Timers, alarms and stopwatches

Sometimes, all we need is a little added motivation, like an egg timer or alarm, to challenge us to remain focused and get to the finish line. If that’s the case for you, a simple online alarm clock or timer can help boost productivity.

• Naked Alarm Clock. A simple and free online alarm clock, Naked Alarm Clock makes it easy to lose yourself in the task at hand without worrying that you’ll miss your next appointment.

• Your Meditation Timer. If you get annoyed with more-traditional-sounding alarms, a meditation timer might be music to your ears. A soft gong or Tibetan bell can let you know it’s time to change tasks.

• Online Stopwatch. For every type of timer imaginable, look no further than this Online Stopwatch.

Pomodoro timers/trackers

The Pomodoro Technique involves breaking work up into timed 25-minute chunks (known as pomodoros), separated by short breaks to help improve concentration. There are several apps based on the idea.

• Focus Booster. This app helps eliminate the anxiety of time and enhances your focus using the Pomodoro Techinique.

• Pomodoro (Mac only). Another Pomodoro supporter, this app helps you to avoid procrastination and get things done.

Time monitoring/tracking

For the analytical among us, more-detailed automated time tracking and monitoring may do the trick for increasing productive time online.

• RescueTime. This tool lets you track your Internet usage while also allowing you to voluntarily block distracting websites.

• TrackTime. This app allows you to track the time you spend on projects, as well as your web-browsing habits.

Time-out/break reminders

Sometimes the problem with getting things done isn’t our lack of effort but rather constantly overextending ourselves. This is where a forced break or time-out can help.

• Time Out (Mac only). Time Out gently reminds you to take breaks on a regular basis.

• SmartBreak (Windows only). SmartBreak also reminds you to take breaks when working on your computer for long hours.

Website-blocking tools

For many of us, the Internet is filled with tempting distractions that keep us from the task at hand, which is where website-blocking tools come in handy.

• StayFocusd (Chrome extension). This productivity extension for Google Chrome restricts the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites.

• Anti-Social (Mac only). Anti-Social keeps you focused by turning off the “social parts” of the Internet, such as Facebook, Twitter and any other sites you specify.

• Freedom. This app locks you away from the Internet for up to eight hours at a time.

• SelfControl (Mac only). SelfControl blocks email and websites for a predetermined period of time.

Concentration/work environments

For those of us who need complete isolation in order to get focused, there are certain tools that hone in on a single task until the job is done.

• FocusWriter. FocusWriter provides a simple, distraction-free writing environment.

• Think (Mac only). This tool limits your attention to one application at any time to keep you from getting distracted.

• Quiet (Mac only). Quiet allows you to focus on a single window while simultaneously fading out others.

• Haze Over (Mac only). This app helps you stay focused on your main window by dimming inactive windows.

• Concentrate (Mac only). Perhaps the most robust of all the apps, Concentrate allows you to create “activities” (for example: design, study, write) with customized actions that run every time you concentrate on a given task.

• Isolator. This tool helps you concentrate by covering up your desktop, its icons and the windows of other applications.

While the Internet has its advantages when it comes to work, it can also be a distraction. But with the right app to help maintain concentration and focus, it’s a lot easier to stay on track and get things done.

What are your favorite focus-boosting apps and tools?

Photo courtesy Flickr user BY-YOUR-⌘

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As well as uploading files, it can also automatically upload screenshots (in a similar manner to the GrabBox application I wrote about previously) and save snippets of text as text files, making it possible to turn a directory on your server into an easily sharable pasteboard.

A screenshot can’t really show how simple it is to use, so I made a short screencast:

(Via One Thing Well)

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For Mac-using remote workers, the Mac App Store presents a major step forward in making sure that we always have our tools with us, no matter where we are.

When I know I’ll be working from someone else’s computer, I mentally make a checklist of all the software I’ll need to download and install before I can get up and running. In some cases, this is a simple process, but in others, it’s quite difficult. It can be a considerable headache to depend on trial or demo versions of the software I need.

Now, however, the App Store allows us to install apps associated with our accounts to any Mac. This represents a major change for the better in the way we can work. Imagine signing in with your Apple ID and quickly and easily making a temporary workstation feel just like home. It’s a vision that’s now within reach, without the need for a remote server or enterprise support.

