Focused 184: Solving Problems, with Jay Clouse

Jay Clouse of Creator Science joins Mike and me on this episode of Focused to talk about the sawdust problem, the focus benefits of community, and finding the balance between quality and quantity.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FOCUSED.
  • Indeed: Join more than three million businesses worldwide using Indeed to hire great talent fast.
  • Zocdoc: Find the right doctor, right now with Zocdoc. Sign up for free.

Mac Power Users 705: macOS Window Management

Since the dawn of multitasking, users have needed to juggle things on their screens. Apple has taken several swings at building good window management tools into macOS, but better solutions can be found in a long list of third-party apps. Stephen and I have tried just about all of them for this episode of Mac Power Users.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • TextExpander: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander.
  • SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!
  • Electric: Unbury yourself from IT tasks. Get a free pair of Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones when you schedule a meeting.
  • Zocdoc: Find the right doctor, right now with Zocdoc. Sign up for free.

Automators 134: Looking through the Window of Automation

On this episode of Automators, Rosemary and I are joined by Sal Soghoian to talk about everything from launchers such as Alfred, to window management, and more voice control!

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get an extra three months free.
  • TextExpander: Your Shortcut to Efficient, Consistent Communication. Get 20% off.
  • Taskbone: Gets more out of your productivity tools. Get special onboarding support for a limited time only.

15 Years of OmniFocus

Tim Stringer shared this thoughtful post about the 15-year anniversary of OmniFocus, and I felt like I had to weigh in. Like Tim, I had a long, complicated journey with task management on the Mac before OmniFocus showed up.

It’s easy to forget how lousy task management apps were on the Mac before OmniFocus. It was a wasteland. Indeed, it was so bad that most of us resorted to using OmniOutliner with Ethan Schoonover’s “Kinkless GTD” modifications.

We were all enthusiastic when word got out that the Omni Group was making a proper task manager. I started using it with the earliest public beta and still use it today. People ask why a guy like me, known for trying out every potential app on the market, keeps using the same task manager for all these years, and the answer is simple: There is nothing better.

I considered moving to an alternate task manager when I stopped practicing law. I spent time running my tasks out of the Reminders app, Obsidian, and several other popular task managers, both cloud-based and native apps. I even tried an all-paper system for a few months. None of them held up compared to OmniFocus. And the thing is that OmniFocus keeps extending its lead.

Most recently, with all of the work Sal Soghoian is doing, you can automate anything in OmniFocus and add your own features. Sal’s even figured out a way to allow you to control the entire application with your voice. (Here’s an interview I did with Sal in the MacSparky Labs on that topic.)

The software business is tricky. Keeping your app relevant and modern for 15 years is no easy task, so I tip my hat to all the hard-working folks at the Omni Group (past and present). OmniFocus has been a instrumental tool for me now for 15 years and I have them to thank.