Month: May 2013

It is by this time not a secret that I am testing Nozbe. I have been an Omnifocus user for a really long time, and have come to take for granted many of the great features that came with that software.
I decided to test Nozbe for many reasons but one is to make sure I am using Omnifocus effectively. You see, I don’t remember the last time I took everything out of Omnifocus and begin with a clean slate and even when my system had worked well, I have learned that sometimes you need a radical approach to things in order to simplify and be even more effective.
You may also know that I am co-writing a new book with Michael Sliwinski called #iPadOnly that we will be releasing at the end of June. If you have follow Michael long enough you will discover that he basically re-do his office once a year. It is always something that it had fascinated me, but that I had never done because I was of the believe that: “if it is working, do not mess with it”
The problem with that believe is that since things are working you also don’t discover new ways to do things better. It was because of that reason that I decided that this year from July 28th to August 2 I will re-do my home office, my tools, and document the week long process here.
Part of that process is Omnifocus, but because I knew I need more than a week to accomplish that I begin the test on May 9 and will continue until July 31st. There are many things on OmniFocus that have come to be second nature and that I am honestly struggling while using Nozbe, but it is also a great opportunity to discover and evaluate my system.
The problem with our comfort zone is that set us in a dangerous place that if we do not pay attention we may get stock and instead of continue moving we move at a slower pace every time. (until we stop moving)
OmniFocus it is something in which I know how to use. I am extremely comfortable using. I have tricked OmniFocus to do really cool things. The problem is that I need to make sure that it is really helping me to move forward or if this tool is keeping me set on the Comfort Zone. (that may be called better the Dangerous Zone)
I am sure during the next weeks I will be talking more about my experiences with this experiment and what I have learned from it.

In the lines of the poorest excuses that sometimes one need to get a toy tool I got me an iPad Mini to test to write about it for the book I am co-writing with Michael Sliwinski: #iPadOnly.
I have contemplated the Mini for a while, but honestly I was unsure if the screen was going to be simply too small for me to work all day. The iPad is my main machine, so I need to make sure that if I get the Mini was going to be able to substitute the Big iPad as main machine or if I really need a compliment machine.
I have always believe that weight is a key element to any computer, (as well as battery life, but in the case of the iPad that one it is not relevant) and even that the difference in weight between the iPad2 and the iPad Mini is so little, you could tell, as you could with the difference between the Original iPad and the iPad2. The Mini is lighter and that make it really cool.
To make the story short, I went and got an iPad Mini. At the beginning I wasn’t sure if was going to substitute my Big iPad, at the end of the day I do almost everything there, I am even writing a book about it. It took me two days to notice that I basically stop using the Big iPad and that the Big iPad was now on the side of the table just showing Tasks and Calendars. I was only carrying the Mini.
I am really enjoying the Mini and will not change back. So far I have only one thing that I will change. I can type relatively fast on the big iPad and I can’t do that on the Mini, yet. I say yet, because one of the first things I did was to install TapTyping and are practicing to improve the speed. I am expecting that soon I will be able to write faster to the point that the bottle neck it is not on the iPad. I did that on the big iPad once, so I am sure that it will be a matter of time. Right now I am able to type 39 words per minute and have an accuracy of 97%.
I remember when I stop using the MacBook daily and how every time I need it to use it after days going #iPadOnly it feel so big. It is the same feeling the few times I had grab the big iPad to do a task.

I had the opportunity to participate on TEDx Fort Wayne on April 2013.
My Talk was called: Using NO to Change the World.
This was a great experience, I hope you enjoy the talk and if you can let others know.