As long as you’re using the software for personal use, you should be able to log into the App Store from any Mac and download the apps you need. Once you’re done, you can just uninstall your software, transfer any stored data to a thumb drive or to storage space in the cloud (if it isn’t already automatically synced, as with apps like Evernote) and go. You’ll be able to spend less time on setup and configuration, and more time actually getting work done.

So the App Store makes Mac software more portable, and it also makes it more discoverable. It will be a lot easier to find the right app for the job, and will simplify making sure that clients and co-workers have access to the same tools as you do. Eventually, when Apple introduces Mac app gifting, you’ll be able to provide teammates with the tools they need on demand, and they won’t need to pick up the cost.

The current Mac App Store is only the beginning. It’ll be built-in to OS X Lion, which means eventually it’ll be on every Mac you encounter. And it’s likely that apps won’t be the only thing you can grab from the cloud. User accounts, preferences, application data and documents; evidence suggests that soon it’ll reside on the web for easy access from wherever you happen to be.

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It’s easy to install; each computer is assigned a unique identifier. Users can then create password-protected private networks, or join existing ones through an AES 256-bit encrypted connection. The unique identifier is in the format x.x.x.x, so it looks like an IP address to the operating system. Thus, once the Hamachi network has been set up, you can use standard tools to communicate between machines. Shared drives will display in Explorer or Finder, and you can use Remote Desktop Connection or Apple’s Screen Sharing app.

Until recently, the Hamachi client for Windows has been way ahead of the rudimentary command-line tool that was all that was available for Macs. That’s changed. The new Mac version 2.0 sports a spiffy GUI, plus some features that were previously Windows-only, including a way of sending private chat messages between connected machines. There’s also a beta command-line version for Linux.

Hamachi is one of several related products from LogMeIn. We’ve talked about LogMeIn Ignition, for accessing computers from mobile devices; LogMeIn Central, for managing multiple machines in a corporate environment; and web conferencing system Join.me. The LogMeIn website has a wizard for helping users decide which product is appropriate for their needs.

Hamachi is available for $199 per year. The license includes the ability to create multiple networks of up to 256 computers. There is also a non-commercial version that’s limited to networks of up to 16 computers, and a 14-day free trial.

How do you and your colleagues connect remotely?

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• ExpressionEngine for website design.
• Billings for quoting, invoicing and time tracking.
• Kaleidoscope finds differences in text and image files.
• Versions project manager for Subversion.
• DrawIt vector drawing application.
• TextExpander typing shortcut utility.
• FontCase font management application.
• ExpanDrive allows you to access SFTP/FTP and Amazon S3 files from within Finder.
• Postmark delivers and tracks transactional email.

It also features some additional tools, including;

• Pictos scalable, royalty-free icons.
• Gedy’s Social Icons vector shapes of social networks.
• Mijingo video training for ExpressionEngine 2.
• Keynote Kung-Fu wireframe toolkit for Keynote.

The bundle is valued at $626, and is available for $79. It will be available through December 31.

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My post garnered a lot of comments in response with some great tips and tricks from readers that I thought I would share with you.

The “Black Hole” of Minimized Windows

One of my issues was getting used to the Cmd-Tab functionality of Mac, compared to the Alt-Tab of Windows. While similar, the Mac Cmd-Tab doesn’t restore minimized windows; I’ve been struggling with the “black hole” that minimized windows seem to disappear into. You all came to the rescue though with these handy tips and tricks.

By far the most popular suggestion, and the one that I ultimately ended up using, is to use the “Hide” command or the Cmd-H shortcut to hide windows rather than minimize them. Not only does this remove the window from view but it also shifts the focus to the next application in the stack. This actually helped solve another issue, too, because I was still occasionally bitten by seeing what I believed to be the active window on my screen but having the Application Bar really focused on something else. Hiding the application works to resolve both issues for me.

There is one caveat, though (and I guess this could actually be seen as desirable): if you’re using an application like TweetDeck that is hidden and something happens that prompts a notification, it will bring that application to the forefront. I find this to be pretty distracting so have learned to continue to minimize those windows rather than hiding them.

