Ich habe in den letzten Jahren hier nur sehr wenig geschrieben. Zwischen Dezember 2023 und Juli 2025 quasi gar nicht. Die Gründe hierfür liegen in einer Richtungsentscheidung in meinem Leben: Während der Corona-Pandemie war vieles unklar, auch wie ich mich nach abgeschlossenem Studium orientieren würde. Ich arbeitete zwar in der Wissenschaft und hatte auch begonnen zu promovieren, dieser Blog hier nahm aber mindestens genau so viel Platz in meinem Leben ein, manchmal mehr.
Und es lief gut. Noch nicht so gut, dass ich davon hätte leben können, aber es war ein signifikantes Zubrot, gespeist aus Ausschüttungen der VG Wort, Buchverkäufen, Affiliate Geld für Produktlinks, Artikel, die ich für die Macwelt schrieb und sogar eine erste Werbepartnerschaft. Zudem entwickelten sich die Leser:innen-Zahlen prächtig. Es schien daher nicht unmöglich zu sein, diesen Blog weiter zu professionalisieren und zu meinem Hauptjob zu machen. Daher entschied ich mich auch, zukünftig auf Englisch zu veröffentlichen.
Irgendwann musste ich mich dann entscheiden, wohin meine Ressorucen fließen sollten. Alles unter einen Hut zu bringen ging nicht mehr, auch wegen familiärer Veränderungen. Und da ich mittlerweile begonnen hatte, mich in der Wissenschaft zu etablieren (hier geht’s zu meinem ResearchGate-Profil), war die Entscheidung schnell klar: Der Blog würde in den Hintergrund treten.
Das blieb dann auch so bis ich im Sommer 2025 endlich mal wieder etwas Zeit und vor allem Lust zum Schreiben hatte. Allerdings merkte ich auch schnell, dass es nicht wieder so wie früher werden würde. Mein Leben hatte sich weiterentwickelt, andere Dinge an Wichtigkeit gewonnen. Es ist vollkommen klar, dass der Blog eine Nebenbeschäftigung sein wird in Zukunft und es gut sein kann, dass wieder mal monatelang keine Artikel kommen werden. Es kann aber auch gut sein, dass ich hier weiter regelmäßig schreiben werde, denn die Themen des Blogs interessieren mich nach wie vor sehr und ich hätte auch viel zu schreiben. Wissenschaft betreiben heißt schließlich auch immer publizieren und es gäbe viele Aspekte des wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens, die ich auch hier gut abdecken könnte. Wir werden also sehen, was die Zukunft für diesen Blog bringt. Ich werde aber vermutlich wieder auf deutsch hier schreiben, um einfach den Aufwand zu minimieren und damit die Chance, dass überhaupt etwas kommt, zu maximieren. Ob ich den Namen ändern oder beibehalten werden, weiß ich noch nicht. Aber das ist ja auch wirklich die kleinste Sorge.
In recent years, I’ve written here repeatedly about the apps I use for my work. Things have changed here and there, but one constant was the browser: Arc – a Chromium-based browser with many clever UI and UX ideas, including vertical tabs. I loved it.
Unfortunately, then came the big AI boom and every software company with venture capital suddenly had to integrate AI. This included the Browser Company, the makers of Arc. At first, they succeeded surprisingly well. Instead of simply integrating a chatbot, they built in small functionalities like automatic tab organization based on website content.
However, at some point that apparently wasn’t enough anymore and they decided to abandon Arc and instead create a completely new browser. Arc was supposed to be kept alive and supplied with security updates, and that’s been the case to this day, but no new features are being added. Arc is thus on life support, but only minimally so.
Instead, they announced a new project: the AI-first browser Dia. I was disappointed, but at the same time interested and curious, and immediately got myself on the waiting list. Relatively shortly after the public beta started, I received my invitation and could hardly wait to try Dia. The disillusionment came quickly: Dia looks quite sleek, but it lacks tons of functionality that I had grown to love in Arc. Vertical tabs did come after a while, but were implemented rather carelessly and only halfway. In Arc, vertical tabs, work spaces, and many other small features complemented each other into a pretty unique package. Dia was now simply another Chromium browser that integrated an AI chatbot and let me chat with my tabs. Not bad, but overall significantly weaker than Arc. A few weeks ago, it also became public that a monthly subscription of a whopping $20 is to be introduced. And that for a product that’s nowhere near finished.
All of this prompted me to look for a new browser, since I have to assume that Arc will simply be abandoned at some point. Of course, I could also just use Safari. And it’s good to know that I have this fallback option. But Safari is also somewhat boring, and since I’m currently between different projects, I once again have time and opportunity to engage with my tools.
So what then?
The direct competitor – Comet
It was perfect timing when I finally received an invitation for the Comet browser from Perplexity. While it’s also based on Chromium and isn’t a design revelation, it integrates the AI component much better and also has agentic capabilities, so it can actually „operate“ the web for you.
I’ve even used this here and there, but all in all, the technology doesn’t seem mature enough yet, because agentic browsing is primarily often very slow and thus barely realizes any time savings. Moreover, you always have to keep an eye on whether the AI is doing the right thing. Comet could well have remained my browser of choice, but I simply couldn’t get used to the classic design with horizontal tabs anymore, and the fact that you can’t save tab groups, as you actually can in Chrome, I found very unsatisfying.
