Text Files.

The intro mentions a two headed monster of Simplenote and Notational Velocity as the new addition to my idea capture system. But it’s really not about those apps so much as it is about straight text files. Those just happen to be the best apps, for now anyway, to access the data in my text files.

Here’s why I’ve started using straight text files as part of my capture workflow:

• Sync and Availability – I have already described the setup in my iPad Writing Workflow post. In short, all of my text files sit in a folder on Dropbox. This folder is connected to Notational Velocity on my Mac which is syncing it with SimpleNote. This means I can access all of this data through the beautiful simplicity of a search in Notational Velocity or SimpleNote on my iPad or iPhone. If somehow I don’t have access to any of those, I can track them down via the Dropbox website in a pinch. And because they are all small text files, sync is instantaneous.
• Accessibility – Text files are, um, files. I can find data with spotlight, and drag and drop multiple notes at once into Scrivener. And because they are files, they can be seen by more than the apps I’m using. (I’m looking forward to the release of PlainText — since it syncs via Dropbox, I anticipate I will be able to use it with this system as well.) If I wanted to backup all of it to a thumb drive? Easy. And geez, I can even load these files on any basic Mac, Windows, or Linux install without any extra software.
• Data Processing – Where the accessibility becomes important is when I can start to manipulate the data. All of these files can be sorted and searched with smart folders in the Finder that automatically update as data changes. And they are all visible to Hazel and Automator workflows for crazy possibilities. For example, I drafted this post on my iPad in multimarkdown. When I opened my laptop for final edits, Hazel had processed it into HTML automatically. I just have to open that file, add any images and post. Eddie from Practically Efficient has a helpful post on this.

So what do I use this system for?

• Drafts – I write a lot of rough drafts on my iPad, like this one. And when I open up my laptop to revise and publish, they are waiting patiently.
• Incubator – I described my incubator in the original Capture Everything series. Since I’m much more likely to review my incubator during downtime on the go, it’s now in this system. All incubator notes have ppp tagged on the end of them so I can quickly sort down to them or add to the pile.
• Reading/Book Notes – I’ve also written about my book notes before, and I’ve moved them over to this system as well. I have notes from countless books, and I often search for key terms in those notes when I’m doing research for an article, blog post, or a Bible study
• Mobile Reference – Any uncategorized notes that would be handy to have on the go get dumped in here. If I need to drop my drill off for repairs (twice already!), the lifetime warranty info is a few taps away.
• Quick, Temporary Notes – Since these apps sort by most recent, it’s a convenient place to drop a shopping list or other temporary reference. I can make a list at my desk, and it’s waiting on my iPhone when I get to the store.

Two quick tips for setup:

1. There is one small, but significant step in this setup. Notational Velocity has to be setup to store everything as text notes. This is in the preferences, where you can say where you want to store them. In my case I stored them in Dropbox. But be careful! If you sync to both Dropbox and Simplenote from multiple Macs, your files will endlessly replicate!
2. If you have notes in Yojimbo, they can be exported as .rtf files. (Again, the accessibility of text files makes this so easy.) I selected my reading notes, incubator notes, etc. and exported them. Once I dragged them into the Notational Velocity folder, they were available everywhere for me.

This might be more than you think you need, but it works great for me. I’ve not gone into detail on the setup here, but most of the links above provide more detailed explanation. And once it’s all setup, you don’t have to think about it. Just open your notes for reference, review, or capture!

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There were three core principles in place then that have sustained that workflow:

1. It has to be handy, reliable, and streamlined. If something comes to mind, I only want to have to capture it once. For example, I don’t want to write things down in a moleskine that I later have to transfer to a digital tasklist. I’m willing to spend a little time setting up a system up front if it means I can trust it across multiple locations and/or devices.
2. Tasks and ideas are different. Tasks are actionable and will be completed and whisked away forever. Ideas are concepts or reference notes that I want to tuck away out of site, but have access to for easy retrieval. And if it turns out I don’t need them, that’s okay, because they are out of site, costing me at most a few bytes of storage somewhere.
3. One app is better than two. With tasks, OmniFocus has been reliable and the only app I needed to manage tasks. (I’m giddy about the imminent release of OmniFocus for iPad.) When it comes to ideas, there is an endlessly growing list of “everything bucket” apps. All of them have strengths and weaknesses, but I’ve tried to use on app to capture all of that — Yojimbo. (I should mention that I scan and store PDFs with Yep, but that is less about creative work, and more about storing bills, statements, etc.) But, this has changed…

I’m now capturing ideas using both Yojimbo and text files via a SimpleNote/Notional Velocity waltz. The iPad spurred this change, but after trying it out, I’ve decided it’s working well enough to stick with it. Of course, I’ve written a number of posts about Yojimbo in the past, and one or two about SimpleNote, but in the next couple weeks, I will do a post on each, describing how it has found a unique place in my idea capture system…and in my heart.

