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The 2021 Focused Wall Calendar



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The year 2020 turned out to be a bit of a dumpster fire for a lot of us and as we’re heading into the new year, just about everyone is ready for a fresh start. So why not hit the ground running in 2021 with a beautiful wall Focused wall calendar. Mike and I have partnered once again with the folks at NeuYear to produce a great looking wall calendar.

This year’s version is dry-erase (but keeps the $24 price point) and week’s start on Monday, as they should. It’ll look amazing on your wall as you conquer 2021. As much as I like my digital bits, there is something to be said for having a big wall calendar staring back at you as you plan your year. It lets you see where you have room to make something great and where you’re too busy to take on any more. I love the way these came out and I hope you do too.



2021 Focused Wall Calendar


Focused 113: ADHD and Cognitive Science, with Brittany Smith



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Brittany Smith is a cognitive scientist and very focused. She was also diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), and she has a lot of wisdom to share on this week’s episode of Focused. 

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • ExpressVPN: High-speed, secure and anonymous VPN service. Get an extra three months free.

  • Woven: The calendar with the most powerful scheduling tools. Try it free for 21 days.

Mac Power Users 563: macOS Big Sur



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macOS Big Sur brings with it a new design and updated features. On this week’s episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I wade into macOS 11, before giving our impressions of the M1-powered MacBook Air.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

  • Indeed: Get a free $75 credit to boost your job post.

  • Woven: The calendar with the most powerful scheduling tools. Try it free for 21 days.

  • Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MPU to get 30% off. Offer expires on January 31, 2021, and can be used only once.

Automate Text with TextExpander (Sponsor)



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This week MacSparky is sponsored by TextExpander. Copy and paste is an inefficient way to keep track of the things you type again and again. TextExpander makes you more productive by taking care of all those words and phrases for you. TextExpander works in all your apps so you can use it everywhere, like Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, and Apple’s Pages. With TextExpander you’ll see your snippets everywhere. It syncs between your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Windows PC instantly.

People often ask me how to get started with automation and I think there is no better way than TextExpander. It is easy to get started and accessible to anyone but can get as geeky as you want it to. Best of all, everyone can benefit from automated text.

They’ve got free snippet groups for all sorts of folks including job recruiters, freelancers, airport codes, brand names, and more at the TextExpander website (or you can download some of mine).

Best of all, with TextExpander you don’t have to work alone: TextExpander for Teams lets you manage and share snippets with your coworkers or the entire company. Use this link to get 20% off. 

Automators 63: Home Automation Wizardry and Nerd Out



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On this episode of Automators, Rosemary and I dive back into the wonderful world of home automation and look at Rosemary’s new setup. From “You’ve Got Mail” to picking accessories, we go beyond the normal, and possibly the insane.

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • Command Line Heroes: Epic true tales of people revolutionizing the technology landscape. Season 6 out now.

  • Sync Up, a OneDrive podcast: Takes you behind the scenes of OneDrive.

  • FastScripts: Powerful script management utility. Instant access to your scripts, by keyboard shortcut or menubar. Get 20% off for a limited time only.

  • Setapp: More than 200 powerful apps for your Mac. Try it free for a week.

Fantastical 3.3


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With both Big Sur and Apple Silicon shipping in the last week, I’m behind on some of the software updates. Fantastical released version 3.3 with a new Big Sur design and support for adding Microsoft Teams meetings in an interface similar to their Zoom integration. The other big update here is the widgets. The Fantastical widgets (there are a lot of them) for iPhone, iPad, and even Mac put Apple’s calendar widget to shame. I’m using the large size month calendar and event list on my iPhone home screen.

It’s a nice update and already out. I continue to use Fantastical daily to manage my calendar appointment and block schedule.

Notes Following Three Hours with an M1 macBook Air

Hooray! It’s the release day for the M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini. There are a bunch of reviews by folks who spent a week with the new Macs. My two favorites were from Jason Snell and Dieter Bohn. I’ve only been using mine a few hours, but I already have some notes to share:

  • Small, with a Punch

    Having used a MacBook Pro and a 12” MacBook a lot over the last year, this new MacBook Air is like their love child. Light, small, and wicked fast.

  • No Heat
    I’ve been primarily just setting things up but I have rendered a few videos and otherwise tried to push the M1 around a bit. So far, no noticeable heat or throttling. I already feel like my choice of the MacBook Air was the right one.

  • Still a Mac
    Thus far I’ve worked in OmniFocus, Microsoft Word, Keyboard Maestro, Fantastical, 1Password, and Obsidian. Everything seems to be working as if it was Intel inside, but faster.

  • Battery Life
    It’s too early to tell, but in the three hours that I’ve been installing downloading, setting up, and working on this Mac, I’ve used 20% of the available battery life. That’s nuts.

Even though it’s only been a few hours, I’m already using this Mac to do work and the word that just keeps jumping to my mind is “snappy”. I’ve never had a Mac that jumped to my command like this. The way apps load and leap onto the screen are reminiscent, not surprisingly, of iPad OS more than traditional macOS. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts as I use it more, but so far I’m impressed.