The surprise candidate – Orion
Very briefly, a surprise solution emerged: Orion. A niche browser based on Firefox and developed by the makers of the Google alternative Kagi. Orion has some clever ideas. Among other things, you can use plugins from both the Firefox and Chrome stores. Design-wise, it also comes very close to Arc with its workspaces and vertical tabs. But you also notice that a small team is behind it, that it’s a young product and not even the company’s main product. The bugs are hard to miss, and many pages weren’t displayed correctly in my (admittedly short) test. What bothered me most, though, was that the plugin for my password manager of choice, Bitwarden, didn’t work. With that, Orion had basically already disqualified itself.
The solution – Zen
After all these experiments, I returned to a browser that I had briefly tested right at the beginning but that was too buggy for me initially: Zen Browser. Zen was explicitly developed as an Arc successor by disappointed Arc enthusiasts and therefore copies Arc’s design as faithfully as possible, but is based on Firefox.
That’s not ideal because the Firefox engine isn’t as stable as Chromium and there are also fewer extensions. Usually, you notice this relatively little though. Moreover, Zen has become much more stable since my first attempt and finally got pinned folders, which are essential for me. Zen isn’t without flaws and is far from being fully developed. Tabs that close themselves after a defined time don’t exist, for example, which I absolutely can’t comprehend. And there are still some unresolved problems in Zen.
All in all, though, Zen is a worthy successor to Arc, and above all, browsing in Zen simply feels good and seamless. My muscle memory works, I don’t have to think, and everything is where I expect it to be after years of using Arc. I don’t have AI integration here, but that’s not a big problem. Either I simply open the websites of ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude directly, or I use the respective apps. Agentic browsing isn’t that advanced yet anyway, so I don’t miss it in my workflow.
Zen thus gives me what they promise: a calmer internet.
Finally! After using my iPhone 13 Pro for four years and having to charge it several times a day recently, my new iPhone finally arrived today. And that makes me very happy right now. Of course, you could buy a new one every year and sell the old one for a considerable sum. Financially, that would only make a small difference. But the anticipation after such a long time is on a whole different level. My old iPhone doesn’t have Dynamic Island, 48 MP cameras, or Apple Intelligence. So it’s quite a leap.
This year, I went for the Pro Max in orange, which unfortunately meant a slightly longer wait—but now it’s here. And I’m happy.
After much deliberation, I recently decided to get myself a Kindle Scribe. I will write a separate article about the background and my assessment. For now, I just want to give a little tip that would have helped me a lot and that might help some people in the future: It’s about the Kindle Scribe Premium Pen or actually the little extra button it has.
The purpose of this is to make it possible to operate an additional function quickly, e.g. to write and then quickly access the highlighter or note function. So I configured the settings so that the highlighter is activated when I press the button and then opened a book to test it. I pressed the button – nothing happened. Nothing seemed to work with any other documents either. Was my pen broken? I was about to buy a new one from Amazon when I had an idea:
I opened the document again, pressed the button AND HOLD IT PRESSED THIS TIME – and lo and behold, it works. The stylus works differently than I’m used to with the Apple Pencil and doesn’t change the selection of the tool when you press the button, but overrides it temporarilly while being pressed. Once you release the button the selected tool is being used again. Not very intuitive and this is not indicated anywhere in the UI. In my opinion, the way Amazon has solved this is not ideal, but the main thing is that it works and I now know what the problem was.
The year 2018 marked a significant turning point in my life: I graduated and embarked on my first job, while simultaneously considering the pursuit of a PhD. This period was fraught with challenges, as I juggled the demands of starting a new role as the associate to the president of a private university in Berlin—an endeavor that proved to be overwhelming due to the immense responsibilities thrust upon me—and my lack of experience and work structuring.
My approach to work at that time was unstructured, a carryover from my university days, and I found myself dissatisfied with my productivity and overall work habits. The job itself was a bit of a disaster in the beginning, as I struggled to cope with the vast array of tasks without a clear strategy in place. There was an undeniable sense that I had too much on my plate, and no discernible path on how to manage it effectively.
It was in this state of overextension that I turned to time tracking. I sought to gain a better understanding of where my hours were going and to develop a system that would help me handle my workload more efficiently.
And indeed, time tracking had a significant positive impact on my work process.
The Ways in Which It Helped Me
The effect was twofold: First, it helped me understand where my working hours were going. That was important because I had at least three major commitments at the time: my job as a research assistant, the early stages of my PhD, and this blog. On top of that, I had just started following the ideas from Deep Work by Cal Newport*, which meant I also wanted to spend more time reading, exercising, and generally developing myself personally. Not an easy balancing act.
Time tracking allowed me to get an overview and develop a sense of how different workloads actually feel. It’s quite comparable to calorie tracking: when you rigorously track your food intake for a while, you develop an awareness of what you’re eating, gain a better understanding of which foods are hidden calorie bombs and which aren’t. Similarly, it helped me better assess both myself and my productivity. I started to get a feel for how long it typically takes me to complete a specific task.
