Because typewriter-style graphics are cool and the algorithmic internet is not Goodie 1 - The Progress Bar Someone kindly gave me a typewriter last month. Playing with it has reminded me of the creative ways we used to use monospaced fonts, because at one time that’s all there were. Progress bars and charts could be...

…was the day I finally stopped over-optimising my plain text lists Moving my tasks away from apps to plain text lists was supposed to simplify everything. To take the pressure off. So why have I spent so many years optimising them? Because I didn’t understand the job they did best. Every task manager does these 3...

While still knowing just how much He loves me Illustration by the wonderful Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, who is also a wonderful writer. Someone once said there’s a sure way to know if you are a humble person: If you think you are, you’re not! I’ve pondered the idea of humility a fair bit, over the years. I do not see it...

No blame, but still, never again I keep my calendar in the todo.txt format, in Obsidian, using the Todo.txt Mode plugin to move completed events to a done.md file each day. This week I opened that done.md file only to find it completely blank. Gasp! A plain text nightmare!! This was not supposed to even be able to...

And why are you idolising the stuff that makes you sad? This post represents a change in topic from the bulk of what I write. To help you distinguish the plain text productivity themes at a glance from those that are more overtly Christ-centred, look for the sparkle ✨ emoji in the title. Images from Pexels, combined...

Plain Text Slop Soup, Anyone? I was initially excited to discover a new plain text productivity site this week, with sections on open format apps and tips for plain text workflows. Hooray! I thought. Another resource to add to my Blogroll! But a few seconds in, things began to feel off. It didn’t take long to...

It’s not really about the app When Stefano Marinelli posted about compromises and tolerance, I knew he was right because I’ve seen this in action: Life is full of compromises. And the more you live, the more you learn (or should learn) to be at least a little tolerant of the choices others make, even when they seem...

And reclaim focus for your distractible brain After years perfecting a simple plain text productivity system for tracking my tasks and time, I should have been happy. Surely the search was over at last? But something still felt wrong; incomplete. The information was all there, but I still had trouble focusing on the...

Plain text capture, a Bauhaus obsession, and the keyboard that finally fits my EDC Screenshots are from each company’s official website Today I’ll be sharing a new app for getting text into Obsidian the iOS version of the Bauhaus Clock the Nillkin Cube Pocket Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard with Trackpad No affiliates,...

With Obsidian instructions for seeing today’s schedule in your daily note I can still scarcely believe that what was supposed to be a 2-week experiment turned into a sustainable, calm-inducing way to keep up with all the time-specific events that make up my life. My aim in writing about it is not to have you do the...

How a phantom currency keeps bank account reports clean Envelope budgeting is the practice of planning ahead for known expenses, by regularly putting money into pre-determined categories, or envelopes. As the name suggests, it is often done with real cash placed into real envelopes. Envelope budgeting can be done in...

A casual roundup of productivity tools, tips, and rabbit holes No deep dives today, just a list of worthwhile productivity related things I’ve come across lately. Some universal, most Apple flavoured. Clever (but unnecessary?) Apple Shortcut for lost iPhones Create an automation in Apple Shortcuts that fires when...