(Based on comments in previous posts, I’m guessing someone will feel compelled to mention Evernote. I know about it. I think the forthcoming posts will describe this setup works better than Evernote for my workflow.)

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OmniGraffle for iPad
I consider OmniGraffle to be a sleeping giant on my laptop. I use it for making site maps and the occasional chart or illustration. But I know it can do so much more. OmniGraffle for iPad brings the same experience to the iPad.

I think what I appreciate the most about OmniGraffle is the diligence and workmanship that OmniGroup put into it. OmniGraffle was available the day the iPad was released, so it was developed before OmniGroup they had access to an iPad of their own. From what I understand, the 1.0 release had a few issues (I didn’t use it until 1.1), but for the most part they did a lovely job of thinking through how the app would work. (Take a look at their demo videos to see what I mean.)

My use for OmniGraffle on the iPad is a little different than it is on my laptop. While it can serve as a stand alone app, I find it most helpful as an extension of the OS X version. For intricate work, I find I still prefer the pixel precision of a mouse. Here are the main uses I’m finding for OmniGraffle for iPad — most of them are related to my design and development work:

• I love using my iPad in meetings. It’s low profile feels like less of a barrier between others and myself. With OmniGraffle, I can bring along a site map to show a client, and even change and manipulate it on the spot. Saves the hassle of going back later and trying to decipher all my scribblings and arrows on a piece of paper.
• OmniGraffle is my favorite sketching program. Even freehand drawings become movable objects, so it is easy to sketch out a layout by hand and manipulate it as I please. There are stencils that offer elements for wireframing, but I like to scratch it out, and then do something between a wireframe and a design comp in Photoshop.
• I’m not much of a mind mapper, but I find that it is helpful to cluster and see ideas visually. Again, this is a use I’ve found handy.

I know that there are specialty apps available for wireframing, mind mapping, and sketching. They all might serve their unique purpose better than OmniGraffle, but the combination of these purposes, the thoughtfulness of OmniGroup, and the ability to open documents between my laptop and iPad has found OmniGraffle a place on my home screen. And in my heart.

OmniGraphSketcher
OmniGraphSketcher for iPad is a slick app, though I have to admit that I don’t find much use for it. In short, it allows you to sketch out charts and graphs with your finger. It smooths the curves as you go, and easily manipulates lines and fills. As you would expect from OmniGroup, it is well though out and works beautifully. (Again, a demo video gives you a feel.)

If you have a need to create charts and graphs for presentations or documents, it’s worth a look. I don’t, and so it sits a few screens deeper in my iPad, just in case I need it someday. Something tells me I’ll be glad to have it come fantasy football season, when I want to visually talk smack about the superiority of my team.

Wrapping Up
One gripe about both of these apps is their price. OmniGraffle comes in at $50, while OmniGraphSketcher sneaks $20 out of your iTunes account. Are they worth it? That’s up to you, and unfortunately, the app store doesn’t have a means for demos so that you can try them first.

OmniGroup tends toward premium pricing in all of their apps, but they consistently craft some of the most useful and reliable apps. There are a lot of not so great apps being cranked out for the iPad…it’s nice to know that OmniGroup, among others, is making great ones. (Yes, I do have a crush on them, okay?)

Disclosure: I received promotional licenses for each of these apps. I was not required to post a positive review, or any review at all, in return.

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In the opening chapter, Belsky sums up the content of the book this way:

Far from being some stroke of creative genius, this capacity to make ideas happen can be developed by anyone. You just need to modify your organizational habits, engage a broader community, and develop your leadership capability.

From a broad and general perspective, I enjoyed the book. It’s a book that is exactly as the title describes…a book about how to move ideas from concept to reality. I have enough conversations with others like me to know that most of us don’t have a shortage of ideas, but a shortage of resources to see those ideas through. Saying no to some ideas isn’t a bad thing, but all of us also have ideas that we don’t want to let go of.

I do have some conflicting personal responses to the book. On the one hand, I love that Belsky devoted two thirds of the book to shaping how ideas come about through collaboration and leadership. That’s something I don’t explore enough in my writings here, and in my own projects, so it was an important reminder.