But time tracking had another positive effect: it added a sense of accountability to my work. Pressing the start button felt like a commitment to genuinely focus and work. A fairly simple psychological trick, for sure—but one that worked. And as we know, that’s what really counts.
The technical implementation
Before I get into why I no longer track my time—despite all the clear benefits—I want to briefly explain how I set it up technically.
The answer is simple: Toggl and Timery. Toggl is a web-based time tracking service that can be used for free. However, since I didn’t really like the official apps, I used Timery from the start. Timery is developed by an independent developer and is available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, which means it’s always within easy reach. It also integrates very well with Siri Shortcuts, so you can even build your own workflows if the app’s standard features aren’t enough for your needs.
I organized things by creating projects for the major areas of my life, then used tags to further specify what kind of work I was doing. For example, I had a project called PhD, and under that, I used tags to track tasks like administrative work or actual content-related research. I also had a few more general timers, like one for exercise. This setup allowed me to clearly see how I was dividing my time across the different spheres of my life. It also helped me check whether I was spending my time on the right kind of work—such as actually doing substantive research for my PhD, rather than getting lost in admin tasks.
And Why I Have Stopped
So, why did I decide to stop tracking my time at the end of 2024? And did I replace it with something else—or am I now just working however I feel like?
Primarily, after so many years, I no longer felt that time tracking was giving me more value than it was costing me in effort. You constantly have to remember to start and stop the timer, which adds to your mental load—compared to simply sitting down and getting to work. But what ultimately made the difference for me was that I began to feel restricted by the sense of work obligation I mentioned earlier. Once I activated a specific timer, I felt like I was only allowed to work on that one task. Of course, that’s irrational—but psychologically, it affected me that way. More and more, I felt like I was forcing myself into a rigid structure that wasn’t doing me any good.
And that brings me to the second point: After so many years of analyzing my habits, I had already developed highly productive practices. In other words, I had solved the original problem. Time tracking—especially the end-of-year reports—had become more of a nice gimmick than something that offered real value to my work.
Thirdly, at some point, it became an end in itself. It was no longer about completing meaningful tasks, but about accumulating as much time as possible under specific projects. And that’s just completely absurd.
So, in October or November 2024, I decided to stop. I had originally planned to finish the year, but in the end, I just let it go—and it felt incredibly liberating.
The Daily Achievement Score as an Alternative
Does this mean I no longer quantify my work at all? No. Instead, I came up with a system designed to measure my progress in a goal-oriented way. I now assign each task in my to-do manager a score from 1 to 5—depending on how demanding and important it is. You can think of it like story points in software development. It’s not always perfectly accurate, of course, but over time I’ve developed a pretty good sense of what counts as a 2-point task versus a 4- or 5-point one. The next day, I add up how much I got done the day before.
This gives me a built-in incentive to tackle the hard and genuinely important tasks, rather than just checking off administrative work. In the end, sure—it’s still a bit of a game. But it works well for me because I’m very responsive to gamification.
If this article shows anything, it’s this: Our needs evolve, and we should regularly reflect on whether our processes and tools still meet those needs. And when we realize they don’t, we shouldn’t hesitate to make a clean break.
In a world where distractions are just a notification away, finding focus can sometimes be a tall order. Whether it’s for work, study, or just some quiet reading time, the presence of background noise such as White Noise or the soothing sounds of ocean waves can be the concentration aid many individuals need. This is not just anecdotal; a study published on the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest reports that white noise can boost attention and creativity, albeit the improvements are modest. Here’s the link to the study for those interested in the details. Now, if you’re a Mac or iOS user, there’s good news: your devices come with a built-in feature to help you immerse in these concentration-enhancing sounds. Let’s dive into how you can leverage this Background Noise feature to create your ideal focused environment.
Indeed, it’s quite straightforward to access and utilize the Background Noise feature on your Mac or iOS devices. Here’s a quick tip on how to set it up:
Open the ‚Settings‘ on your Mac or iPhone/iPad.
Navigate to the ‚Control Center‘ section.
Look for the ‚Hearing‘ option and select ‚Show in Control Center‘ or hit the plus button on iOS, respectively.
6 high-quality sounds at your finger tips
With these simple steps, the little ear icon will now be a part of your Control Center, ready to serve you with calming sounds at a moment’s notice. Once you’ve added the Hearing option to your Control Center, using Background Sounds is just as easy:
Open the Control Center on your Mac or iOS device.
Tap on the ear icon, which represents the Hearing option.
From there, select ‚Background Sounds‘.
I really like the Ocean Soundscape!
You’ll be presented with a choice of six different ambient soundscapes: Balanced Noise, Bright Noise, Dark Noise, as well as natural sounds like Ocean, Rain, and Stream. This feature makes it unnecessary to download third-party apps for background noise, allowing you to enjoy these sounds with just a few taps. It’s a simple and integrated solution to enhance your concentration without cluttering your device with extra applications.
Streamlining Academic Research: A PhD Student’s Guide to Efficient Literature Management
In the realm of academic research, an efficient workflow for handling scholarly literature is invaluable. As a PhD student and migration researcher, I have developed over the past years a workflow that allows me to efficiently search, download, read, and annotate my research literature. Although this process can be complex, it has proven to be extremely beneficial in my work. Thus, I am eager to share this workflow with others, hoping it can assist you in your endeavours as well. It might sound complicated, but I assure you, it’s not. So, without further ado, let’s delve into the details.
