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Diary of an iPad Owner (circa 2010)  →

Seven years ago today it was a Saturday morning, and I was standing in line to buy an original iPad.

Since then I’ve owned an iPad 2, iPad 3, and a 2nd-generation iPad mini. The latter is the one I’ve been using most for the past few years.

Until last week when I bought a 9.7″ iPad Pro. I picked up this iPad Pro for two very good reasons:

First of all, I’ve begun traveling quite a bit more, and needed a portable computer for when on the road.

Secondly, I’ve been trying to keep my home office reserved for work-only. Which means that in the evenings or on the weekends when I have home-related computer-y stuff to do, I needed another device I could use upstairs on the kitchen table.

It’s now been seven years since the original iPad shipped. And the basic landscape hasn’t changed all that much. This is simultaneously good and bad.

…bad because the iPad is fantastic device, and yet it’s not the go-to platform for the best apps and innovations.

But good because it means the iPad is still full of simplicity and promise.

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P.S. Here are a few other fun articles I’ve written over the years:

Diary of an iPad Owner (circa 2010)

Daylite: Manage Clients & Projects Better. Together. (Sponsor)  →

Need a better way to manage clients & projects than spreadsheets and emails? Try Daylite, the CRM & Project Management app for teams on Mac, iPhone & iPad.

New in Daylite is Team View on the Mac. Get a quick overview of your team’s workload by seeing everyone’s tasks, appointments, and project due dates all in one view.

Daylite helps you manage leads, customers, and projects – all in one app. Track communication with clients so you remember every detail and anyone can be brought p to speed in seconds.

Tag your leads and clients in Daylite so you can easily segment them for targeted email campaigns.

Track projects and sales with customizable pipelines. Share projects and tasks so everyone is clear on the status and what needs to be done next. Delegate tasks to each other and get notifications as soon as they’re done — without interrupting people or having to send around emails.

Daylite helps your team work more efficiently so you can close more deals and manage more projects together.

Try Daylite free for 30 days!

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My thanks to Daylite for sponsoring the site this week!

Daylite: Manage Clients & Projects Better. Together. (Sponsor)

Daylite: Business Productivity App Exclusively for Mac & iOS (Sponsor)  →

Struggling to juggle business coming in while managing current projects? Then Daylite is a tool you definitely want to check out.

Share contact and project information, delegate tasks, share calendars and emails, and track projects – all in one app.

Daylite is used by lawyers, consultants, real estate agents, photographers, designers, and other small businesses all over the world. It helps you organize and share information so you can win more business and get more done.

The best part about Daylite is it’s not a web app, so you can keep working even when you don’t have an Internet connection.

Try Daylite free for 30 days!

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My thanks to Marketcircle for sponsoring the site this week.

Daylite: Business Productivity App Exclusively for Mac & iOS (Sponsor)

Your Most Important Thing Is Not Enough  →

Cal Newport:

Someone who plans every minute of their day, and every day of their week, is going to accomplish an order of magnitude more high-value work than someone who identifies only a single daily objective. […]

In other words, don’t settle for a workday in which only an hour or two is in your control. Fight for every last minute. Even if you don’t always win, you’ll end up better off.

I couldn’t agree more. Since I began scheduling every minute of my day I get far more of the important work done each day. And, I rarely end the day with that feeling in the back of my mind where I’m wondering “what did I actually do today?” and it feels like no matter how many hours I work, I still haven’t gotten it all done.

But!…

Though the Most Important Thing is not enough, it is still very important.

I always take a few minutes at the end of my day to write down what tomorrow’s most important task is going to be. Having that ever-so-basic starting plan for tomorrow helps tremendously (James Clear has written about it, calling it The Ivy Lee Method).

P.S. Speaking of Cal, I had the opportunity to talk with him on my podcast earlier this year, and a lot of what we hit on is along these lines.

Your Most Important Thing Is Not Enough

Short and Sweet Creative Focus Previews  →

All this week over on the (new!) Focus Course blog, we’re posting some short and sweet video previews.

Here’s what’s been posted so far:

All these previews are just 2-minute clips from the conversations that will be published next week as part of the Creative Focus Online Summit.

We’ve got more in the pipe for the rest of this week. And then, on Monday, we kick off the summit itself. If you want to get access to the Summit, it’s free to register.

Short and Sweet Creative Focus Previews

Automatically control your connected accessories via your presence. (Sponsor)  →

Bring your home to life. Cue the perfect ambience simply by entering your room. Eve Motion detects movement, allowing you to set scenes and control your connected accessories via your presence, even when your iPhone is not around.

Rule your home.

Create powerful rules with conditions to control your HomeKit-enabled accessories. Automatically activate your “I’m home” scene when you or a family member roll up the driveway, but only after sunset. Or switch on a fan when you enter your living room, but only if your climate sensor has registered a specific temperature. With Eve Motion, make your accessories work in harmony with your lifestyle.