On the other hand, I’m alway interested in the creative habits of others. What workflows are helpful for getting real work done, and which ones just get in the way. The first third of the book is devoted to this; perhaps I want to see things be too granular, but I would have liked to see more of this.

Overall, I don’t know that I would say this was a groundbreaking book. Much of what I read I intuitively understood through experience or common sense, even if it was helpful to have it laid out for me in the words of another. But, it was a good reality check, helping expose areas of my own creative process that need more development.

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SImplenote (iTunes)
This is one of the two apps that makes the pad most useful for me. Simplenote is my primary writing app, useful for capturing drafts (which I’m doing at this very moment). But, it also serves as a giant reference library. I have five years of book/research notes or brainstorms that I’ve collected with me at any time. And they all sync with Notational Velocity on my MacBook Pro. SimpleNote makes all my notes available on my iPhone too, but they are more useful on the iPad.

Instapaper Pro (iTunes)
The second killer app for me is Instapaper. I won’t even consider a Twitter or newsreader app that doesn’t have built in instapaper support. I toss articles and blog posts from twitter and my rss feeds into Instapaper all the time. It’s my own newspaper.

Kindle (iTunes) / iBooks (iTunes)
The iPad has, grudgingly, replaced my Kindle. The Kindle, in my opinion, is a better reading experience, and offer less to distract me. But it doesn’t make sense to carry both. I prefer the Kindle app over iBooks because of my library, and because all of my notes and highlights sync back to the Amazon website for my reference.

Articles (iTunes)
Articles is a wikipedia client that I use almost everyday. I can hardly watch a movie or show without consulting Articles to learn more about an actor or related topic as I watch. I realized just how true this is when I was at a movie theater this weekend and wanted to look at Wikipedia a few times, but didn’t want to disrupt those around me.

NewsRack (iTunes)
NewsRack is a nice looking reader with, of course, Instapaper support. It syncs with Google reader, and therefore with NetNewsWire on my laptop, so that I can always pick up where I left off. And…it’s a universal app and works well on the iPhone as well.

OmniGraffle (iTunes)
I have a longer post coming about OmniGraffle, but in short, it’s my favorite app for sketching out ideas visually.

Photogene (iTunes)
I’m not happy with the selection of image editors available on the iPad so far, but Photogene is the best I’ve found. Mostly, I need it for cropping and resizing images I might want to use in a blog post.

Markup (iTunes)
I wanted a basic FTP/editor for the ability to edit code in a pinch. But, I also wanted one that would let me upload an image to my server for a blog post. I also looked at Gusto, but Markup was first to the app store with image uploading, so it became my choice. For now.

Gowalla (iTunes)
How is this a creative tool? Since I often work on the go, I sometimes use Gowalla to see where others I know are already at work. Creativity loves company.

Dropbox (iTunes)
I don’t need to explain right? You are using Dropbox, aren’t you? If not, you should!

Penultimate (iTunes)
I don’t use this as much as I thought I would, but it stays on my home screen. If I can’t set my iPad down to easily type, I use this to quickly scrawl some thoughts with one finger and send them to myself for later use.

1Password Pro (iTunes)
Essential. Passwords for all my sites and all my clients’ sites are with me anytime I need them. Essential.

TextExpander (iTunes)
The only iPhone native app on my iPad. The only time I open it is to sync my snippets so that they are available to me in Simplenote. (And don’t miss this TextExpander coupon, good until June 15.)

At Bat 2010 (iTunes)
I’m sure this makes me more creative and productive. I’m just sure of it.

Oh the Places You’ll Go (iTunes)
I love Seuss, and this story inspires me as much as it does my little ones. Maybe more.

I’d love to hear your list too. What are you using?

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Last summer, I blogged about how TextExpander was now at the center of my workflow. From the feedback I received, I think I got several readers hooked as well. If you aren’t familiar with TextExpander, it is an app that automatically expands short snippets of text into longer text that you define. For example, when I type ddate in any app, TextExpander shows up and automatically replace it with today’s date.

And now, we have TextExpander 3, which SmileOnMyMac released earlier this year. There are a few key changes that make this a great upgrade:

Dropbox Sync
TextExpander snippets can now sync via Dropbox, which has been much more reliable than MobileMe. There was a hack to make TextExpander 2 sync with DropBox, but now it’s built in. (You are using Dropbox, aren’t you?)