Discovering Relevant Literature for a Case Study on Migration Policy in Italy
When I started my case study on migration policy in Italy, my ideas were still vague, and my main goal was to gain an overview of the relevant literature. For this purpose, I have been using innovative tools such as Litmaps.co and researchrabbit.com. These platforms allow users to upload individual papers or search based on their DOI. They then provide additional papers that match the initial one, either because they were cited by the original paper or they cite it. This feature quickly gives an overview of the relevant literature in the field.
Litmaps is an amazing tool to quickly identify key readings in a particular field
In particular, Litmaps stands out due to its practicality. Not only does it help find related papers, but it also allows users to download these findings as a BibTeX file. This feature is extremely convenient as it enables an immediate import into a literature management tool like Zotero.
Thus, within a short period, I can compile a list of relevant literature to work through. Additionally, the bibliographic data is readily available due to the import into Zotero. This combination of tools and techniques has streamlined my literature discovery process, making my research more efficient.
Procuring PDFs: Diverse Approaches to Accessing Knowledge
Once I have my list of relevant literature, the next step is to obtain the actual PDFs. There are several methods I use to accomplish this, each with its own advantages.
Firstly, I utilize the online catalog of my university. Given that institutions often have subscriptions to a variety of academic databases, this is a great first stop to find the full text of articles.
If this doesn’t yield the desired results, I turn to a general internet search. Specifically, I use DuckDuckGo and append ‚filetype:pdf‘ to the search query. This often helps locate the PDF version of a piece of literature quickly and efficiently. Specialized platforms like ResearchGate are another great resource. Many researchers upload their papers there, making it a useful tool for accessing academic materials.
Finally, when all else fails, I resort to Sci-Hub. While controversial, I believe it underscores a crucial point: knowledge should be free. It has often proven invaluable in accessing materials that might otherwise be out of reach.
Reading and Annotating: The Role of PDF Expert by Readdle
To read and annotate these papers, I use PDF Expert by Readdle. I’ve tried many PDF readers over the years, but PDF Expert has consistently proven to be the best. Moreover, my license allows me to use PDF Expert both on my Mac and iPad.
Typically, I prefer using my iPad for this task. The experience of highlighting texts with the Apple Pencil is simply more pleasant. To ensure synchronization between my devices, I store the texts in the Documents by Readdle folder in iCloud. This setup allows me to read and annotate seamlessly, regardless of the device I’m using.
When it comes to the actual reading of the literature, there aren’t any shortcuts or secret techniques – it’s a part of the process you simply have to do. While there are strategies to enhance understanding and retention, the most critical factor is the time and effort you put into reading and understanding the material.
Transferring Annotations to Obsidian: Leveraging Alfred Workflows
After thoroughly reading and annotating the PDFs, the challenge is then how to transfer these critical literature notes from the PDF into Obsidian for further work. While PDF Expert does offer a feature for this and even supports Markdown, I find it too inflexible for my needs. For instance, it doesn’t support custom templates for export, which would require me to painstakingly reformat my literature notes.
To circumvent this, I use an Alfred workflow developed by Chris Grieser, also known as Pseudometa. He is a well-known figure in the Obsidian community, having also developed the Shimmering Focus Theme for Obsidian. This workflow allows me to efficiently transfer my annotations from PDF Expert into Obsidian, maintaining the format I prefer, and saving considerable time and effort.
Alfred Workflows: Streamlining the Transfer of Annotations
The technical details behind the Alfred workflow aren’t necessary for this discussion. What’s important is that it’s designed as a workflow for Alfred, a launcher app that replaces Spotlight. Grieser explains how to configure the workflow on Github, and spoiler alert: it’s straightforward.
Part of the configuration includes assigning a keyboard shortcut. Once I’ve finished reading and annotating the PDF, I return to the folder, press the shortcut, and the script automatically extracts all the annotations, including the correct page numbers – invaluable for academic work.
To ensure the workflow functions, I must name the file after its cite key. Otherwise, the association in Zotero wouldn’t work. However, thanks to the BetterBibTex plugin for Zotero, this isn’t an issue.
So, Grieser’s script creates a Markdown document with all the marked spots and the bibliographic information as metadata. It’s completely tailored to my needs, as I can fully adjust the underlying template.
From Seedbox to Archive: The Final Steps in the Workflow
With the perfect literature note in my Seedbox folder in Obsidian, I can then continue to work with it. For example, I can incorporate individual findings into articles or chapters of my PhD – a wonderful workflow where everything interlocks seamlessly, and the traceability of my sources is ensured for me.
Once I’ve finished working with a text to this extent, I move the file to Devonthink as it serves as my archive. I copy the item link and add it to the corresponding entry in Zotero. This way, I can directly access the PDF in Devonthink from Zotero in the future.
And that’s how I research, read, and archive papers. This workflow has streamlined my research process, ensuring I can focus on the content rather than the logistics.