HomeKit-enabled.

Eve Motion connects directly to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using Bluetooth low energy technology, without the need for a hub, gateway, bridge, or complicated WiFi configuration. And, with Apple TV at home, Eve Motion detects presence and prompts your HomeKit-enabled accessories even while you’re away.

Find out more

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My thanks to Elgato for sponsoring the site this week. Sponsorship by the Syndicate.

Automatically control your connected accessories via your presence. (Sponsor)

Secrets: A simple & secure password manager exclusively for Mac and iOS (Sponsor)  →

Secrets is now Free on the App Store! Secrets is a simple, secure password manager for Mac and iOS. It leverages industry standard encryption algorithms to provide secure storage and macOS and iOS native features to facilitate automatic filling of logins in the browser.

Version 2.0 is the culmination of months of testing in the real world. Bugs have been squashed, important features have been added and polish has been applied throughout. With this new version you can use Secrets and all of its features for Free with up to 10 items.

Download it now on the App Store or the Mac App Store.

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My thanks to Secrets for sponsoring the site this week.

Secrets: A simple & secure password manager exclusively for Mac and iOS (Sponsor)

​Enjoy the Comfort of Connected Lighting (Sponsor)  →

With Eve Light Switch from Elgato you can turn your lights on and off using Siri or with a quick tap on your iPhone. You can further create scenes to control Eve Light Switch and other HomeKit-enabled accessories with a single command. Leverage the power of automation and attune your lighting to your routine.

In short: Enjoy the comfort of connected lighting.

Eve Light Switch transforms any single or multi-bulb setup into an intelligent lighting system, so can use your existing bulbs regardless of their shape, size or color. Taking advantage of Apple’s revolutionary HomeKit technology, Eve offers unparalleled ease of use, advanced security, and tight integration with Siri. Eve Light Switch connects directly to your iPhone or iPad using Bluetooth low energy technology, without requiring a hub, gateway or bridge.

About Eve

With Eve, see your home at a glance right on your iPhone and iPad. The Eve family of HomeKit accessories gathers data on air quality, temperature, humidity, air pressure, energy consumption and more. Gain insights that help you improve your comfort, and make your home a smarter place. Use the free Eve app to view all data collected by Eve and control all accessories featuring HomeKit technology.

Learn more

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My thanks to elgato for sponsoring the site this week. Sponsorship by Syndicate Ads.

​Enjoy the Comfort of Connected Lighting (Sponsor)

Daylite — The Business Productivity App. Exclusively for Mac, iPhone & iPad. (Sponsor)  →

Need an easier way to keep track of client follow ups, emails, meetings, projects, and new business opportunities? Try Daylite — the business productivity app for the Mac, iPhone & iPad.

Review all emails and notes for a client before a meeting or call. Track projects and share tasks between people on your team. Get reminders to follow up on new business opportunities. Keep track of referrals and relationships between contacts.

Daylite integrates with Apple Mail to help you achieve Inbox Zero. And because Daylite is a native app, you always have access to your info whether you have an Internet connection or not.

“Without Daylite, my revenue would take a nosedive because it increases my efficiency.” — Lawrence, Mighty Prose

Start your free 30-day trial of Daylite today.

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My thanks to Marketcircle for sponsoring the site this week!

Daylite — The Business Productivity App. Exclusively for Mac, iPhone & iPad. (Sponsor)

8 Things Jeff Sheldon Has Learned from 8 Years of Ugmonk  →

Speaking of Jeff Sheldon, here’s another fantastic post he wrote just recently.

Jeff has become a good friend, and it has been exhilarating watching him push the Ugmonk brand to the next level the past couple of years. Not only has his skill for product design improved, but the way in which he presents and sells his work has simplified. That alone is a magnificent feat!

As I find myself in a similar situation with The Focus Course brand — seeking to improve how we present and sell our products — keeping things simple and avoiding complexity has proven to be a huge challenge and an uphill battle. Things just naturally want to become more complex than they need to be.

Posts like this one from Jeff that share some of the behind-the-scenes lessons and mindsets related to business development are so helpful and encouraging.

8 Things Jeff Sheldon Has Learned from 8 Years of Ugmonk

How Jeff Sheldon Comes Up With Ideas  →

For me: (a) I keep a Spark List in Simplenote that serves as a running list of random ideas, and (b) I mostly jot stuff down in my Baron Fig notebook (which has become the driving engine behind my day-to-day productivity).

The takeaway however, is not what you do to capture your ideas…

Here’s what you need to know about ideation:

  1. Don’t be afraid to write down every whopper of a bad idea you have.
  2. Have a system plus some sort of movement in your day-to-day life that will help you synthesize your ideas, test them, and then take action on the ones that matter.

Anyway. So long as we’re on the subject of ideas, I wrote more about ideation last summer in what has turned out to be one of my favorite articles.

How Jeff Sheldon Comes Up With Ideas