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TOPIC: Drafts for iOS, and Who You Want to Be
This week, Dan and Merlin cover two very different topics.
First, there's a detailed discussion of one of Merlin's favorite iOS apps, Drafts, including a deep dive on the app's extraordinary interactions with everything from Twitter to calendars to Dropbox.
Second, Dan and Merlin have an A-plus conversation on the hardest question you’ll ask yourself this week: “Is this who I want to be?”
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is kindly sponsored by: Shutterstock (use code "BACKTOWORK4" for 30% off).
TOPIC: Choosing Your Forks.
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about some of the deeper and more slippery issues behind changes in our career and life.
In particular, how do we go from a vague tickle to that feeling of full-blown intolerability that can end up driving a change? Are we looking backward at what we should be doing as we slavishly catalog our many petty aggrievements? Or, do we take two giant steps back and apply a cooler eye to what we really want to do next?
Even before we find our forks in the road, how can we know a big decision might or should be coming our way? And, how do we stay current on that never-ending need to accept and plan for the changes we never could have anticipated?
It's tough at 23, it's super-hard at 30, and, brother, is it ever murder at 50.
Sure, it's a little fruity, but, yeah: you need to write the story you really want to live. Rather than just cobbling together a flattering post-mortem on how you magically ended up where you are.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is generously sponsored by:
TOPIC: Memory.
This week, Dan and Merlin try to tackle the complexities of memory.
Why do we remember things from childhood with unimpeachable detail, but then forget our own phone number or PIN code? How can the same person remember the name of everyone he's ever met, and then space a phone call a couple hours after it was scheduled? Why do we remember and why do we forget?
Unsurprisingly, few concrete answers appear, but there's plenty of lively conversation on savant syndrome, tactical memory aides, and the precise location of Merlin's pills.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is sponsored by Shutterstock (use code "BACKTOWORK3" for 30% off).
TOPIC: Stupidity.
This week, Dan and Merlin tackle stupidity. And, brother, there sure are a whole lot of flavors of stupid.
Are we really talking about being clueless, unaware, dumb, absent-minded, or just plain-old ignorant? Because they're actually pretty different animals.
Whether you're dropping your library book in the mailbox, leaving your iPad at home, following baseless medical advice, or doing whatever Dan did with his garage door (don't worry: the car is fine), it's really helpful to understand where your real problem really lives.
From a tactical standpoint, try some useful failsafes, rituals, and habits. But, at a higher level, learn to develop the curiosity to keep evolving. Stay open to how you might be wrong by always seeking out the smartest person you can find who disagrees with you.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is sponsored by Shutterstock (use code "BACKTOWORK3" for 30% off) and Squarespace (use offer code "CASH" for an additional 10% off).
TOPIC: Not So Much
This week, Dan and Merlin eschew ““topic”” to freely discuss razors, beef, They Might Be Giants, prolapse, Genesis, dogs, Spider-Man (and -Womyn), pretender marteenies, truck butt, the lonely plaster casts of our youth, blind harmonicists, those awesome blue IKEA bags, ceviche, E.L.O., Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, bumping, hypoglycemia, how Merlin named his daughter, Hyman Roth, endive, and, of course, The Big Lebowski.
Then, they go and blow it all by unintentionally having a really useful discussion about Merlin's three key elements of optimal and sustainable workflows.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is sponsored by Squarespace (use offer code "CASH" for an additional 10% off).
TOPIC: Shaving a Yak
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about The Hierarchy of Fiddling. When does self-improvement silently shade into navel-gazing, and how do we realize that it's happening?
Some fixes mean applying a fast change that produces outsized results (a true "life hack"). But, most of our more circuitous excursions into the world of ““productivity”” lead straight into a recursive black hole of lost time, sheer frustration, and soul-sucking existential onanism (let's call that one a "life whack").
Learn how to live with your dirty debit card, just satisfice with your dish-washing skills, and quit trying to solve non-problems with non-solutions.
Yes, learn the key commands, but, don't feel like you need to learn all the key commands. Iterate with mindful sanity.
And, like it says on the tin: always focus on how you'll get back to work.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode for Back to Work is sponsored by Smile's TextExpander.
TOPIC: Compression
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about compression. What happens when we don't account for how long something really takes to do? And, worse still, what if we don't think about what has to happen before we can even start it?
If you find you're stressed-out, over-scheduled, under-resourced—and not particularly loving the things you're making—there's a pretty good chance you've become a victim of your own compression.
Acknowledge and understand the problem, and then learn how to avoid the classic pitfalls by falling in love with your calendar all over again.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is sponsored by:
TOPIC: Duplicates, duplicates, duplicates.
This week, Dan and Merlin conclude their discussion of media management by focusing on dealing with duplicates. Just so many duplicates.
Music, Photos, Contacts, and Finder files. It's all thorny business, but a canny combination of backup, cool apps, and paranoid discretion can make your digital life more manageable and fun.
Also, some handy tips on sharing files, hosting media, and finding a digital home for your comic collection.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is sponsored by Squarespace (use offer code "BENDIS" for an additional 10% off).
TOPIC: Cool stuff Merlin loves.
This week, Merlin is delirious and may be in a fugue state, so he and Dan talk about a bunch of cool apps and gadgets--stuff that Merlin likes and really recommends.
Special attention goes to Drafts for iOS, the Logitech K760 Bluetooth keyboard, Verbatim's Tuff 'n Tiny USB drive, Cortex Camera for iOS, Cobook Address Book, with many more suggestions along the way, including handy tips based on how Merlin uses each.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode of Back to Work is sponsored by Squarespace (use offer code "BENDIS" for an additional 10% off) and Kashoo (use code "B2W" for 50% off your annual plan).
TOPIC: Modern Media Management: Metadata and Smart Playlists
This week Dan and Merlin continue their 3-part series on Modern Media Management: handling your iTunes Library, iOS Devices, and iTunes Match without making yourself crazy.
In this episode, the focus is on fixing audio metadata, with a big discussion of the awesome MusicBrainz and Picard.
Links for this episode:
This week's episode for Back to Work is sponsored by Squarespace (use offer code "NICE" for an additional 10% off); Shutterstock (use code "BACKTOWORK1" for 30% off); and Smile's TextExpander.
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