Reading Time: 4 minutesI’ve known about Keyboard Maestro (KM) for years, but I always thought it was too complicated and advanced to fit my needs. I was wrong. My Misconceptions About Keyboard Maestro Recently, in MacSparky Labs, David Sparks did a program on “Mac Launcher Deep Dive.” In this video, Sparks showed how he uses KM to automate …
Reading Time: 4 minutesI’ve been using Craft for a couple of years now, much more so since last summer. I was initially attracted to Craft because it is a beautiful environment to work in, and enables me to easily create attractive and functional documents. As I’ve worked more with Craft I’ve found myself using it for a number …
Reading Time: 4 minutesSometimes great insights come from the least expected sources. Who would guess that a book about business marketing would help me to better understand and articulate what my role is in writing this blog and doing presentations? Building a Story Brand My friend Joe Moyer (who writes the excellent blog 24Letters) recently told me about …
Reading Time: 4 minutesMany, if not most, of us who write experience self-doubt about whether our writing is any good, has any value, and what that says about us as individuals. Even well-published, professional writers suffer from the same feelings. Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, #1 NYT-bestselling Outlander series of novels. She has a scientific …
Reading Time: 6 minutesHookmark has revolutionized my use of linking between files in my workflows. I’ve been aware of the value of linking files with other files in different apps for some time. I’ve done some linking between apps that internally support linking, such as linking a file in Craft to a task in Things. However, the problem …
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA year ago, David Sparks (aka MacSparky) announced that he had shut down his half-time law practice and was going to dedicate his full time to producing MacSparky creative work. When Sparks announced his membership program, MacSparky Labs, in early January of this year, I immediately joined the highest level of membership (there are three …
Reading Time: 5 minutesSurgery on my right shoulder (I’m right-handed) in late December motivated me to try using dictation more on my iPad and Mac. I have dabbled in using dictation but haven’t used it very consistently. During the past week and a half I’ve extensively used dictation to: • Write emails and messages. • Write notes on …
Reading Time: 5 minutesHow do you start a new project? If you don’t have a template, you’ll likely leave out some important steps. In Tiago Forte’s excellent book Building A Second Brain, he discusses in chapter 9 the importance of having a checklist to launch new projects. “Before they taxi onto the runway and take off, airline pilots …
Reading Time: 5 minutesAccording to writer Todd Henry in Daily Creative, steady, deliberate progress is the key to creative success. It takes three things to get things done and bring about creative success: 1. Commit to steady, deliberate progress; 2. Do it every day, and; 3. Work even when you don’t feel like it. The key to creative …
Reading Time: < 1 minuteYesterday on his weekly podcast and report to MacSparky Labs members, David Sparks made a media recommendation — the movie “Spirited” on Apple TV+. When we were done with dinner, I suggested to my wife that we might want to watch it. She wasn’t sure about it, and I wasn’t either. I said, “Let’s watch …