I think the tie means, “I will be so subservient as an employee that I will do even totally senseless things just because you tell me to.” Another reason to avoid wearing a tie for a job interview is to show you’re not interested in employers that want such subservience.

Well, yea. This. Mr. Stallman has an interesting outlook on life. You may not agree with it all¹. This is perhaps the best writing I’ve ever read about ties. Ties are the most evil thing man has ever devised. Ladies, you just wouldn’t understand.

By default, both Windows and Android annoy the shit out of you. That is their default, out of the box state. When you buy a Windows computer, there are many things you must do to make it serviceable. When you buy an Android powered phone, you must go through a similar process¹.

This is the wrong way to create happy users.

My first experience of using my shiny new, probably expensive device should not be one of uninstalling crapware. It should not involve discovering task managers so my phone doesn’t freeze or run out of battery in a few hours. Instead I should be able to do what I want.

Apple has more loyal customers because from the very first time you take your new gadget out of the box, it doesn’t annoy the shit out of you. Revolutionary, isn’t it?

Repeating tasks are a core feature of any GTD type system. There are some tasks that repeat on a regular basis – things like taking out the garbage, paying taxes, backing up your computer. Some of these tasks are done daily, some weekly, some monthly, and some quarterly. Being able to schedule a repeating task to remind you to do these things is absolutely critical to keeping you sane, and making sure everything gets done.

Back when I used Things¹, and now that I use OmniFocus², repeating tasks are a staple of my system. I don’t want to have to remember anything. I want my system to remind me to do the things that I need to do. That is pretty much the entire point, after all.

Repeating Task Overkill

There comes a point, however, when your entire daily task list is populated by repeating tasks. You wake up in the morning and look at your OmniFocus Due list, and every single task is of the repeating variety. This is a trap!

When all of your tasks are repeating, that means you are just treading water. You aren’t moving forward on any of your projects. During your super busiest³ times, this is probably fine. But normal times? It’s a horrible, horrible trap. You’ll be checking off boxes left and right, thinking that you’re making progress. Instead, you’re going nowhere in a big hurry.

Always make sure you are moving forward

Look at your Due list for today. If it’s entirely, or nearly full of repeating tasks, it’s time for a Super Review. Go through each and every one of your repeating tasks to make sure they are necessary. If you can repeat them at a slower rate, do it. Maybe you don’t need to check your PO box every week, when ever two weeks will do just fine. You get the idea.

The more repeating tasks you can knock off your list permanently, the more work you can actually get done. Due lists should just be your first stop, not your only stop.

Next Actions

Build a Next Actions perspective, if you haven’t already. This is where you should aim to spend more time, as it will actually move you through projects. This is the only way you’re ever going to get anything done. This is how I set up my Next Actions list:

Basically it shows the next available task of every active project I have. I don’t have to look at things that I can’t do, which means less clutter. When you’re checking off tasks from this perspective, you know you’re really making progress.

A man is only as good as his word. I have lived by these words my whole life, and I intend to continue doing so until my time on this earth passes. When a man gives his word, he must keep it at all costs. This is not negotiable.

How, then, does one reconcile ruthlessly meeting the obligations of his word with living as simple a life as possible? Easy. Do not make promises lightly. Think long and hard before agreeing to do something. Once you've given your word, it's your obligation to follow through. Choose wisely.

A look into the tools I use for writing, reading, and reference.

Writing:

I write on three different devices – my iMac, my iPhone 4, and my iPad 2. One of my core needs is that anything I write must be instantly accessible and editable on any of these three devices. This is non-negotiable. It’s the biggest reason I nearly never write with paper and pen.

iMac writing tools

nvALT gets the nod here. Not only is it simple and easy to use, it’s ridiculously powerful. Every single one of my notes and articles is visible, editable, and most importantly, searchable. I simply type in the search box and the results are instantly pared down until I find what I’m looking for. Even better, nvALT has Markdown support built in. Simply hit CMD+CTRL+P to view or hide a Markdown instant preview. Neato.

I have nvALT set to sync with Simplenote and Dropbox, in the form of plain text files. This is for both convenience and security. The more places my data lives, the less likely it will disappear into the night. I am paranoid of losing data, and go to fairly obsessive means to prevent data loss. That’s a topic for another day, though.

iPhone writing tools

Contrary to my single-app preference on OS X, I spend time in two writing apps on the iPhone. First, and most used, is Simplenote. I love Simplenote for its simplicity. There aren’t pages of preferences to fiddle with. There are just your notes, synced effortlessly with nvALT.

App number two is Nebulous Notes. This is an unpolished app, at least compared with Simplenote. However, it has the wonderful ability to create macros, which I wrote about in my review. When I’m writing any significant amount of Markdown, Nebulous Notes is where I spend my time.

iPad writing tools

If you guessed that they were the same as my iPhone apps, you would be right. Even though it keeps my Twitter buddy knowsbestt up at night, I haven’t used iA Writer. One day I’ll rectify this, just so he will talk to me again.

