Merlin Mann just pointed to a New York Times Magazine article about Jonathan Coulton and The Hold Steady. These artists are thriving in the post-CD music world through intimate virtual relationships with their fans. Music promotion through blogs … [Read more...]
A Quicksilver Action That Creates A New TextMate Blog Post
I've been AppleScripting my @blogging context workflow. At first, I created a simple script that launches TextMate, NetNewsWire, and Safari along with some URLs to help me get started. It basically launches my workspace for my @blogging context. But … [Read more...]
Top 5 AppleScript Productivity Hacks for WordPress Bloggers and Podcasters
As bloggers, we tend to do the same repetitive tasks over and over again. We open the same URLs. We launch the same apps. We ftp, we search Technorati, we comment, we do this day in and day out. The 80/20 rule would tell us that creating content in … [Read more...]
Automating The Quality Of Your Attention
I've been thinking more and more about focus. So much competes for my attention second by second (that's you, Twitter and BlackBerry) that it's never been more important to practice sustaining focus. The quality of my consciousness and the quality of … [Read more...]
Automation As Part Of An Integral Life Practice
Most repetitive tasks are energy sucks. Opening the same web pages every day, clicking our way around the cybersphere, answering the same questions to our customers, all of these tasks are relatively low-value and cumulatively add up to a large chunk … [Read more...]
IM Status: Update Your Skype, iChat, Or Adium Status With Quicksilver
I got really tired of updating my online status on Skype and iChat every time I had to step away from my computer. I thought to myself, wouldn't it be cool if I could update all my instant message apps at once with a few keystrokes using … [Read more...]
GTD: What Are You Doing Right Now Redux
My previous attempt at a time-tracking script worked well for a while. But I wanted something that was self-contained so I could share it with my friends and coworkers. I also wanted to cut down on key strokes. Since my internet connection has … [Read more...]
GTD: Automator Wants To Know What You Are Doing Right Now
I'm into systems. I love figuring out how to get from point A to point B and then optimizing the process as efficiently as possible. Better yet, I love being able to turn a system on and not have to think about it again. This is one of those … [Read more...]
Applying The 80-20 Rule To Your Songwriting
I'm finding more and more that what stops songwriters from finishing songs isn't a lack of good ideas but a misdirection of songwriting focus. Based on the comments I receive, musicians are spending more time on tasks that do little to move the song … [Read more...]
Quote of the Week
"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time." -- Leonard Bernstein, conductor … [Read more...]