Another very popular suggestion was to use the add-on utility Witch, which promises to make window switching fun.  I tried an evaluation of this utility and found it really useful, but found its plethora of options bit overwhelming, so I’ve settled on the more conventional shortcut hiding method. With Witch it is possible to completely customize how items appear, enable pop up previews and change the appearance of the app switching windows. I have a feeling that as I continue to become more comfortable and my needs increase this is something that I will be revisiting.

Other folks in the comments discussed using a combination of Exposé and Spaces. While I do like Exposé, Spaces just doesn’t seem to click with me. If I could segregate apps, or instances of apps, into different Spaces for different tasks, then I think it would be more useful to me.

Where Am I? How Did I Get Here?

I mentioned that I missed being able to see the full path for the current directory in Finder.  Commenter Ted provided the solution: In Finder, open a folder, go to the “View” Menu, then click “Show Path Bar.” This was exactly what I was looking for and really makes the structure of my data make more sense to me.

Where Did I Put that Menu?

With the separation of the Application menu and the program window, I got particularly perplexed when working with a second monitor attached. Having to look to another screen to the see the menu of the application  I’m currently using just never seemed right to me. Many of you suggested MenuEverywhere, which adds a staggering number of ways to add menus to just about anything, while another suggestion was Secondbar is more of a single tasker by adding a very useful duplicate of the menubar on the second screen.

Much like with a PC, I am finding that there are a staggering number of utilities designed to fill gaps and provide extra functionality to the OS, and a staggering number of ways to work with and around your process. I am thankful for all of your suggestions and hope you find them useful as well.

Share your Mac window management tips below.

Photo by Flickr user neys, licensed under CC 2.0

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Notebook sharing is an incredibly useful collaborative feature that has been available in the Evernote web app for a while now, but it wasn’t available through the desktop client. In the Evernote 2.0 beta, you get “in-app sharing,” which means that you can share notebooks, as well as view notebooks that have been shared with you, right from within the Evernote for Mac interface (shared notebooks are available through the “Shared” tab in the left-hand panel). Note that while most of the notebook sharing features are available to everyone, you can only elect to allow other users to edit your shared notebooks if you’re a Premium user.

Notebook stacks are a new way to keep notebooks organized, providing a way to visually group notebooks; they work a little like folders. You can now drop related notebooks into their own stacks (so I could have a stack for WebWorkerDaily-related notebooks, for example), then view or collapse them as needed. Stacks are synced with the rest of your notes, so once this feature is supported in clients for other platforms, your stacks will also appear there.

To get the beta, you  need to click on the “Update to Beta versions” checkbox in the “Software Update” tab in Evernote’s preferences and then check for updates. Today’s release may still be unstable or buggy; you certainly shouldn’t rely on it for critical work. There’s no timeframe for when the Windows version of Evernote will get these features, although Evernote says it’s in the works.

Let us know what you think of Evernote 2.0 Beta for Mac in the comments.

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The thing I really like about Alfred is that it provides an interface to everything on my Mac and on the web: I can run programs, search favorite sites, find and browse files. It’s powerful but also very simple. The complexity and advanced functionality is there when I need it but for running something quickly or a fast Google search, that functionality never gets in my way. These layers of functionality are really well implemented. And the app is completely hidden until I call on it.

For example, a shortcut of option+space brings up an empty Alfred window. A couple of letters typed into the window offers me some simple web search options:

Even the results are easily accessed with unique key combinations for choosing among them.

If I’m looking for local files a “find” command changes the search:

It learns which items I access frequently so they appear in the search results ahead of others. For example, Text Wrangler, my editor of choice, now appears ahead of TextEdit because it is the one that is used more frequently. These little details make the program a joy to use.

I really like the way that I can use Alfred as a window to web searches, especially for frequently searched sites. It’s set up for the biggies like Google, Wikipedia, Amazon and Twitter and such, but I can add other options to the mix as well, like my CRM app.

One of my new favorite features that I just discovered is the ability to search by Spotlight Comments. By using consistent tagging there I can group like applications together by searching by tag. For example, a search for media could display iTunes, Rdio, last.fm and all the various players I have on my system.

While Alfred itself is free, there is the option to add a Powerpack option to it for £12 ($19). The Powerpack adds some great features like direct file system navigation, browsing from within the launcher window and the ability to perform actions on files beyond opening.

