Stephen Hackett is publishing his third annual Apple Wall Calendar for 2024. This one is focused on Apple Services and Retail and full of gorgeous images. Moreover, Stephen researches the hell out of these calendars and they are packed with interesting Apple history dates. You can get a digital version or a physical version (with the additional digital download). I’ve already ordered mine.
Using calendar sets can really up your game, but setting them up takes time, so you’re less likely to use them. The good news is that you can easily automate them with Shortcuts. This video shows you how…
This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
I received an email from a listener asking if it was too late to buy a Focused wall calendar. It is not.
It’s that time again. Mike and I are proud to announce the release of the 2023 Focused Wall Calendar. This wall calendar works great when you hang it within sight of your desk. It’s that big thing you can look at before taking on a new commitment to make sure you aren’t already in over your head. That’s how I use mine, at least.
I also like this calendar because it easily lets me plan out the big rock projects of my year. For instance, I’m spending lots of time working on the Obsidian Field Guide over the next few months. I need to look no further than my wall for confirmation of that fact.
This is the fourth year we’ve sold these calendars, and we’ve received so much positive feedback from folks putting them on their walls. Moreover, the calendars get better every year. Here are a few of the features we’ve got built into the 2023 iteration:
In addition to all of the above, this year, we’re also giving you a digital download for Today’s Action Plan. It’s a digital file you can write on with your iPad or your Remarkable to plan your day with your tablet. This is an excellent combination with the Focused calendar. I’ve been using the Daily Action Plan over the past month as we’ve been perfecting it for you, and I love it. (Power tip: export the action plan to Day One!)
You can get it all now for just $30 plus shipping. Get yours today.
I’ve had several Labs members ask me about an easy way to duplicate existing calendar events to a second “Busy” calendar so they share their availability without sharing event details. Here you go…
This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
Digital Calendars are way more powerful than the paper calendars we humans used for hundreds of years. The problem is, that most of us are still using them as if they are just paper calendars … and they are so much more than that.
Not only can our calendars now give us things like alarms and repeating events automatically (that’s the easy stuff). With a little out-of-the-box thinking, you can get a lot more from your Calendar. You can now easily schedule blocks of time to get the work most important to you into your schedule and make sure all the little stuff doesn’t get in the way of the big stuff. I call it hyper-scheduling.
You can also use calendar blocks to limit your time on things that are usual time-sucks. For instance, I have a one-hour block of time to process email and comms. That’s there so I only spend an hour (not three!) dealing with email.
And don’t forget digital calendars are free. You can make as many as you want. This lets you transform your digital calendar into a planning calendar.
I’ve got a lot of ideas on way to use digital calendars to your advantage. I shared them in a recent webinar and now you can watch it. Enjoy!
Fantastical Field Guide (Free)
It’s that time of year again and the Focused Podcast is once again selling the Focused Year planning calendar in collaboration with the amazing folks at NeuYear. This is the third iteration of the Focused calendar and this one is the best yet.
The idea behind the Focused calendar is to give you the big picture at a glance. I’ve had one of these on my wall now for a few years and despite my love of gadgets, there is nothing like the clarity you get from having the year’s big obligations and projects staring back at me every day.
We’ve made further improvements this year as well. We’ve improved the customizable habit tracking bubbles and the calendar is laminated for dry erase markers. Also, starting this year you can get the calendar in either portrait or landscape mode, just flip it over.
I should have mine in a week and I can’t wait to get it on the wall. You may want to get one for yourself.
As the end of the year approaches, the Focused podcast partnered with the NeuYear calendar company to create a custom 2020 Focused wall calendar. I’m thrilled with the way this came out, and I can’t wait to hang it on my wall. We intentionally priced this low ($29, including shipping to most places in the US) so people could get these on their walls.
I like the idea of a year calendar on the wall. Not only does it help you plan, but it also gives you something to look at before you say “yes” to any significant commitments. Indeed, that is one of my rules. No “yes” until I see how it looks on the wall calendar. We talk about this at length on a recent Focused episode, but if you’re interested in the calendar, get it now.