In January of this year, for the first time I published an overview of crucial apps that my professional life couldn’t function without. Inspiration stemmed from the ‚State of the Apps‘ segments within the Cortex podcast, hosted by CGP Grey and Myke Hurley, a title I found fitting to take up. This year, I managed to get a head start. In the following, I will showcase to you the apps I use spanning various domains including browsing, mail, task management, writing/thinking/note-taking, research, file and literature management, reading, and more.
Many of the apps presented here are also integrated with a Setapp subscription. I often only discovered these apps because I was browsing for new apps on Setapp. I have marked the apps with an *. I have been a Setapp customer for many years and find the model very convincing: For a monthly fee of currently 8.99 $ with annual payment, you get access to dozens of high-quality apps, including BetterTouchTool, CleanShot X, Ulysses, CleanMyMac X, or Spark Mail. If you want to try out Setapp, you can do so via this link and support me in my work, as I will then receive a small commission from Setapp without it becoming more expensive for you.
Browsing
In last year’s edition, Arc had freshly catapulted into the market and I gave it a chance. It was enticing: instead of tabs at the top of the screen, you get a sidebar. ‚Spaces‘ to segregate different aspects of life. And not least, the addition of Easels and Boosts to maximize browsing experience. A year on, I can vouch that Arc remains my go-to browser. Despite this endorsement, not all features have stuck. Let me explain.
Take ‚Boost‘, the feature that allows you to customize websites to your preferences; it’s a feature that soon lost its lustre for me. I simply had no idea what to do with it. ‚Easels‘ have also seen seldom use on my part: essentially whiteboards where you can collect content from various websites. Ideally, you’d set up collections for individual projects to have all the information in one place, like vacation-planning. My issue? I have other tools for this purpose (such as Devonthink) that are more adept. The solitary ‚Easel‘ I operate is a reading list for the year with corresponding links to the books.
So, why still Arc? In a nutshell, it’s simply a phenomenal browser. ‚Spaces‘ have become an irreplaceable part of my workflow. Moreover, the division in permanent and temporary tabs has become critical. Opening a browser filled with tabs from four days ago? A nightmare. Arc archives them after a preset duration (12 hours for me). And anything you need longer can be moved to the ‚Pinned Tabs‘ section. Thus, the default setting is not ‚keep‘ but ‚delete‘, greatly facilitating my work. How I would love this feature in Obsidian!
Then, the Arc team recently added some extremely thoughtful AI features, which are quite intriguing. For instance, automatic naming of tabs that give an instantaneous idea about the content or having the option to ask the AI questions about a page’s content.
In conclusion: Arc has firmly established itself. It might be that not all initial ideas have withstood the test of time, but overall, it’s a truly robust package.
E-Mail
I started the year on Apple Mail. My reason was straightforward: I don’t need fancy features when it comes to email. What I want is to work with my emails effectively, reliably, and most crucially, privacy-preserving. In this context, I have adopted a 100% no-nonsense approach. This made using Apple Mail quite logical due to its local storage and, in general, reliable functionality.
However, Apple decided to throw a spanner in the works not too long ago: they stopped allowing Mail Extensions. These were small third-party add-ons that enhanced the functionality of Mail. Though they were limited earlier, with the arrival of macOS Sonoma, they were abolished altogether. This meant a sad goodbye to my favoured little tool named MsgFiler. It had a simple but powerful feature that allowed me to easily file emails into folders using the keyboard – a serious game-changer in my email management routine. The loss of such an essential feature, as you may imagine, was more than a minor inconvenience.
It was at this juncture that I remembered MailMate. MailMate is an email application developed by an indie developer, crafted for power-users, and embodies the epitome of a ‚Mac-assed Mac app‚. The only reason I had stopped using it was to test the new features in Apple Mail two years ago, and somehow I ended up sticking around. Now it’s MailMate again, and returning feels like ‚coming home‘, much like it did with DevonThink or OmniFocus. Of course, it comes with a keyboard shortcut with which I can easily specify the folder an email should be moved to. Home, sweet home indeed!
To Do Management
Onto task management! With so many projects and tasks under my belt, I need an app that can keep pace. Between being a research associate, a PhD student in Migration Studies, managing this blog, and being a dad, it’s quite a juggle. Under this category, too, I’ve found myself gravitating back towards trusted solutions; in this case, OmniFocus.
Back in April 2022, I penned a farewell article to OmniFocus as it left something to be desired. Recent times, however, heralded my return (On the value of flip-flopping). Mainly, I had issues with the design decisions in the beta version of OmniFocus 4. As we speak, that fresh version hasn’t landed yet, but I find myself happily working with OmniFocus 3 once again. What I appreciate most is its effortless ability to handle my considerable requirements and reaffirm the feeling that no task is forgotten. Of course, I accept the possibility of OmniFocus 4 perhaps not living up to the job. But at the very least, I know now that alternatives like Reminders et al. will not cut it either and come with their own shortcomings.
For the time being, OmniFocus 3 forms the crux of my contentment – regardless of its somewhat outdated look. However, its performance outweighs the aesthetics, making it perfect for my needs.
