Tag: productivity
How to find the large files in your photo library.
My Apple photo library was way bigger than it should be. It turned out I had some very large videos in it. There’s no way of arranging your photos by size from within the Apple photos app. There is a way to browse these files outside of Apple Photos and arrange them by size. Here’s…
Dragging emails into the OSX reminders app
Here I blogged about how great the Apple Reminders app is for managing tasks in the GTD workflow. What I didn’t mention is that you can drag emails straight into the reminder app and it will link the email to the task. Here’s how. The Reminders app needs to be open. Grab an email from…
GTD with Apple reminders
I’ve previously used Things by Cultured Code and Todoist, Wunderlist and others. But recently I’ve given Apple Reminders a run and I must say it’s surprisingly good. After 6 months, it’s become my favourite place to organise my tasks. It’s got great integration with Siri. ‘Hey Siri, add a reminder to plan for holidays.’ It…
Great productivity tip: create a tmp folder.
I’ve been doing this for years, but I’ve never written an article about it. I have an easily accessible folder, available from anywhere, where I throw anything that is temporary. I can easily find what I need, but it doesn’t clutter other places up. Read on… it’s better than it sounds.
My essential Mac apps
I’ve just purchased a new 2020 13inch MacBook Pro and rather than use migration assistant to copy everything across I’ve started fresh. I have installed my apps one by one. So here’s a list of the first few ‘must have’ apps that I just installed… 1Password. I can’t live without it. It’s the first thing…
Notational Velocity (NValt) and Catalina
My favourite quick note syncing utility – NValt broke with Catalina. I was getting error that it could not find my notes folder, but when I tried to select another notes folder it did not work I was able to get it up and running again, but it took a bit of fiddling. Most of…
How to change the icon of an AppleScript in OS X.
In my previous posts I have lead you through how to make an AppleScript that can use to open a particular website URL in a particular browser. You can drag these Apple scripts to your dock to instantly access any URL from your dock. Obviously the next step is you will want to give these…
How to remap any key to any key on your OSX keyboard
This is a somewhat technical post about how to remap keys in OSX using Karabiner Elements.
Notational Velocity sync is broken!
Notational Velocity is my favourite note taking app for little bits of information you’d like to save anywhere then be able to recall later. Notational Velocity sync broke in October 2018 when the sync engine they relied on (Simplenote) changed the domain of their notes server. Over at GitHub there’s been a fix, but it…
Unclutter
Every now and then I stumble across a life changing app that completely changes the way I interact with my computer. Quicksilver. Devonthink Pro. Jumpcut. Keyboard Maestro. 1Password. Dropbox. Hazel. These are Apps that I cannot do without! In my 20 years of being a mac user there has been a handful of such apps…
How to change the name of lots of files in OSX
I discovered this little application a while ago called ‘namechanger’. It allows you to automatically change the name of a large number of files in one go. It has lots of options. You can add something to the start of filenames or to the end. You can do search and replace of filenames. You can…
How to get a new file menu inOS X using right click
Summary: This great little app (costs $2.99) allows you to right-click in any folder and make a new document. Windows users will be used to the ability to right-click anywhere and make a new file. Unfortunately you cannot do this on a Mac. For many years I have had a quicksilver shortcut which allows me to…
How to add Devonthink documents to your Quicksilver catalogue
Quicksilver is one of my favourite apps for accessing documents quickly and doing all sorts of tasks. I use it almost every time I want to open a new app, open a document or find a folder. I also use Devonthink to store all my files. I am converting over to a paperless office. (Hopefully…
Streaming TV and movies on demand without ads
If you watch TV on your Macbook or iMac here’s a great tip. I’m not sure what happens in the rest of the world, but in Australia when you stream TV on demand from stations like channel 10 or SBS you get between 30 seconds and 2 minutes of ads every 10 minutes or so.…
Tab Launcher
Tab Launcher is a great little app that sits on the side or top of your screen. It’s like a manilla folder where you can put commonly used files. It makes accessing them much quicker. The great thing is you don’t have to actually move the files into tab launcher. Your files stay exactly where…
Google beat Apple at their own game – 3 must have iOS apps by Google.
I have been keeping an eye on three iOS apps that Google have been playing with over the last few years, and they have all come to age at the same time. I’m not sure if the timing is coincidence or some kind of subversive move by Google but Google have nailed these three wonderful iOS…
Automatically log in when your computer starts up
When you login OS X asks you for a password. This is a great security feature, especially if you have a laptop and you are taking it places. If you have a computer at home or in your study and you are the only one that has physical access to your computer you may want…
How to use Quicksilver
Quicksilver is the first app I install on any Macintosh and I’m lost without it.
Make your own keyboard shortcuts
Here’s how to customise your own Keyboard shortcuts for any OSX application menus.
How to find things with Spotlight
Spotlight has been round for years but if you’re like me you may not be using it as well as you can. Here’s an example of a recent search I did that might help you learn some features of spotlight.
A great password manager
I’ve been using 1Password for about 3 years now, Â it’s great. A password manager remembers all your web login usernames and passwords on every blog and website you visit.