I am recently retired . . well sort of. . and plan to really learn several applications for which I have only skimmed the surface: Omnifocus, Drafts, Devonthink, Alfred rise to the top. Notion is coming further down the list. Is it better to focus on one until I’ve ‘mastered’ it? or try to learn a little about each as I go? I know that’s a personal choice, learning style, etc but I’m interested in how you all have approached it.
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I’ve always found a good approach to being having a specific problem I’m trying to solve (or opportunity to create). At least for me, if I just dive into a tool because I want to learn it, I find the options overwhelming.
Is there a specific task/goal/outcome you can prioritize and then let that make the decision for you of which app is the right tool to learn for the job?
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I’m learning about Alfred via the MacSparky Alfred Field Guide, lots of experimentation and reading arund the Web. I can endirse both the Field Guide, and Alfred,
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Learning apps by focusing on one app gets boring. Learning apps without a purpose gets frustrating. Unless it’s a game, software has no purpose without data, and the more the data reflects your real-life interests the better. So, if you like to write, focus on getting to know apps built for writers. If you have a lot of documents you want to organize, than learn DEVONthink by organizing your stuff. Above all, don’t try to read about and figure out every feature of anything.
I love the Field Guides, and have bought them all, to support David – but I’ve never finished a single one because I don’t need all of that information for anything I do.
Katie
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Great advice. I DO own all the Field Guides. I think DevonThink is at the top of the list because I want to organize the 500+ items in my inbox! I also am highly interested in indexing email but first want to clear out the unnecessary detritus of the last 28 years.
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I rely on all of those apps and find them all really useful. However: It might help to first figure out what you want to do—what parts of your personal knowledge management or workflows feel messy or could work better? Once you’re clear on the problems you want to solve, you may find you don’t need to learn all of these tools deeply—just the ones that fit your needs. Unless, of course, you’re just excited to explore them for fun, which is totally valid too! (But if you have 500+ items in your DEVONthink inbox, I think that is the place to start!)
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I heartily reccommend the free Take Control of DevonThink ebook. Like all Take Control books, it’s organized so that you can go right to the thing you need to know at that moment, or work your way through from start to finish.
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The Take Control of DEVONthink book is very good. The version for DEVONthink 3 is free to download at DEVONtechnologies.com . No version of that book for DEVONthink has been posted, yet, but the basics of the book are still rock solid. DEVONthink 4 is in what appears to be the final beta (beta 3) and on the edge of public release.
Katie
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One principle that I’ve found very helpful (and liberating) is to find a specific feature or use for an app that fills a particular need I have better than any other app.
I master that use case and then move on to the next.
The key for me is that I am satisfied using, or continuing to use, that specific app, regardless of how much or little of the rest of the app I use.
Conversely, when I was younger, I was easily frustrated if I believed I wasn’t using enough of the app or many of its features and felt I wasn’t getting the full value from the app and felt guilty I was either paying too much for using too little, or afraid my own skills or ability were lacking.
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+1 on this, it’s the same as learning to code without having a problem to solve.
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I don’t think it is necessary, or probably really desirable, to “really learn” any app. See what it does and then learn what you will use. I expect most people only use 10% or less of the features in any app. If you fully learn an app you will find that you forget how to use most of its features.
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Devonthink is the one. It is an amazing rich app
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This is the right answer. Stop reading after this. Alfred has the most potential of all the apps (and any app on MacOS, except maybe Keyboard Maestro)
What problem or pain point do you want to solve first ?
Alfred - It is not just a launcher -great UI addition for the OS. David’s field guide is excellent.
Omnifocus - tasks with rules for surfacing tasks
Devonthink - store stuff and find stuff easily
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DevonThink is the one! It is an absolutely amazing piece of software.
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I was going to say that in my retirement I will tackle things like properly learning to play classical piano. But then I saw your avatar and username and it seems you’re already there 
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It’s never too late to learn to make music. I’ve retired from the University of South Carolina and a large part of my job was directing the USC String Project. USC String Project - School of Music | University of South Carolina
About 20% of our students are adults.
I do play viola and hope to play a bit more, now that I (might) have time to practice.
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