Reading Time: 6 minutesRecently, I completed my Quarterly Review and Planning Session for the 2nd quarter of 2023. I typically go to an off-site location and spend a night, so I can focus. As a part of this process, I review how I did the past quarter. I ask myself, What are my wins? This gives me a …
Reading Time: 7 minutesLast week, I performed my regular quarterly review and reflection retreat. However, I used an entirely unique method than what I’ve used in the past. I used dictation to answer the questions on my Quarterly Review Template. Normally, I write out my answers on a copy of the Template. The day before I began my …
Reading Time: 8 minutesIn a recent blog post to MacSparky Labs members, David Sparks wrote about The Importance of Reading (you won’t be able to access this blog post if you’re not a member of MacSparky Labs). He notes that he is reading more books in recent years, which is what I have experienced as well. In this …
Reading Time: 4 minutesDeepstash is a service that lets you read shortened versions of different media types. The App Store description states, “Learn something new in just 5 minutes, with daily bite-sized knowledge from books, articles, videos, podcasts & more.” I heard about this app during a MacSparky Labs member meetup earlier this month. One of the participants …
Reading Time: 7 minutesWhen I was a young man attending a religious junior college, I took a “preaching 101” class. The teacher suggested that the best way to prepare a weekly sermon was to research a topic early in the week, then do nothing with it for at least a day or two. He said that while you …
Reading Time: 5 minutesAs I’ve used artificial intelligence (AI) more and more in my blog writing process, I’ve asked “At what point am I no longer the creator?” I don’t think it’s ethical for me to represent a computer’s work as my own, but I do want to take advantage of AI to do research, check my grammar …
Reading Time: 5 minutesRecently, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding AI in the productivity realm. Writing apps, such as Craft, have added AI to their list of features. From within Craft, you can request the AI to create a summary or outline of your document, write an article based on your outline, or write about a topic. …
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe word “retreat” is not a positive word for everyone. I can evoke memories of religious retreats they were required to attend, some kind of hippy-dippy, new-age spiritual experience, or boring corporate retreats where you were forced to do a lot of group exercises but nothing changed as a result. But there’s also a more …
Reading Time: 3 minutesFor the past two years, I’ve been using a Keychron mechanical keyboard. Before I started using a mechanical keyboard, for years I’d used the standard Apple Magic Keyboard that came with my iMac. A couple of months ago, I decided to experiment with using an Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad for …
Reading Time: 7 minutesChris Bailey’s latest book, How to Calm Your Mind: Finding Presence and Productivity in Anxious Times is a mixture of many positives and, unfortunately, some negatives. Bailey has produced some excellent work in the area of productivity. My go-to book to recommend to someone interested in an introduction to productivity is Bailey’s The Productivity Project. I’ve also benefitted from his Hyperfocus: …