Hot Keys
Hot keys are huge! The one thing that kept me from really making the most of TextExpander was the time it took to make snippets. It’s not that it took time, but there was a little bit of effort involved, and it often became a “I’ll get to it later” kind of task. Now, you can create snippets on the fly with hot-keys. If I have text in selected, or in my clipboard, that I want to make a snippet out of, I hit the appropriate hot-key combination and a window pops up to turn it into a snippet. I’m in and out in a few seconds.

One other change is that TextExpander now runs as a stand alone app, rather than as a pref in the System Preferences. This is promoted as a good thing, though I admit I don’t know why it is. It behaves the same for me, though I notice that, on occasion, I actually have a bit of lag with expansion now that I didn’t have in TextExpander 2.

As always, SmileOnMyMac has been great when I’ve had support requests or other questions. So, when I asked them if they could offer a coupon code again, they said, “Of course!” So…

Hey…how about a coupon code?
If you are new to TextExpander, you can use the coupon code CREATE0510 for 20% of between now and June 15. This is good for a single license or a family pack. If you are upgrading, the coupon code won’t work…but it’s $15 well spent in my opinion!

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When I first posted a comparison of the two products, it was mostly from the standpoint of an OmniFocus user peeking over the wall into Things’ backyard. I liked what I saw, but was very happy to stay in the OmniFocus camp.

I recently took another look at Things while researching for a writing project, and it has matured nicely. So nicely that there has been a defection in my household from OmniFocus to Things. Here’s why:

• The general consensus is that OmniFocus has a more robust feature set for power users, while Things is more appealing visually and for it’s more approachable learning curve. But, Things is catching up as far as features go.
• Things has launched an iPad app, and it’s beautiful. They didn’t replicate the iPhone app for a bigger screen, but rethought the interface. It’s one of the best iPad apps I’ve seen. The OmniFocus app is on it’s way, but not here yet. OmniGroup is taking their time with it to make sure they too make the most of the iPad interface.
• Things has added important features that were previously missing, like start dates.
• Things worked with Don McAlister to produce some helpful screencasts. (He also has some screencasts of OmniFocus available.) As usual, Don is a great teacher, and they serve as a helpful intro for the beginning user.

So, who defected? My wife.

I’m still using OmniFocus, and very happy with it — and very eager to see what they do for the iPad. But for my wife, Things was more intuitive. She’s finding it easier to organize and more appealing to look at. And the plus side is that we can both sync our tasks on a single iPad!

Disclosure: I have received promotional licenses for each version of Things, but I was not required to post a positive review, or any review at all, in return.

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But about the soul…I’m still passionate about shaping the soul, and plan to continue to write about that part of creative work. But, most of my soul related energy has been going toward another project lately. It’s a project to help you shape your soul and find your voice through daily writing. I’ve hinted at it here before, and I’ve finally launched it this week, so…

Say hello to 501words.com.

501Words is a reason to write everyday, inspired and encouraged by the company of others who are doing the same. As one friend described it, it is a “focused writing community site”. Each day, a new subject is posted as an invitation for you to write 501 words in response. I’ve set a goal to have 40 active users by the end of this first week…are you one of them?

The site is driven by the idea that to find your voice, you need to write every day, for better or worse. It was inspired by sites like the Daily Shoot, a drawing project a friend of mine participated in called Every Day Matters, and of course, by Julia Cameron’s morning pages from The Artist’s Way (which I’ve taken to calling daily pages).

I hope you’ll consider joining in. Writing everyday can be daunting, and I can’t say I’ve been able to do it myself. But at least I have a reason to try, and an excuse to do it again the next day. And so do you!

Why not take a few moments right now to:

• learn about how my own failure gave birth to the site.
• follow @501words on twitter to see the subject each day.
• join the community already participating at 501words.

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While it looks like Scrivener isn’t going to be an iPad app anytime soon, the way the iPad fits in my workflow, I’m not sure I will need the full feature set of Scrivener on it anyway. What I need is a workflow that allows me to capture ideas, research, and some initial drafts that can be easily transported to Scrivener for further work.

This week, I’ve shaped the workflow, and I think it’s going to work out great. Here are the pieces:

1. Words are captured in SimpleNote. (The iPad version of this was approved late Monday, and I experienced glee when I saw it.) When it is a note that I want to indicate as something current, I append 3-5 Q’s at the end of the title, depending on how current or important it is. Since there aren’t any words in English that have more than one Q in a row, this makes it easy to find these notes later, and the Q key is always easy to get to up there in the corner of even an iPhone keypad. (I learned this trick from Merlin Mann in this MacPowerUsers episode. Brilliant.) Note that in SimpleNote, the first line of text becomes the title.
2. All my SimpleNote notes sync with Notational Velocity on my Mac. David Sparks had a great post on SimpleNote and Notational Velocity yesterday…read it.