The additional features of the Powerpack are handy but even the free version is quite functional and well worth checking out. Alfred is a free download for Mac OS X 10.5+, while the optional Powerpack can be bought at any time through the application or from the web site.

Alfred is the doorway to my Mac. What do you use for launching and searching on your computer?

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Anxiety presents your tasks as a simple to-do list in a small semi-transparent window that can hover over the other apps open on your desktop. It’s integrated with Apple’s other applications that posses to-do functionality; double-clicking a list item reveals the task in iCal or Mail for extended editing. Simple shortcuts allow you to see your full list externally.

It’s highly customizable, so you can tailor its appearance and functionality to match your own preferences and workflow, including toggling the application dock item and menubar item, enabling list sorting and setting the list window to disappear when inactive.

Personally, I will stick with Google Tasks for my simple task management needs, because I like being able to access my tasks from anywhere and I use Gmail and Google Calendar through my browser instead of Apple’s apps. But if you use iCal and Mail and want a very lightweight, simple to-do list manager that’s tightly integrated with them, Anxiety is worth checking out (despite its somewhat strange name).

Anxiety is a free download (donations appreciated). It requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5+.

What task management app do you use?

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I find there are two different schools of thought when it comes to PKM and organizing all of the bits of information that we compile; it seems that the tools are either page-based or note-based. Page-based tools, like ConnectedText or OneNote on Windows, use a page metaphor to store related bits of information. You can often embed notes, images and files but they are all inherently tied to a “master page” that “owns” that data. I like to think that I work this way — with the ability to have discrete and tidy pages for clients and projects, all defined and ready-to-use. When I picture my information, that is how I see it. I looked at a couple of page-based options like this for my Mac; my favorite being VoodooPad by the wonderfully named Flying Meat Inc. If I had ended up choosing a page-based manager, VoodooPad is the “no-brainer” choice.

However, my reality is somewhat different than my vision when it comes to organization. I’ve got a snippet with notes from a meeting here, a phone message here, a bunch of URLs, a password for an FTP site, and it’s all been entered on whatever page I happen to be on — all with the intent of moving and organizing later. But they don’t get refiled, moved or organized, which means I cant find them at a later date.

So I decided that It’s time to embrace the chaos, find a tool that works like I do, and not like I think I need to. I decided it was time to look at note-based information managers. This type of app is based upon the ubiquitous capture of anything that you need to store. A block of text, a picture, a receipt, a PDF, a URL, all in a simple note document.  Notes can be tagged, filed, sorted, based upon any number of criteria. Each note is a distinct piece of information and through efficient organization and search, hopefully you can pull them together as needed.

This is a crowded field, so I looked at a number of options before ultimately choosing Yojimbo. I looked at Yojimbo with high hopes based on Will’s great review from back in September. He was spot-on in highlighting the cool usability features that it offers. Even though I found the functionality, look and feel very similar to some of the others I looked at, one of the big selling features was the presence of a screencast video on the website. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to take the time to learn all about the products that I was looking at but I found the head start that I got by watching the video left me feeling more comfortable with it than the others. It was one of the first programs that I trialed and I found myself liking it quite a bit.

There were, and still are a few things I wish it did better or differently, but I found that all of my notes about the other products I was looking at ended up being being stored in Yojimbo, together with meting notes and other snippets of info. I don’t think it was conscious decision that I had made my choice until my trial had expired and I was faced with exporting my data in to another product. Yojimbo isn’t my perfect PKM; it just outlasted all of the others I looked at and sort of just fell in to place.

With that said, it isn’t that I don’t really like Yojimbo. It has a great mix of simplicity and power and I was able to start amassing information quickly and easily and then build my organization around it. The tagging is brilliant and it is just so easy to get data in to the system. I am also slightly addicted to the “print to Yojimbo” option as a means to get receipts and other info captured nicely in PDF format.

Choosing a Personal Knowledge Manager was among my highest-priority projects as I am collecting so much information since my transition, tips and tricks, utilities, software, training, blogs and other resources, all along with my normal day-to-day work, and I didn’t need the headache of information overload on top of everything else. Without my even noticing, Yojimbo stepped in and saved the day.

Yojimbo is a Universal Mac Application requiring Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later. A 30-day free trial is available and if you find it as useful as I did, it will run you $39 to license.

Did I make the right choice? What do you use to keep all of your information organized?

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