February 26, 2016

The Setup: Mac at Work Apps

This was a pretty intense work week, so it seems like a good time to make a snapshot of the most used apps. I could do one of these every few weeks… since I tend to waste (invest?) a lot of time upfront on new projects modifying my workflow for efficiency.

This time waste/investment is always a result of procrastination, but it has allowed me to learn things more often than not.

With the above disclaimer, here are the top apps of the week:

SublimeText 3: A workhorse, a notepad, and everything in between. It’s always open somewhere in my screen, or on its own screen in combination with the Origami package for splitting multiple panes in one window.
LaunchBar: Multiple clipboards, snippets, quick reminders, App switcher and launcher.
Chrome: Not crazy about it, but can’t really live without the extensions¹. Copytables has been a lifesaver this last two weeks.
Choosy: I use Safari for all personal browsing, so it’s perfect to create rules like sending all links from Tweetbot to it or any work Google Drive link to Chrome.
Shush: Fast microphone on all Apps. Skype, GoToMeeting, Hangouts… doesn’t matter. Just press fn key (configurable) to speak. Or press twice and default changes to press for mute.
Moom: For the Window Management OCD sufferer that can’t start a task without all Apps being on their correct corner. The ability to save layouts seem like a wasted effort at first — see the overarching theme? — but totally pay out. If you want something simpler, I also sometimes use Magnet.
Fantastical 2: I’ve always used it as my calendar, but started using the reminders on my most recent productivity tool bankruptcy. Short version: Tasks take time to complete, time that is shared with calendar events. Hence, tasks should appear on the calendar. Fantastical allows this.
Spotify: Back after testing all services. Longer post due.
Next Meeting: What and how far away is the next meeting.
Airmail: While it hasn’t stopped me from loading Gmail in the browser, I’ve been doing it less. Closest successor to Sparrow yet, and also using the iPhone version.

Have a great weekend.

Which Opera mostly supports, but it has just got too unstable.↩︎