News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

May 11, 2007

people

On learning how to get things done.

Posted May. 11, ’07, 1:54 PM PT by Pat Nakajima
Category | Apple » People

I always thought I was one of those guys who knew all of the software tricks on OS X. I type “g cupcakes” in the address bar to lookup cupcakes and I’m so used to Quicksilver that my mind has to shuffle, ever so slightly, when I discover that I can’t start my car with a dextrous trio of keystrokes. Even yesterday, I tooted my own horn while reporting on KeyCue.

Today though, I just happened to be perusing LifeHacker’s home page, and I clicked on a link to an interview held with Merlin Mann exactly one year ago. For those of you who are still unfamiliar, Merlin Mann is the Miles Davis of Getting Things Done, and listening to him riff about his methods was enough to send any budding Done Things Getter back to the drawing board. Here’s a bit on his ways of taming mail:

Mail.app - Augmented by MailTags, Mail Act-On, and Mail Template, Mail.app can be a whizzy little chunk of func for beating back the invading email armies. Without them, it’s more like the Maginot line; very clever but functionally limited.
Especially worth noting was the conclusion of the piece, in which Mr. Merlin explained that he likes to take the lightweight approach to organization while out and about, preferring a small notebook or index cards to mobile scheduling command center that adorns the waist of most geeks (be aware that I use the term “geek” with nothing but respect). I’m curious to know whether the last 365 days have brought about a change Merlin’s ways. I’ll be extra curious when the iPhone comes out. And if Apple ever releases that ultra-portable (no not one of those ultra-portable) laptops, I’ll be extra curious. (Nobody can resist that kind of thing.)


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