3. Notational Velocity saves all my notes as text files. This is critical and can be set in the preferences. It also means that all your notes can be searched via spotlight, so it’s a handy setting.




4. I set up a smart folder to show my all my “qqq” and up notes. This is easy to do via the Finder menu. For now, I have a link to this folder residing in sidebar of my Finder, but I might drag it to the dock too.



5. When I’m ready to work in Scrivener, I open the smart folder and drag the relevant files into the research or drafts folder. And my words have arrived through the ether with minimal thought or effort on my part. It is, dare I say, magical. The files are there and waiting for me when I need them.

There are two things that make me giddy about this workflow. First, sync happens. My thoughts move between devices, waiting right where I need them. I don’t have to plug in via USB and move docs around in a buried window in iTunes.

Second, SimpleNote functions as my primary notes reference and text capture app, which means less switching. The only thing it really lacks is a word count, but that’s not usually that important to me at the drafting stage anyway.

Enjoy, and if you figure out a way to make this workflow even better, let us all know in the comments.

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If you’re not sure after looking at the picture, let me clear it up. Right now, I would say it’s a definitive maybe.

Some General Impressions

• The Battery – I have never seen the battery drop below 50% AND my AC adapter is still wrapped in plastic. Hooking the iPad up to my laptop at my desk for an hour or two in the afternoon gives me all the juice I need.
• The Apple Case – I was using a netbook neoprene sleeve that fit perfectly. But by Wednesday, I was checking at The Apple Store for their case, and I found them in stock on Thursday. It makes a big difference. Being able to prop the iPad up a few degrees from a flat surface makes it more accessible for typing on your lap or any flat surface.
• Form factor – As you would hope, the smaller form factor is an asset at times. One day, I rode the train downtown, and it was much easier to break out the iPad than it would have been to use a full laptop. It was also great in meetings, where a slightly propped up iPad doesn’t create the barrier that a laptop does. I think this will be my primary device for meetings.
• The Wifi issue – I’ve read about people having issues with the Wifi. It only happened to me in one spot. I don’t know if they had old firmware in a cheap router, or if I had a weak signal, but I got kicked off a few times.

The Negative: Workflow Disruption
I fancy myself a power user of my laptop — flipping back and forth between spaces, firing off thoughts via Launchbar, accessing 1Password from my browser toolbar, etc. Using the iPad disrupted that. I ended up keeping my iPhone next to it with OmniFocus open.

Another limitation was what I hoped might be a strength — using the iPad as a reference tool. Since most of my notes are in Yojimbo, my access to them was hampered. I tried a demo of Webjimbo — the developer was responsive in making sure it formatted well for iPad. This remote solution is workable if you really need something that is trapped at home, but not for heavy usage. My Bible software, Logos, can’t cut and paste or save notes, and SimpleNote has yet to be approved for iPad. All of these were hangups.

There were also some disruptions in Safari. First off, many sites see the iPad as mobile, and only give you access to their mobile version. That will hopefully change soon. Other sites weren’t working yet, like the email composer in MailChimp. And, some websites don’t allow an embedded script to scroll properly. Strangely, even Google Docs iPad version will let you view, but not edit your docs. At least they give you the opportunity to switch to the full site in the footer.

The Plus: Workflow Focus
Yes, this is exactly the opposite of what I said above, but it’s really helpful to not have distractions sit in your menubar, or a keystroke away. With no multitasking, what I’m working is what I’m working on. And that was a good thing. I’m not in a rush to see multi-tasking on the iPad, because being focused is my favorite thing about it right now. Well, that and having it by me on the couch while I’m winding down in the evening.

“I’ll do it when I get home.”
I thought that sentence far too often last week, and that’s why I have my laptop with me this morning again. And most of the time, I will still be carrying my laptop with me. There were simply too many tasks that are still much easier to handle on here.

But I said the answer is a definite maybe, because…

At this point, it’s really all about the apps. When Logos is improved. When OmniFocus for iPad is available. When WriteRoom, or any text editor with a word count feature and simpletext.ws sync, is available. Or heck, when Scrivener is (hopefully) there for me. That’s when I could really see the iPad being a strong contender to be my main sidekick.

Maybe at the end of the summer, I’ll revisit this. Having a combination of an iMac for design and heavy lifting, plus an iPad, could be a great setup. But right now, it’s not the right setup for me.

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