Other iOS Notes

Occasionally, I’ll hop into Elements instead of Simplenote or Nebulous Notes. I have no good reason for this, other than it’s pretty. Well that, and it has a Markdown preview button right there on the screen. I don’t like to venture into Elements often, because I’ll catch myself coming down with the Idiot Staring at a Blank Screen Syndrome.

This is a visualization of my how my writing is synced. As you can probably tell, there is one flaw in the system. If I edit an app using Nebulous Notes or Elements, the note is synced immediately to Dropbox. However, it is not synced to Simplenote. This is a problem if I’d like to edit that note in Simplenote later.

The common ground is nvALT. The only solution here is to leave my Mac running with nvALT open. That way any changes made to one of the Dropbox files are reflected in Simplenote, and vice versa.

Textexpander

Does Textexpander deserve its own header? Unquestionably. I have many dozens of snippets in Textexpander that save me so much typing it’s ridiculous. If I type a particular phrase / line of code / whatever more than twice, I make a new snippet. These snippets sync across my iOS devices, so I never have to worry about maintaining separate snippet databases. I don’t care if you have any of the apps listed here except for this one. Get Textexpander. Go ahead and get it now; I’ll wait.

Reading

I use two apps to read, and both are indispensable.

Reeder

Reeder handles all my RSS feeds. I have Reeder for OS X, iPad, and iPhone. The iPhone app sees the most use by far, because I have it with me all the time. When I find something interesting that I don’t have time to read right away, I send the article to Instapaper. Quick, easy, and ready for me when I actually have time.

Instapaper

Oh, Instapaper. I send articles to Instapaper from Reeder, Twitter, and random browsing. Occasionally I clear my queue, but not very often. Instapaper won’t pester you with red badges, though. It doesn’t care if you have three articles to read or three hundred. It will keep your articles safe until you have time to get to them, whenever that may be.

I spend more time in Instapaper on my iPhone, though it’s certainly far more enjoyable on my iPad. The bigger screen makes it an absolute joy.

Reference

For long-term reference I use two systems. All text-based reference material lives in my Simplenote / Dropbox text system. Anything non-text based (mainly PDF) lives in Evernote. I have tried Yojimbo, since it has so many fans, and I just don’t get the attraction. It’s a perfectly nice app, to be sure… but having access to my reference database from any computer, including my iOS devices, makes Evernote the clear choice for me.

That about covers it. I don’t like to use tons of apps that overlap in functionality. My setup is a bit more complicated than I’d really like, but it works well for me now.

Markdown, iOS, and Nebulous Notes

Markdown and iOS are my tools of choice for writing away from my desk. The only hangup is writing Markdown links with the iOS keyboard. Since the square brackets [ ] are used, and hidden away on the third level keyboard… It’s a bit of a hassle. Fortunately, at least one iOS text Dropbox-syncing text editor, Nebulous Notes, has an easy solution.

• Open Nebulous Notes
• Touch the settings icon
• Add Macro
• Paste the following in the top box:

    [$sel]
 
    [$sel]: $paste

• Name it what you like. I chose “MD Link”.

Now you’re ready to make some Markdown reference links on the fly.

• Copy the URL to the clipboard.
• Open up Nebulous Notes
• Select the anchor text for your link
• Touch the MD Link button.
• Go take a nap; you’re all done.

Nerdery behind the scenes

So here’s what Nebulous Notes is doing. It takes the selected text ($sel) and wraps it in markdown brackets. Then it copies that wrapped anchor text and puts it on a new line. It adds a colon, space, and then pastes ($paste) the contents of the clipboard. Voilà, a properly formatted Markdown reference link without hunting for the square brackets.

Why reference links

Inline links are (arguably) ever so slightly easier to write. However, reference links make your markdown document infinitely easier to read. It’s worth the tiny bit of additional effort to use reference links when it comes to actually reading the words that you wrote.

I don’t jump on the bandwagon of the latest and greatest text editor. I used Notational Velocity for the longest time, until I finally¹ switched to the excellent nvALT for its Markdown support. Different applications such as iA Writer and Byword have been getting press for years, and I let them pass me by.

My Problem

My problem with writing is that I don’t write enough. I let myself get distracted by all sorts of nonsense. These problems are mine, and they can’t be fixed with a shiny new app, no matter how magical or distraction-free it is.

I’ve written before about my most productive writing setup. It is one where I turn off the Mac, and grab my iPad and bluetooth keyboard. I set it up on a desk with nothing else – no Mac. No iPhone. Just my fingers and the words they make appear on the screen. This hasn’t changed, and I don’t expect it to.

By its very nature, the iPad is designed for writing. You may not think so at first, but you have to get creative. One app at a time² forces you to focus. It forces you to make words appear on the screen. Otherwise you’re just an idiot staring at a blank screen. No one wants to be that guy. I know I don’t.

