Open Source Typical Mac User Live

 

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Welcome to the Typical Mac User Live show. My name is Victor Cajiao and I am your host this evening. My regular Podcast Typical Mac User Podcast can be found at www.typicalmacuser.com and that shows is released bi weekly on Tuesday nights and Sunday nights.

 

 

 

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Let's hear from our Sponsor Ambrosia Software

 

 

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This evening I have a very special co host Steve Stanger who is the host of the Mac Attack Podcast http://themacattack.us/. Steve and I get together once a month and focus on tips and tricks to keep your Mac running great and what to do when it's not. So Steve welcome.

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What is Life Hacking?

 

Originally it referred to super productive programmers that devised ways of using scripts and shortcuts to getting their work done. Technology journalist Danny O'Brien coined the term "Life Hack" and after he gave a presentation at the 2004 Emerging Technologies Conference, use of the term "Life Hack" caught on with the tech and blogging community.

 

Life Hacking today applies to any tips or tricks that get things done quickly, helps you organize or solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way.

 

I know Life Hacking might sound like something from a self-help book, it's not, it really is about getting things done sometimes in a different way then you would of thought possible. There's a lot of information available on the web about Life Hacking.

 

I've been finding the whole Life Hacking concept really interesting and more importantly very, very helpful getting my act together. I really wish I had know about this stuff years ago.

 

As we talk about life hacking tonight I'd love to hear your input, suggestions, and tips...

 

 

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What is life hacking your Mac?

 

Taking some of the ideas of Life Hacking (doing things quicker, organizing better) and applying it to your Mac or really any computer experience.

 

The suggestions may be obvious and some not so obvious. Also other people have had the same idea so some of the information I'm going to share with you isn't solely mine.

 

Why do we need to "Life Hack" our computer use?

 

Think about how much time you spend online, reading and managing your email, and all the other information that runs across your eyeballs while you sit in front of your computer, there's podcasts, watching RSS feeds for updates to your favorite sites and lets not forget about iChat, Skype, twitter, pownce, facebook, myspace and anything else that I didn't mention.

 

Can you say information overload?

 

But there is hope for all of us information junkies.

 

In all of the articles I've read about being productive the underlying theme is "simplifying and focusing". How do you simplify and focus while sitting in front of your computer?

 

• eliminate distractions by quitting iChat or Skype, or your RSS reader and close down your email application for a few hours (I'm still working on this one myself).

 

• focusing comes from being able to concentrate on a specific task or project. The idea is to keep only the applications open that you need to work on your specific task or project. (Tasks = homework, doing the bills, balancing the checkbook, writing the notes for a podcast)...

 

 

 

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Email -

 

Inbox zero

 

• created Merlin Mann, yes, that Merlin Mann - As you may know Merlin is the guy behind 43folders.com and has co-hosted a number of TWIT productions.

 

• Merlin's first big "No-No" is that people set their email programs to check for mail every minute. As Merlin says, That’s building 500 interruptions into each workday.

 

• First, adjust your e-mail application to check for new mail once every hour. If an hour is just too long, you can try something like every 15 or 30 minutes . Then start batching your e-mail work into hourly “dashes” of 8 to 10 minutes at a go. You can use that time to sort new messages, send the replies you can, and then get out and get back to work

 

In Merlins series on email productivity on 43folders.com he states and I quote:

 

• There is no way you will ever be able to respond to — let alone read in exquisite detail every email you ever receive for the rest of your life...

 

• Accept that your workload exceeds your resources — that you are the first and last filter for what deserves your time — and you'll already be better off than you were even two minutes ago...

 

• If you've allowed your email to get out of control, and you can trace any of the resulting procrastination and inaction back to feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, or just the general feeling that you alone completely suck at this, quit it now. You are so not alone.

 

• it's time to get serious about improving your habits. And that starts with changing your attitude.

 

Dealing with your email comes down to quick answers to a few questions about each email message in your email box:

 

1. What does this message mean to me, and why do I care?

2. What action, if any, does this message require of me?

3. What's the most elegant way to close out this message and the nested action it contains?

 

Merlin Mann's inbox Zero concept is based heavily on David Allen's "Getting Things Done" book. That's where terminology like 'nested action' comes from. But don't worry, the inbox zero concept will work for you even have never read a "being more productive" self help type book. I didn't read any "improving productivity" books until after implementing inbox Zero and getting more into Life Hacking.

