Tag Archives: productivity

One Day Remaining for MacHeist nanoBundle 3 ($9.99)

by Technology

MacHeist nanoBundle 3

The clock is ticking on the MacHeist nanoBundle 3—you’ve got one day left to pick it up. At $9.99, this bundle is a great value. Here’s are the highlights:

Path Finder ($40) – This app has been on my wish list for a long time now. Path Finder is a powerful file manager and Finder replacement for your Mac. It was unlocked as a part of the bundle after 30,000 had been sold. I expect to use this app daily.

Fantastical ($20) – I already own Fantastical. It’s my go–to calendar application 95% of the time. It allows you to create meetings and appointments using natural language.

Clarify ($30) – This app makes quick work of creating how–tos, instructions, and tutorials using screenshots, annotations, and text. I’m really excited about putting this app to work.

AirServer ($15) – This is another app I’ve had my eye on for some time now. AirServer allows your Mac to receive AirPlay feeds, similar to Apple TV. Slick.

xScope ($30) – A set of measuring tools for designers and developers. I’m not a designer or developer, but I can see this app coming in handy every now and again.

iStopMotion ($50) – Create your own stop motion animation. I doubt I’ll use this app often, but I’m definitely looking forward to playing around with it.

Little Inferno ($10) – Burn stuff.

CleanMyMac 2 ($40) – I’ve never been a big fan of utilities like this, but I might just give it a try. I can use all the help I can get getting rid of junk and freeing up space on my modest–sized SSD.

Totals ($40) – A tool for creating invoices.

?????? – There is one application yet to be revealed. It’s identity remains a mystery.

This bundle includes several great applications and it’s selling at an outstanding price. Jump on it soon—there’s only one day left.

New Year, New Lie

by Productivity & Workflow

In a recent episode of Back to Work 1, Merlin Mann had this to say about New Year’s Resolutions:

It’s a fresh lie for a fresh year. ‘Cause, if you were really resolved to do something, you wouldn’t need a calendar to tell you it’s time. 2

It’s a good point, really. If there’s a change worth making in my life, then why would I wait for January 1 to make it? Why not make that change today? Probably because I’m not very serious about making said change.

 

 

Notes:

  1. Back to Work, hosted by Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin, is one of my favorite podcasts right now. They cover topics such as work, productivity, tools, etc.  You’ll find it on 5by5. ↩
  2. You’ll find this quote at approximately the 32:45 mark. ↩

Quickly Add OmniFocus Tasks on iPhone with Launch Center Pro

by Productivity & Workflow

If you’re a user of the OmniFocus iPhone app, then grab Launch Center Pro from the App Store (currently 40% off) and head over to A Better Mess. Michael Schechter has posted some significant time-saving tips for creating tasks in OmniFocus on the iPhone.

Watch the video below for a quick intro. Read the entire post, Speeding Up OmniFocus on iOS with Launch Center Pro, for the details.

(HT: Simplicity is Bliss)

Evernote and Skitch Make a Great Match

by Productivity & Workflow

Yesterday it was announced that Evernote has acquired Skitch.

This is exciting news and a great match! Evernote and Skitch are already two of the most useful apps I have on my Mac. The folks at Evernote claim that “Skitch will make Evernote better (and vice versa).” I agree. Improved integration between the two can only be a good thing. I look forward to seeing how the relationship between these handy tools develops in the coming months.

And the good news doesn’t stop there. A Skitch app has also been released for Android! The ability to mark up and add annotations to images along with the app’s Evernote integration will likely make this one of my favorite and most-used apps on my phone as well.

Finally, the biggest winners of this acquisition might just be Windows users. On its blog, Evernote promises, “We are committed, not only to making the Skitch Mac app more awesome, but also to bringing Skitch to every desktop and mobile platform under the sun.” Sound like a Windows app is in the works.

Read the announcement and get all the details on the Evernote and Skitch blogs.

What about you? Do you use Evernote? Skitch?

What features or improvements do you hope come from this new relationship?

 

Free Ebook – Read This Before Our Next Meeting

by Leadership / Productivity & Workflow

As one who has witnessed, first-hand, the broken “meetings system” (and contributed to it as well), I am really looking forward to reading this book:  Read This Before Out Next Meeting, by Al Pittampalli.

And the best part? The Kindle edition is free until August 10! Get it HERE.

 

via Michael Hyatt.

Desktop Notifications for Gmail

by Productivity & Workflow / Technology

Desktop notifications for emails and chat messages were announced on the Official Gmail Blog yesterday. Though not life-changing, this is a feature that I am glad to see.

Gmail is typically open as a tab in my browser at all times, even while I work on non-email related items and tasks. This means that I regularly miss others’ attempts to chat with me. By the time I realize they have sent me a message and attempt to respond, they may not even be online. If this bothers me, then I’m sure it’s even more frustrating for the person initiating the conversation. Problem solved. The best part is that I don’t need to run an application in the background (such as iChat or Adium) in order to receive chat notifications any longer!

I’m less excited about the email notifications. I prefer to control my inbox and not the other way around. Email notifications kill my productivity, so I only check email at designated times. There is an option to be notified only when “Important Messages” arrive, however. As a Priority Inbox lover, I may consider giving this a try.

Desktop notifications are available only to Google Chrome users at this time. Details here.