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Tag Archives: Launchbar
Essential software for academic work on Mac: 2021 update
It’s been seven years since I listed 25 apps essential for academic work on Mac. This list has proven to be very popular and relatively stable, but over the years I dropped or significantly reduced using 13 of these applications and … Continue reading →
Posted in Automation, Bibliographies, Collaboration, Files, Graphics, Notes, Presentations, Projects, Tasks, Writing
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Tagged BusyCal, BusyContacts, Byword, Dropbox, Hazel, Keynote, Launchbar, Microsoft Word, Notion, OmniFocus, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, Papers, TaskPaper, TextExpander
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7 Comments
LaunchBar vs. Alfred 2
LaunchBar is one of the ten light automation utilities (Macademic Ninja Kit), which make academic work on a Mac fast, smooth and enjoyable. I have been using LaunchBar for over 3 years and it has become so natural that I feel literally … Continue reading →
Custom Academic Searches on LaunchBar
Application launchers like Alfred and LaunchBar are Swiss Army knives of software, but to take full advantage of their flexible power you really need to tweak and customize their settings. The apps aren’t designed for academics, but because they’re so … Continue reading →
Three stages of the academic workflow and Mac software
The’academic workflow’ is a representation of scholarship as a series of stages or steps connected to each other without gaps or duplication. Although simplified, the idea of the workflow helps to structure, develop, and communicate tools, knowledge and experience across … Continue reading →
Posted in Workflows
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Tagged BusyCal, Byword, DefaultFolderX, DevonThink, Keynote, Launchbar, MailActOn, MailTags, NValt, OfficeTime, OmniOutliner, OpenMeta, Pomodoro, Sente, TaskPaper
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10 Comments
Note-taking on a Mac revisited
David Sparks just explained in Macworld once again why plain text is best. This prompted me to update several entries from April and March on taking notes on a Mac. In this post, I describe some recent software developments and share … Continue reading →
Managing project files and good old file folders
We have just covered naming, storing and locating reference files such as academic articles. There are also completely different files, for example draft papers, project plans, budgets, reports, minutes and contracts. I handle such ‘project files’ differently from reference files: … Continue reading →
Sending files by email: good habits and useful tricks
Effectively handling file attachments is an important part of productive email habits. This post focuses on sending attachments. The attachments you receive are covered in the post on organizing email. The rule number one is to question whether an attachment … Continue reading →
Practical tips on reading and composing email
This post is the first in the series on practical application of automation to email (Rule 4 of the Five Email Rules). Though I use Apple Mail app, similar tools are available in other fine mail programs such as Gmail (see Gmail … Continue reading →
Making room for real work
In 1911, Alfred Whitehead, a British philosopher observed: It is a profoundly erroneous truism that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of … Continue reading →
Note taking software part 2: tango with a twist
In this post I focus on the practical side of my note-taking. The main application I use is called Notational Velocity (NV). I started to use NV with Simplenote following MacSparky’s excellent post on Simplenote – NV Tango. After a … Continue reading →
Academic workflows on a Mac 