 

You can read Melin's whole inbox zero series at 43folders.com/izero

 

 

As a side note here: There are many "systems" dealing with being more productive, GTD, Zen to Done (or ZTD) and others. You need to find the one that works for you. For me Getting Things Done was too over the top because I don't have huge projects that require that type of time organization and I was having trouble scaling it down to what I needed. I guess I'm not the only one because there are a number of article on the Internet that take a simpler approach to getting organized and becoming more productive. I call the system I put together for myself GSD, since this is a family show lets call it "Getting Stuff Done"....

 

The system that really worked for me was the one I read about the Zen Habits Web site. That's the Zen to Done system or as Leo Babauta calls it the Ultimate Simple Productivity System.

 

I wanted to mention Zen Habits and it's creator Leo Babauta because he wrote a great article called "How to get things done on your Mac" where one of the things he outlines is how to clear your inbox. I feel that its a very simple & doable system that I think will help you get through your daily emails.

 

• Focus on doing one email at a time. Start at the top and work your way down.
• When you read your email make a quick decision on what needs to be done with it. Does it require a reply? Does it need to be filed for future reference.
• Dispose of the email quickly and move onto the next one.
• Make a to-do list (Leopards mail.app has this built right in). If an email requires you to take action add it to a to-do list and archive the email for future reference.
• If you can reply to an email in less than two minutes, do so immediately. If an email requires a response that will take longer than two minutes, and you don’t have time to do that now, you can file it in a "Needing a Reply" folder – as long as you get to your replies reasonably soon.
• When you’re done with an email (you’ve replied, written down the action needed, or forwarded it), you have two options: delete it, or file it in an Archive folder for future reference.

 

To summarize never leave a read email in your inbox.

 

Making a decision about every message you read in the inbox on the spot. Whether you respond immediately or file it. Don't worry, your inbox won't get lonely being empty - because there's always more email on the way.

 

Also when you do respond to your mail, keep your answers as concise as possible. Merlin Mann says keep the ball in motion by clarifying, asking questions, offering help, or even saying “I don’t know.” You can always write more later. The point of all this is to stay focused on doing just the work each message requires. That means less time treating e-mail as an end in itself and more time using it as the tool that it is.

 

I'd also recommend reading the "The 7 Bad E-Mail Habits that Make People Want to Kill You" by Scott Young on his blog (link in the show notes).

 

 

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Your Mac's Desktop - A clean desktop is a happy desktop.

 

 

• Not a good place to store files or applications, because to get to your desktop you need to minimize or move windows or use expose to access the desktop then you have to search for the file or application you are looking for on your messy, messy desktop. To many steps.

 

• What I suggest when I see this kind of thing on a clients computer is to create a folder in your home folder and put all of this desktop stuff in the folder. You can then create a short cut to this folder on the desktop. You could call this folder, "things to look at". That's a good start, the next step is to actually place those files in specific folders like your documents folder or other folders you create to help you organize. Give yourself some time to add sub folders to your documents folder for work, home, business, or anything else you create documents for.

 

I know that may sound kind of old school with applications like quicksilver or even Spotlight under Leopard where you can search for files by either title or content (Tigers version of spotlight was too slow). Personally I just find it really helpful utilizing both a multi-folder filing system and quicksilver.

 

As a side note: Don't forget you can also use both qucksilver and Spotlight to quickly launch applications. Another reason not to keep applications on the desktop. Also your computer will actually perform better without having to keep track of all of the files, folders and Applications on your desktop.

 

• Create downloads folder (pre leopard) - Apple, in Leopard, places a downloads folder in your Home folder and a shortcut to it in the dock. I've been doing that manually for years on my computers and others when I've set them up for people. It makes me crazy that the default location of downloads was and still is the desktop in most browsers and other Internet based applications.

 

This is pretty easy to do, open your home folder, create a new folder called downloads, and point all of your browsers and Internet based applications that you download from to this folder. There's usually a setting in the preferences that tells the application what the default download folder is.

 

I know some of these tips may be somewhat obvious to you. But keep this in mind when you are helping out a friend or a family member with their computer. This is just one little thing but I think it's really helpful.

 

• Something I've done recently, After cleaning off my desktop, I've been using it just for up-to-date information. I have been using Yahoo Widgets (used to be konfabulator), to keep weather, a calendar, a big digital clock, and sticky notes on my desktop. I think this works for me because most of the time I'm running dual monitors and I'm usually using my external monitor to do stuff then on my Macbooks screen where my widgets live.

