Hi everyone,
I’m new to the Mac Power Users community and excited to join. I’m looking to learn more about macOS productivity, workflows, and automation, and I’d really appreciate any tips or guidance to help me get started.
Looking forward to learning from you all. Thanks!
Welcome Moe, I suggest you click on the Top tab at the top of the page. Select the last year and this will show you the most discussed topics over the past year. This should give you a good introduction into what we talk about here.
Welcome aboard Moe.
The question you’ve asked in your original post is very broad.
You’ll get more help if you have a think about what you’re trying to do and post specifically about that problem, people will the offer you their experience.
Make sure you include pertinent information, e.g. what device are you trying to do the thing on? What error messages are you getting? what have you already tried? have you got any preferences?
Welcome. Two things that will help:
My advice, with tech in general, is to proceed incrementally and based on the actual need to accomplish something or solve a problem or annoyance.
I call it the PITA method - when something becomes too much of a PITA, I seek alternatives or automation to make it easier.
e.g. start with all the apple built-in apps and utilities. Only when you hit a wall or have frustration, look for alternative or supplemental apps.
As David says a lot lately, the Apple built-in apps have become great apps, not just starter apps and for many things, many of us don’t need to look elsewhere.
You’ve already made a terrific decision, Moe. I came here to become a wiser Mac Power User, and just reading threads will inform you well on its own. But like previous posters have said, looking through the reams of topics will likely help you find what you want to learn. You’ve got a fantastic community ready if you don’t though.
Don’t forget to have fun! It’s OK to play around with something for no reason other than you’re curious about it. If you need permission to play, remember that play is how mammals learn. Some of my biggest productivity breakthroughs have come while I’ve been fooling around with an app or a workflow someone mentioned here that, on the face of it, didn’t solve a problem I had or address a real PITA, as @SpivR aptly puts it, but did help me think about what needed doing and how tech could help.
… And sometimes it didn’t, but it was fun anyway!