A year ago I wrote about some of the technology that I planned on using during my upcoming studies. Here's a snippet from that post.
Tooling-Up = Setting up applications that I know are going to help me do the work. Some I can use like a pro, and others I'm quicky gaining proficient status.
Omnifocus - Never lose an idea or miss a deadline, and help me juggle red tape through the university.
Zotero - Capture research and catalogue references for everything as I go along...starting now, which will eventually help build the works cited for my dissertation.
Microsoft Word - Yeah, I know, but I'm looking for practicality for all writing assignments. I'm just sticking with what will be most compatible with sharing/sending in to professors.
Apple Notes - This is for messy/unorganized information capture and is good for basic recall for whatever random ideas I have or information I come across. It works great on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and web in a crunch (which has saved me from trouble in the past).
Moleskine Notebook - I like to take physical notes. I'll use this for logging notes during class and when meeting with other groups. I'll then process tasks into Omnifocus as needed.
App for processing/synthesising NEEDED - I'm trying to decided between Obsidian and Notion. In the end I want something that is very easy to use, and will help me make connections between ideas.
Time Machine - I've been relying on iCloud for years now to backup my computer. It's worked great, but I'm reactivating Time Machine now so that I can have better versioning. Yes, Apple Time Machine is still a thing.
HHKB - This is just something that I want. I've found this really-really-really nice portable keyboard for all of the writing that I'm going to do. This little guy works with all the computing devices that I own, including my iPad. I'm going to use this thing like crazy and then mount it on my wall when I'm done.
At this point it is interesting to look back and see if my intentions have worked out. My opinions have definitely grown. Here's a quick update.
- Omnifocus - Still the backbone of my task organization. It's a local app, blazing fast, handles attachments and notes. I use it like crazy. No surprises here.
- Zotero - I've been blown away by this app. It is really amazing for capturing citations. Get the Word plugin. Get the browser plugin.
- Microsoft Word - I'm learning to play Word like a Jazz musician. Yes, I edited my Normal.dotm style template.
- Apple Notes - This is still my dumping spot. Good for recall. Good as quick digital scratch paper. The OCR is fast and accurate. I don't spend any time organizing it.
Moleskine Notebook- Romantic idea. Not happening.- Obsidian - I settled on Obsidian for all of my note taking. It's kind of like a little Wiki that is all of my own and is integrated into my computer's built in file system. This means that the files created by Obsidian live alongside my other Word docs, images, and whatever else I'm working on. Whenever I'm done using Obsidian, I'll still have all of my information saved as plain text documents forever. Pretty cool.
- Time Machine - I don't consider iCloud as a proper backup. It's really where most of my documents are saved, and the local computer is turning into more of a terminal. Time Machine is a great backup tool, and is awesome for quick access to old files on my desktop or downloads folder. I use it on a weekly basis to go back and grab something that was deleted. In addition to Time Machine I also email myself backups of my Zotero database and my "ED_D" folder. I even email my wife a copy just for good measure. HEY email allows for large attachments and lots of storage.
- HHKB - The Happy Hacking Keyboard is one of my favorite investments. I even sprang for the travel case, shield, and palm rest. The keyboard is one of the parts of the computer that you actually physically interact with the most, so I figured I should get something really good. I'm writing my dissertation on this guy, and I love it.