 

All was good until I installed Leopard which broke Yahoo Widgets (which has all now been fixed) and I didn't realize how much I depended on them until they were gone. That is when I came across Amnesty Widget Browser. It's an application slash menubar item that allows you to run dashboard widgets on the desktop without having to invoke dashboard itself.

 

In a lot of ways this is a better solution the Yahoo widgets because Amnesty Widgets allows you to have the widgets sit on different layers. For example I have my widgets set to desktop, which makes them part of my desktop background, all windows and icons will appear over the widgets. You can also run widgets as floating windows too. You can also control widget scaling, opacity and rotation and a bunch of other features.

 

Also keep in mind that if you do want widgets to live on your desktop and in keeping with the life hacking, being more productive theme, make sure the widgets are productive and helpful, like a to-do list. I hardly think the Tile Game widget is going to help you, Yes, it's fun, yes, but hardly productive.

 

 

 

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Misc Mac Life Hacks

 

From Lifehacker.com:

* Misc tip 1

Get rid of that old computer you barely boot up any more and focus on one (or two) well-maintained and clean systems. The fact is that the more systems you run and maintain the more time you spend syncing, upgrading, and troubleshooting (and the less time actually using them.)

 

* Misc tip 2

Uninstall unused programs. Use an application like App Cleaner or AppZapper to completely remove applications and all of their components from your Mac. Clear out the clutter and get some drive space back.

 

 

* Misc tip 3

Archive non-working project files into a separate folder - or onto CD, DVD or external disk - to free up hard drive space and get it out of the way. Do you really need to keep that paper you wrote in HS or college. Changed jobs? Archive all of those files. Again, the idea is to move items you no longer access regularly into an archive that's searchable but separated from your working files or current documents.

 

* Misc tip 4

Email and IM notifications. Leo Babauta from the Zen Habits blog calls this the worst distraction of all. Do you have a sound or an icon that notifies you of email or other incoming messages? Turn it off.

 

Being constantly interrupted by incoming messages is the worst way to get work done. Instead, choose set times during the day when you’re going to check and process email (and your RSS feeds if you read them) and ignore them the rest of the time. Twice a day is usually sufficient, but if not, you can set your email times to once an hour at the most, process your inbox, and close your email program again until the next designated time.

 

This is the one I'm (still) really working on myself, designating times to look at email and reading what's new in my RSS feeds in NetNewsWire.

 

 

* Misc tip 5

Keeping track of your serial numbers, simply. Yes, there are a lot of applications out there that do this, but the problem is, in my experience, many of those apps use a proprietary file system. What happens if the apps stops working because of a system upgrade or the development stops on the application? You can't easily get into that data. My suggestion is using a spreadsheet to keep a list of your applications serial numbers. If you don't have access to a spreadsheet application you can use a simple TextEdit document. Since I have bought so much shareware I keep the email with the serial number in my saved email mail box and also create a text clipping of the email and keep that in a folder caller serials which lives in my documents folder....

 

I hope you found Life Hacking your Mac helpful.

 

Oh yeah - Back up Back up Back up and test those back ups...

 

 

 

Ton o' links:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_hacking

http://www.lifehack.org/

http://www.43folders.com/

http://www.43folders.com/izero

http://zenhabits.net/2007/04/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/

http://zenhabits.net/2007/11/how-to-get-things-done-on-your-mac/

http://www.macworld.com/2005/04/features/tipsinbox/index.php

http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/10/23/the-7-bad-e-mail-habits-that-make-people-want-to-kill-you/

http://www.amnestywidgets.com/WidgetBrowser.html

http://appzapper.com/

http://www.freemacsoft.net/AppCleaner/

QuickSilver

LaunchBar

Deskshades

Rapido Serial

 

SHOW ENDING:

 

 

Well I want to thank Steve Stanger from the Mac Attack Podcast http://themacattack.us/ for being with ust tonight. You definetly want to subscribe to his podcast and listen to each episode and some of the past ones. I sure do.

 

 

The Typical Mac User Podcast can be found at www.typicalmacuser.com and that shows is released weekly on Tuesday nights. This show will be release in my sream late tonight. If you haven't subscribed to that show yet, head over to the web site at www.typicalmacuser.com and hit the ONE BUTTON iTunes subscription.

 

 

 

For now this is your Host Victor Cajiao saying, enjoy the rest of your Sunday