Writing, Thinking, and Note-Taking
In this regard absolutely nothing has changed. Obsidian shines as the application I use most frequently for essentially anything related to writing. From jotting down quick notes to drafting my doctoral dissertation – it all takes place within the realm of Obsidian. Currently, I’m using the Minimal Theme, occasionally switching color tones, simply to keep things fresh. This steadfast cornerstone of my workflow remains predictably consistent and stable, just as any good tool should. In the realm of digital note-taking and writing, Obsidian is indeed my trusted companion.
Research
A new entrant since my last round-up, and I can’t imagine why it didn’t form part of it then: research. After all, it forms a substantial part of my day-to-day work-life, being a PhD candidate and a research associate in a project. Obsidian takes care of anything writing-related. However, quite a bit precedes the penning down phase!
Firstly, MacWhisper: a discovery that made it to my ‚best of the year‘ list and ranks high as one of the finest AI applicabilities. Essentially a GUI for Open Whisper with a few additional features, MacWhisper has been a game-changer by automating the transcription of my interviews. Prior to this, much to my chagrin, I had to manage this task manually, considering outsourcing transcription services was financially off-table for me. For anyone who has attempted to transcribe a one-hour interview, they would know the progress we are talking about here!
PDF Expert has remained my go-to PDF reader for years. I did try various other contenders, including PDF Viewer, PDF Pen, Highlights and several more – each with its own merits. Yet, time and again, I find myself returning to PDF Expert. Probably because it’s a robustly developed application that always works and steers clear of unnecessary trouble.
Next comes a highly specialised instrument: MaxQDA. It’s an app designed specifically for qualitative text data analysis and is widely utilized within fields like Social Sciences, Sociology, and the Humanities. For me, this software is an incredibly important research tool. Having said that, I’d be thrilled to find a decent non-commercial solution for it. Any leads in this direction would be truly welcome!
Another serendipitous find on SetApp is TypingMind*. Essentially, it is a Chat-GPT ‚GUI on steroids‘. It allows you to predetermine certain roles, along with the setting up of several other elements like output format or tone. Although I don’t use Chat-GPT extensively just yet, I’m actively trying to integrate it more into my daily workflow. So far, I find it the most suitable for writing up abstracts and similar summaries. The future of AI-assisted writing is intriguing, to say the least!
TypingMind offers a lot of usability enhancements for dealing with Chat-GPT
File Management
No change from last year on this front: DevonThink continues to do what it does brilliantly well. A classic case of ‚If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it‘, it persists as a reliable tool in my digital toolbelt, handling my file and literature management tasks with precision and efficiency.
Literature Management
In the realm of literature management too, stability rules the roost and Zotero provides just that. Here again, I have zero interest in the experimentation game. Zotero’s open nature fosters a vibrant community providing solutions to every conceivable problem. Particularly noteworthy is an Alfred workflow by Chris Grieser. Working in tandem with Zotero, it extracts annotated areas from PDFs, transforming them into beautifully formatted literature notes complete with all the relevant data.
The workflow is seamlessly rounded off by a couple of Obsidian plugins – Zotero Integration by MG Meyers and References. The former allows me to access sources from my Zotero database and directly insert them into a text in Obsidian. The latter displays a list of all the cited sources in a document which greatly aids in maintaining an overview. So here’s recognizing the power of a community-driven tool like Zotero and the plugins that make the usage experience an absolute breeze.
Reading
The realm of reading bifurcates into two parts for me: RSS and Read Later. For RSS reading, I’m armed with NetNewsWire for its sheer reliability and speed, not to mention its simplicity. It doesn’t get carried away with itself and focuses remarkably on its core skill set, a trait I find particularly appealing.
Choosing the right ‚Read Later‘ app is a tad more challenging. Last year, I was all in for Matter, until the advent of the Readwise Reader that entered its public beta. I’ve discussed Readwise before and was excited by the idea of having a ‚Read Later‘ app from the same brand, uniting all functions in one place which felt like a winning endgame move.
Long did I utilize Readwise Reader but also frequently found myself frustrated. Mainly because it tries to do too much, and in the bargain, sacrifices vital areas of clarity and speed. This led me, in the final months of the year, to Omnivore, a nod back to the NetNewsWire’s philosophy: executing the core function impeccably and nothing more.
Omnivore is so good that it not only metaphorically blew my socks off but also made me question why I hadn’t discovered it much sooner. Its recent version’s synthetic voices for article readings is uncannily humanlike! Well, such are the ways of life. I plan to give Omnivore a comprehensive introduction in a dedicated article soon. Stay tuned!
Everything else
Raycast
Indeed, there has been a changing of the guards when it comes to launchers. After years with Alfred, I’ve taken a leap and switched to the new ‚cool kid on the block,‘ Raycast. What persuaded me to make the change, you ask? It’s primarily the in-built store that tipped the scales in its favor, where Raycast extensions can be quite readily found and installed. This process was always somewhat more convoluted with Alfred. With its user-friendly interface and simplified process, Raycast has managed to firmly cement itself as my launcher of choice.
Popclip*
Up next is Popclip, an absolutely splendid little utility that populates a small pop-up either above or below the highlighted text, showcasing things you could do with that text. Some examples include the ability to copy, add to OmniFocus, or translate the text. These small but powerful functionalities of the tool can certainly help increase productivity while reading or writing, providing quick options to interact with the text in ways that would have previously taken more time or required additional steps. A small addition to my arsenal of tools, but an undoubtedly impactful one in improving my workflow.