Vacation is probably the greatest thing that man has ever invented. I just got back from an absolutely amazing vacation. My family and I visited Miramar Beach, Florida. Miramar Beach is about 20 minutes from Destin, which you may have actually heard of.

Driven straight, it’s about 13 hours from our home in San Antonio to our destination. With stops, it turned out to be right about 16 hours each way. Let’s just say, that’s a lot of time to spend in a Mini Cooper. With three other people and enough luggage for a week.

Packing light

With the aforementioned four people in a tiny car, packing light isn’t just a nice thing to do, it’s absolutely necessity. Somehow we managed to fit everything we needed into a suitcase that just barely fit in the boot¹, with a few extra things behind the front seats. If you’re a serial over-packer, one long trip in a Mini will fix that in a hurry.

Gadgets on the trip

I no longer have a notebook computer, having dropped it in favor of an iPad 2. My plan for this trip was to bring my iPad to handle any work that just couldn’t wait until after my vacation. At the very last minute, I opted to ditch the iPad too. That’s right, I went on a seven day trip with an iPhone as my only computer.

And I survived.

Indeed, I often left the iPhone in the hotel room when we went out. It served as a camera more than any other function, but my wife’s DSLR was doing the heavy lifting in that department anyway. Fortunately none of my websites exploded on my trip, or patching things up may have been touchy. The lack of reasonable WiFi would have further complicated things².

A week without gadgets was… nice

One week without the distraction of shiny gadgets was pretty great. I was able to enjoy the company of my family without distractions constantly pulling me in different directions. The lack of having to work was the biggest relief, of course. If I didn’t have to work for a living, I could see myself having more gadget-free time. The gadgets do help with work, though.

Beautiful

Again and again, I caught myself thinking how beautiful Miramar Beach is. Pure white sand, crystal-clear water, fish swimming by as you’re playing in the ocean. When viewed from afar, the water is a gorgeous green color… that’s why they call it the Emerald Coast.

Did you really think I wasn’t going to include at least one picture?

This is the view at sunset from our balcony. This shot was one of the few taken with my iPhone. Stunning, isn’t it?

Markdown is not new. It's nearly seven years old at this point, which makes it about one hundred and fifty Internet Years old. AOL was probably still relevant when Markdown was first created, which tells you something.¹

I've resisted even trying Markdown until the past week or so. It wasn't difficult or complicated, of course. By its very nature, Markdown is designed to be simple. Simple to use, simple to read, simple to edit. So, after much unnecessary procrastination, I have been writing almost exclusively in Markdown for a week now. Specifically, I'm using the MultiMarkdown variant.²

Learning to Edit

I've always hated editing. My writing process consists of random fragments of thought, followed by a short burst of putting things in some semblance of order, and then hitting publish. I hate editing. Or, I used to hate editing. Writing in Markdown keeps my work much cleaner and easier to read, which means it's infinitely easier to edit. I won't suddenly start churning out masterpieces of written word, but I am learning to edit. That's a start.

Footnotes FTW

Footnotes are something that I've wanted to add to this site for ages. Due to sheer laziness, I've never gotten around to setting them up. Sure, there are plugins that handle footnotes with ease… but I install the fewest plugins that I can reasonably get away with. Less plugins means a faster loading site.³ As much as I like footnotes, you don't come here just to read them, do you?

New workflows will be created

For now, I'm writing in nvALT, which has a neat MultiMarkdown preview window. I can write until my fingers bleed, and then hit CMD+CTRL+P to see what my drivel looks like after conversion to HTML. If I'm satisfied, I can click View Source, press CMD+A, CMD+C, hop over to a WordPress window, press CMD+V to paste the contents into the editor.

So while the actual writing and editing is very simple, the process of getting the HTML to my site is not quite perfect. I'm sure there's a great way to automate this process… perhaps I’ll finally need to look into Keyboard Maestro.⁴

Consumer. What a useless fucking word.

Companies call you a consumer. Your own president calls you a consumer. To these people, you are a destroyer. You consume things. That is your entire purpose.

Fuck that.

If a company insists on calling you, its customer, a consumer – fuck it. If a government official insists on calling you, the person who elected him¹, a consumer – fuck him.

What is a consumer?

When I hear the word consumer, a very distinct picture forms in my head. Specifically, I picture a 400 pound man in his underwear, sitting on the couch. One hand is stuffing Doritos into his mouth by the fistful, and the other is reaching deep into a greasy bucket of fried chicken. This is a consumer. I am not this. Therefore, I am not a consumer.

What is consumption?

For their there to be consumption something must be consumed. In other words, something that existed before the consumption must no longer exist after the consumption. You can consume a slice of pizza. You cannot, however, consume a book.² You also cannot consume a movie. Or an article on a website. Do you see the difference?

This isn't rocket science, folks. Large companies and the government insult you, and they insult your intelligent when they label you as a consumer. Once upon a time, companies referred to us as customers. Once upon a time, our government referred to us as citizens. Perhaps it's time we grow a pair and demand those times back.