What popular practice in MPU do you not get?

Also, those work fine for individuals with larger arms, but there are plenty of people where strapping a Plus-sized phone to your upper arm is not practical. Those phones are big, on me, a 6-foot tall man with reasonably large arms they are fine (though I don’t run so this isn’t an issue for me). But some upper arms are… not so big. Some people might also not want the burden regardless of arm size.

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I believe it. I think it’s superstition.

And you know what – that’s fine! Sometimes it takes a little superstition and mindhacking to get out and moving in our sedentary society.

I tried 'em. Found them uncomfortable and the phone was inaccessible.

Look for the various concealed carry holsters for runners if you want to take the phone and do not have pockets. Yes, they are made for firearms but many, especially the belly band, thigh and ankle holsters can be easily adapted for phone use.

Because they are meant for constant carry they tend to be very comfortable nd also provide quick access.

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Wow, I am just about to enter a whole year’s worth of choir rehearsals and performances into Calendar, not my favourite task. This sounds amazing, thanks!

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Agreed, thanks Kayle! This will simplify entering my academic calendar into Fantastical. I bet I can simply copy and paste the calendar from the school’s pdf!

If you haven’t already I’d recommend checking out the first episode of Automators:

We have lots of ways to do exactly that :wink:

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I don’t get all the file-based advices from MPU. All the tagging, folder structure, etc. We have DEVONthink which index them, tag and sync via iCloud to the iPhone, why should we struggle with a file system?

I use many of the aforementioned tools too, but there’s something to be said for the simplicity and lack of dependencies/contingencies of working with the Finder alone. Some portion of my files are managed in Finder using folders and tags, etc. It’s nice to have a tool belt of strategies that rely only on the OS and nothing (or not much) else.

Like I said, I use tools like DEVONthink (I spend hours a day, every day, in DEVONthink). But there are plenty of things that just don’t need to be in applications like that and I’m glad to have lots of great techniques for managing the files that don’t need to be in DEVONthink or whatever.

DevonThink is great if all you ever use are devices that support DevonThink. I

We have a file system which indexes files, tags and syncs via iCloud to the iPhone, why should we struggle with Devonthink? I’m sure it had its place back in OS X Jaguar before Apple had introduced Spotlight and native tagging - it certainly looks like that was the last time they updated the UI - but in 2018 it hardly seems necessary.

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Setting aside the tagging, there’s something to be said for the portability and resilience of a filesystem-based organizational system. Need a backup? Just take a copy. Need to read the content on a random device where your specialized application doesn’t exist? The file’s still there. Want to implement robust versioning? Tack git/github/bitbucket on. Need to collaborate with someone? Share just that folder with them. Need to work outside the Apple ecosystem? Windows & Linux understand directory structures just fine.

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Because indexing and search in spotlight was good, when it was introduced, but is only a mediocre solution now (weighting, finding similar content and so on). Because DEVONthink helps you to bring the content in it (clipper for browsers, import scripts for mails, including outlook). Because I can create private and work databases and sync them separately to my private and work devices. Because these databases are encrypted. Finally, because I can create a file in DEVONthink, place a link to it as reference in OmniFocus and it will work on mac and iOS - even if I move it within the DEVONthink structure later.

All this, because I have a DB with documents and not trying to create a document hierarchy with mediocre tools, such as a file system. Backups are pretty easy - just copy the DB. And I have no device in my house, where my “specialised application” would not exist. I always try to maximise the gain of living in one ecosystem. But anyway, it is pretty easy to move files out DEVONthink.

Don’t get me wrong, there are “dumb” files where I would get no profit from importing them into DEVONthink. A git repository would be an example. But everything knowledge-based or administrativ just directly goes there and is deleted from the file system.

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It`s future proof. What if DEVOnthink/Adobe/etc. goes down the drain or I decide to move to another OS, etc.

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It`s future proof. What if DEVOnthink/Adobe/etc. goes down the drain or I decide to move to another OS, etc.

Then I will waste a minute of my time, export everything out of DEVONthink and move on. Don’t see how it can be an argument not to reap the benefits of a better system - nothing will last forever, including DEVONthink, macOS and us. It does not stop me from using any kind of software which can make my life easier, including DEVONthink, Keyboard Maestro, Hazel or LaunchBar.

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For me, it’s Markdown. I don’t begrudge anyone who loves/uses this, of course, but I have no actual need for it. I totally get it, especially for web publishers.

But I never understood jumping all in on Markdown to just take notes.

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Doesn’t stop me either. Like my photo collection: while I use metadata (IPTC+EXIF, including keywords) in Lightroom to find images, I still rename the files (“IMGxxxx”) to something meaningful (date_location) and sort (automated) them into folders with a continent/conutry structure. No added effort (renaming and sorting is automated) and I have a file/folder structure that is manageable “by foot”.

For me, it’s using a password manager. I don’t use any other platform except for Apple and keychain does everything I need. I’ve read many posts but none of them has convinced me that I need to pay a subscription for something that works perfectly already.

Also, Ulysses. It is a nice looking application but I need research side-by-side with my writing and saved in the same project files so I can instantly access it. I also need to be able to control the formatting so Scrivener is much better for my needs (which is publishing academic articles in the APA format).

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For me, I mentally feel better when I’ve gone through everything and organized it myself, whether manually or with a Hazel rule. After saving thousands of documents over the last 6-7 years, I feel confident that I could find exactly what I’m looking for on my Mac if it was barebones, no 3rd party apps whatsoever.

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It seems that many of the productivity websites have moved away from productivity and moved more towards tinkering with apps and trying out new ways to do things. That’s fine, but do we really need 5 apps to plan a project?

First I draw it out in concepts, then I formalize it in MindNode, then I create an OmniOutline, and then I write the items out in OmniFocus. I then have a Siri Shortcut create an outline in Ulysses document based on my OmniFocus project and it sets a reminder for a week from then, two weeks from then, and finally a month from then. (This actually sound interesting and I might try it! Hah)

I get it, we’re nerds and like tinkering and finding new ways to do things, but let’s not kid ourselves that this is really saving time. Can’t we just be upfront and say we find this fun and that’s why we do it? Do we really need the productivity front?

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