Transloader*
Just an indispensable little tool with a single purpose: to open websites on my Mac when I’m looking at them on my iPhone on the move. Many times you want to read a page in more detail later or compare prices for a product. Transloader reminds me of this by opening the page I’ve just viewed on my Mac the next time I’m sitting in front of it. Indispensable!
Hookmark*
Another little helper that I use for a single purpose. Hookmark can create links for files, which you can then insert elsewhere as a click target. For example, I create links for emails that I then insert into a project note in Obsidian.
Shimo*
And another little tool, which I also found at SetApp. Shimo is simply a GUI for VPNs, but it saves me a bit of typing when I have to log into the VPN for my work.
Timery
Timery just continues to impress me. Of course, I could do my work without tracking it. However, it is a cornerstone of my approach to productivity. I try to balance the various projects in my life and also hit a certain hour mark every week in order to achieve a baseline of weekly work. And Timery helps me with that by getting out of my way. It’s just there and does its job – as it should be. With apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, I can toggle timers wherever I am. And then there is the addition of interactive widgets this year, which makes the app even more accessible. Nowadays, I interact with Timery via its widgets most of the time, be it the lock screen widget on my phone or the desktop widget on my Mac.
Mela
I love to cook and Mela is the perfect app to manage all my recipes. I just love everything about it: from the simple but beautiful design, to the integrated browser for importing dishes, to the ability to plan my meals in advance and write them in my calendar – Mela is just a joy!
— I hope you found some inspiration here! If you would like to try Setapp now, I would be delighted if you would do so via this link. Thank you!
A couple of days ago, I received a mail with a question that touches the core of our digital lives: How to backup photos? Shockingly, quite a lot of people do not back up or secure their photos, let alone the remainder of their digital work. Thankfully, that leads to no issues in 95% of the cases. However, for the remaining 5% of cases where it does lead to trouble, the outcry is intense. And understandably, so. Therefore, everyone should implement a backup strategy to secure the things most important to us: Memories and one’s own work.
Why should I back-up my files?
But first things first, why are backups necessary? There are three primary reasons: human error, human misunderstandings, and technical wear and tear.
Deleting a file accidentally happens sooner than you’d think. Normally, it ends up in the system trash, and you can recover it from there. But there are instances where this isn’t possible, for example, when a file is directly deleted due to its large size or when a particular setting has been chosen. You might also realize too late that you’ve accidentally deleted a file, only to find out that it has been automatically purged from the trash.
Handling large projects, such as academic papers, can sometimes lead to confusion within the line of argument, necessitating a complete do-over. In this case, having a backup to revert to quickly becomes a lifesaver.
Technical failure, however, is by far the most critical reason for backing up data. Issues can range from file system errors, app crashes, or inexplicably peculiar events causing file corruption and rendering them unreadable. You might be left without your thesis on the day of submission, without any fault of your own – and that’s where a backup steps in.
The building blocks for an easy back-up solution
There are three requirements that good backup practices should fulfil:
1. It should be automatic—you can’t forget something that happens on its own. 2. Regular backups at short intervals are crucial—a month-old backup serves minimal purpose. 3. It should be easily restorable without the need for advanced IT knowledge or expensive software programs.
Gladly, your Mac offer an excellent, simple, and workable solution out of the box that can be set up with minimal effort in basically no time.
Stowing away backups needs an external hard drive. But keep in mind, you can’t use the same drive for daily work you’re backing up to. So, how to choose the right hard drive for your backups?
Primarily, you should aim for a disc/SSD twice the size of the drive you’re backing up; let’s say if your laptop has 1 TB of storage, the backup drive should store 2TB. It ensures enough room to not only backup your files once but to store different versions of them over time for added safety.
Then the choice boils down to HDDs versus SSDs. HDDs contain mechanical parts, whereas SSDs are essentially massively connected flash storage, as seen in smartphones and USB drives. SSDs hold several advantages:
1. They endure far less wear and tear due to the absence of mechanical parts. 2. They are silent. 3. They operate much faster than HDDs. 4. They are lighter, making them more portable.
While HDDs still have their merits—cost-effectiveness when it comes to the storage per Dollar/Euro ratio—SSDs have their benefits. Thanks to their greater portability and faster read and write speeds, backup SSDs can easily be repurposed to act as regular external drives. My suggestion is to splurge a little and invest in an external SSD unless you’re either extremely tight on funds or need to backup really large amounts of data.
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend a specific hard drive due to the ever-evolving market. It’s best to follow rankings, such as those by the Wirecutter.
One last side note: Cloud storage is not a backup. It’s possible to lose files even in the cloud, although providers like iCloud, Google Drive, and Dropbox have significantly improved reliability over the years. So, understand this as an additional measure rather than a main backup solution, even though it’s always useful to have it at your disposal.
An easy built-in solution – Time Machine
Purchasing a Mac comes with a variety of exceptionally useful software, with Time Machine being one of the most critical. Time Machine facilitates excellent and easy of use, built-in backups without any additional software. Plus, it allows for omitting individual files or folders that may not be crucial to back up, potentially saving some space.
