on the go (with the app on my Apple Watch). It’s my initial writing app for thoughts I’m not ready to put into my formal write-edit-publish process. MindNode saves me hours in rewriting and helps me to produce much better blog posts, screencasts, and Keynote presentations.ĭrafts is another primary app for me. I can see where there are gaps that need additional research or thinking to fill in. I can visualize my thinking and see connections between sections, and drag and rearrange with ease. The graphical presentation of MindNode works much better for me to organize my thoughts than using a traditional outline. I use this when I go on 6-month retreats away from home to work on my roles system. The one and only simple shortcut I’ve designed arranges these two apps in that configuration.įor my roles-based productivity system, I keep a list of my roles, ideal descriptions, answers to my “tough questions” and action steps in a large mind map. I typically write blog posts with half of my screen showing Ulysses, and half showing MindNode. If a blog I’m working on requires some research, I’ll often insert an article name, author, link, and quotation directly into the appropriate node in MindNode, then transfer the info to Ulysses if I decide to use it when writing.
Unless it’s a simple post, I mind map the content and structure of blog posts before I write them. I mind map presentations that I make to my local community Apple group before putting together my Keynote and screencasts. I use it to mind map negatives, positives, and other factors when I have a big decision to make. MindNode is foundational to every project I work on.
Jim is also a first order Mac Geek with his website at. Jim is a retired US Air Force Reserve, JAG (and Chaplain before that), as well as a retired estate planning attorney. This week’s Home Screens features Jim Eagar.