Once set up, Time Machine automatically „backs up your Mac every hour for the past 24 hours, every day for the past month, and weekly for all previous months“ according to Apple’s support page. The oldest backups are only cleared when the disk is full.
The setup of Time Machine is straightforward – connect an external hard drive, initiate Time Machine, select a drive as the backup medium, and voilà. Now, Time Machine will continue working in the background, creating backups. Apple’s support article further explains this procedure with tips and tricks.
Cloud back-up for power users
For those seeking a more advanced option, I’d like to propose another option: backup in the cloud (not to be confused with the aforementioned cloud AS backup!). This is your insurance for genuine catastrophes like a house fire. Services like Backblaze* offer solutions where you can save a full copy of your computer to external servers — encrypted, of course.
The idea is straightforward: you install a small program on your computer that then transfers a backup to Backblaze’s servers. Of course, there are other providers like Crashplan, aimed more at small businesses rather than individuals.
However, Backblaze does come with a cost: $9 per month, or $99 for a full year, or $189 for a two-year subscription.
In conclusion, let me summarize the essential takeaways about backups:
1. Having a backup is better than not having one at all. Be serious about finding a solution. 2. Backups should be automated and work in the background to prevent forgetting to backup. 3. TimeMachine is an amazing and easy to use built-in solution. Take advantage! 4. You need an external hard drive, preferably an SSD, and you want to make sure its storage capacity is at least double that of the drive you want to back up. 5. Clouds can help sync individual files and can serve as an additional layer of protection but cannot replace backups. 6. If you are **really** serious about backups, you can apply the 3-2-1 rule. It means you should have 3 backups on 2 different media, and one of them should be located outside your home. In practice, the first backup could secure important files and push them to a hard drive connected to your computer. The second backup could be a complete system image copied over the local network to a second drive not directly attached to the computer. The third backup would be stored externally for disaster recovery using a service like Backblaze.
Points 1 to 5 apply to everyone. Point 6 is for those who want to play it extra safe. If you abide by the first five points, you’ve already taken a significant step towards data security, and you’ve done yourself a huge favor!
Links with a * are affiliate links where I receive a small percentage if a product is purchased through that link or a subscription is made.
From the outside, it admittedly looks a bit ridiculous when someone changes their to-do app or notes app every few months. Especially if this one new app is supposed to make everything better. I’ve dealt with the issue here on the blog in the past, as of course, it affects me personally. If not, I would not be writing this blog. The specific reason for this article is that I am using OmniFocus again after a long abstinence. In fact, I haven’t done so for well over a year. First I tried GoodTask, then I managed all my tasks in Obsidian, and most recently I briefly flirted with Apple Reminders. So now it’s back to OmniFocus.
On second glance, however, I think it’s less pointless or overkill than one might think. You just shouldn’t make the mistake of expecting a complete revolution in your workflow. But then what for? Why am I doing this? After all, I already went through a similar cycle with DevonThink: first I jumped into it, then I used it less and less, and finally, I tried to replace DevonThink with the Finder and HoudahSpot. A few months later, Devonthink was back again. And is currently an important cornerstone of my daily workflow.
The Hermeneutic Circle of Software
I see this kind of software use more as a form of circular cognition. In the social sciences, this would be called a hermeneutic circle. I’m Windows-socialized, and my journey on the Mac started around 2013, or about ten years ago. Then, around 2015, fuelled by various tech podcasts, my interest in topics like productivity, self-management, and the apps associated with them developed.
I quickly ended up with the flagships like DevonThink and OmniFocus, primarily because these podcasts tell you that these apps are the ultimate, that you can’t do without them. And yes, they are the ultimate, but you can also do it with other apps. In any case, I then had these incredibly powerful tools and actually had no idea how to use them. Then there was my enthusiasm for the subject and the desire to try new things, which ultimately led to the creation of this blog. It also shows well in my choice of text editor/notes/PKM app. There was quite a bit here before Obsidian, as I was never satisfied in the long run. Without claiming to be exhaustive, I’ve used the following apps over the years: Scrivener, Apple Notes, Ulysses, Agenda, iA Writer, Notion. Now Obsidian. DevonThink has been replaced by NoteBooks in the meantime. In terms of to-do managers, I’ve probably tried out the entire App Store Top 10.
Stay hungry, stay foolish
Why? Out of curiosity and passion, for one thing. And I think that’s okay. Most people have weird hobbies, and I like to try out new apps. And secondly, as part of a year-long learning process. The search for the best app coincided with my arrival in the workforce. During this time, I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, got my first jobs, and am now working on my PhD. So, of course, the requirements change. And often, you just can’t tell what you actually need to get ahead with your work; you have to try it out. That’s what I did. Extensively, and again and again. And more often than not, the path ended up being a circle. Except that without that path, I still wouldn’t be where I am. I’m in the same place but significantly wiser. I can better appreciate the merits of DevonThink, Obsidian, or OmniFocus because I know the competition.
You just shouldn’t make the mistake of associating your productivity solely with the supposedly right tool. As a rule, „work“ can be done in many ways, and the search for the perfect app is often simply a reason not to do the actual work. It can still be instructive because of this. And with that, perhaps the most important lesson is: Stay hungry, stay foolish!
