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App Recommendations from Mike Schmitz

Streaks

The Best Habit Tracking App for iOS

Streaks

Streaks gives you useful widgets, integration with Apple Health, phenomenal Shortcuts support, and everything you need to build good habits (or break bad ones).
Fantastical

The Best Calendar App for Mac

Fantastical

Fantastical is the best calendar app for macOS because it's easy to use, powerful, and well-designed.
MindNode

The Best Mind Mapping App

MindNode

MindNode is our favorite mind mapping app because it features an easy, beautiful design, solid syncing, and plenty of import and export options for your workflow.
Timery

The Best Time Tracking App

Timery

Timery is best time tracking app on any platform because it gives you powerful iOS widgets and virtually limitless automation possibilities with phenomenal Shortcuts support.
Spark

The Best Email App for iPhone and iPad

Spark

Spark is a beautifully-designed mail app for iOS that makes email a quick task on your iPhone or iPad with plenty of service integrations, the ability to send emails to other apps, and more.
YouVersion

The Best Bible App for iPhone and iPad

YouVersion

YouVersion's Bible is the best overall experience because it's easy to use, supports many versions, and provides a great reading experience.
Headspace

The Best Meditation App

Headspace

Headspace is the best meditation app for most people. It offers clean user interface that is easy to navigate and highlights a new daily meditation each day, gives you a large library of guided meditations to choose from, and feels at home on Apple devices by integrating with Apple Health and Shortcuts.
Be Focused Pro

The Best Pomodoro App for Mac, iPhone, and iPad

Be Focused Pro

Be Focused Pro is the perfect blend of powerful timeboxing tools and a clean, beautiful user interface to help support you when getting your work done.
PDFpen

The best PDF app for Mac

PDFpen

PDFpen is the best PDF app for Mac because it's easy to use, powerful enough for most users, and also does OCR.
Ulysses

The Best Pro Writing App for Mac (and iOS)

Ulysses

Ulysses is the best pro writing app because it's easy to use, not distracting, and extremely powerful.
Overcast

Our Favorite Podcast Client for iOS

Overcast

Overcast is a simple podcast app that makes it easy to recommend, discover, and enjoy your favorite shows.
Alfred

The Best Keyboard App Launcher for Mac

Alfred

Alfred is easy to use OS X launcher that has a free entry point, custom workflows, and a great iOS companion app.
Spark

The Best Third-Party Email App for Mac

Spark

Spark is a beautifully-designed mail app for macOS that makes email a quick task with plenty of service integrations, the ability to send emails to other apps, and more.
1Password

The Best Password Manager for Mac & iOS: 1Password

1Password

1Password is the the best password manager out there because it not only handles passwords better than anyone, it handles so much more.


Blog Posts & Articles by Mike Schmitz

Mike’s Idea System 2.0

How to use an idea development system to prime the creative pump and set yourself up for success when it's time to create. »

The Ultimate Guide to Time Blocking

In this post, we'll show you everything you need to know to start time-blocking yourself and feel like you just got more hours in your day. »

How to Do a Personal Retreat in Obsidian

In this post, I'm going to show you how I use Obsidian to facilitate a process I call a personal retreat to gain the clarity I need to take consistent action and regularly achieve my goals. »

How to Deal with Distractions and Protect Your Focus

In a world of distraction, focus is hard. But that doesn't mean we should fight to protect our attention. In this post, I want to share some tips for staying focused — and what to do when the inevitable distractions come. »

Time Blocking Using a Custom Template on the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra

I’ve tried just about every time blocking method out there. I’ve done it Fantastical (my calendar app of choice), followed Shawn in planning my day using GoodNotes on my iPad using a custom template, experimented with time blocking in Obsidian, even crafted my own analog bullet-journal-based hybrid productivity system. For the past 6 months or […] »

A Few Apps & Tips for Using ChatGPT to Boost Your Creativity and Productivity

Interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has exploded in recent months, due in large part to the popularity of ChatGPT. While the technology is still evolving, there's no denying the impact that it's already having on the world around us. In this article, we're going to look at how to leverage AI to boost both productivity and creativity. »

Crafting Your Own Productivity Workflow to Handle Everything Life Throws at You

When it comes to a lack of clarity, the solution is to take the time to get clear on what matters so you can stop spending valuable time spinning your wheels. One of the ways to help you get clarity is to understand how information flows into and out of your productivity system. So in this post, we're going talk about crafting your productivity workflow so that you can handle anything life throws at you. »

Readwise Reader: A Very Good Modern RSS App

RSS has been an important part of information workflows for many years, but read-it-later apps (and the RSS services many of them are based on) desperately need some inspiration and innovation. Enter Readwise Reader, an app that attempts to combine your RSS, newsletters, web highlights, and more into a single location. »

A Mindfulness Monday Review of the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra

A while back, I reviewed the reMarkable e-ink tablet. There's a lot to like about this incredibly thin tablet: it's thin and light, has incredible battery life, and offers a great writing experience for a digital tablet. But the software was lacking, and I found myself consistently bumping up against the limitations of the device in frustrating ways. »

Polar Habits – A “Cool” New Habit Tracker (Without the Guilt)

There are a million habit-tracking apps out there. But almost all of them are built on some form of the idea, “Don’t break the chain.” The basic idea is that when you consistently show and take action, you create a lot of momentum toward creating positive change. And that makes a lot of sense. But […] »

Customizing Trackpad Gestures in macOS Ventura

For a long time, you've been able to "hack" your own custom gestures using a tool like BetterTouchTool. But If you have a MacBook running macOS Ventura (or an equivalent desktop Mac with equipped with an Apple Magic Trackpad), there's a lot you can do out of the box beyond the basic right-click and swipe gestures you're probably familiar with. »

Turning Obsidian into My Perfect Writing App

When I first started using Obsidian, I expected it would help me make connections between my notes and inspire new ideas. But over the last 12 months I've been using the app, I have also fallen in love with it as a writing tool. »

Create Quick macOS Reminders with Gestimer

Task managers are great for helping you to remember to take action on your important projects, but what about the little reminders that pop throughout the day? Often creating a task for something you have to do later in the day feels cumbersome. So often, we skip capturing that thought when we have it — and then forget to do it later. »

Mouseposé: A Handy Little Utility for Better Live Software Demos

Earlier this year, I attended the Macstock Conference & Expo where I saw Mike Rose share about a few tools to give better live software demos. One of the apps he mentioned was an app called Mouseposé, a simple macOS utility by Boinx software that I had somehow never come across before. »

Simple Mindfulness Meditation with Center

I recently re-read (listened?) the Audible Original How To Train Your Mind by Chris Bailey about the productivity benefits of mindfulness meditation. The short version is that you gain back an average of 7 minutes for each minute you spend meditating. This obviously only works up until a certain point, but this statistic has rekindled my motivation to make mindfulness meditation a regular practice again. »

Quick Tip: Outlining in Obsidian

Another powerful use of Obsidian is as an outlining tool, but if you’re used to other outlining tools like Workflowy, or even Roam Research, outlining in Obsidian may feel a bit limited. However, there are a couple of plugins that will allow you to enhance the outline capabilities of Obsidian, and in this article, we’re going to show you how to set those up. And if you prefer to watch a short video instead, we’ve got you covered. »

Customize Your Stream Deck Using BetterTouchTool

The Elgato Stream Deck is a USB peripheral that gives you a grid of customizable buttons that you can assign to actions on your computer, like controlling Hue lights or muting your audio in Zoom. You can assign individual actions to physical buttons, and an LCD display allows you to customize the appearance of each button with an icon or text that you specify. So instead of trying to perform finger gymnastics to hit the right keyboard shortcut in the middle of a video call, you can just press a physical button instead. »

Alfred 5 Brings a Bunch of Workflow Improvements to Boost Your Productivity

Alfred version 5 is the first major update to Alfred since May of 2019. And while on the surface it may not look like there's a whole lot new, the Workflow editor has been completely rewritten from the ground up. This improves on the flagship feature of Alfred (the custom workflows) in almost every way, making them faster, more efficient, and (most importantly) more user-friendly. »

A Mindfulness Monday Review of The Light Phone

I had heard of the Light Phone before and was intrigued by the idea, but I write so much about iOS apps that I just couldn’t justify making the switch. But recently, my son turned 13 and we needed a way to stay in contact with him so he could reach us in case of […] »

Obsidian Task Management Notifications

One additional aspect of task management, which we have yet to talk about in Obsidian, is the ability to trigger system-wide notifications on your Mac, which can take you straight to the task that you need to complete. This works exactly like any other notification that you might get from a dedicated task management app like OmniFocus or Things. But it's pretty cool that you can set this up inside of Obsidian and combine it with the Obsidian Tasks plugin to create these notifications and even mark things as complete from Notification Center on your Mac. »

Obsidian Task Management Review

Another essential component of a lot of dedicated task management apps is some sort of review functionality that can help you facilitate a Getting Things Done (or GTD) style weekly review. And this is just where you look at a project like this Obsidian task management project where I have all of these different tasks associated with the different videos in this series, and make sure that everything is up to date and correct. »

Obsidian Task Management Queries

In this video, we're going to expound on the foundation of task management basics and show you how to create queries that allow you to look through your entire Obsidian vault and return only the tasks that meet certain criteria. »

Obsidian Task Management Basics

Obsidian ships with some basic support for task management, making it a great option for creating a digital bullet journal. But in this video, we're going to show you how to take those task management capabilities to the next level with a couple of additional plugins. »

A Mindfulness Monday Review of the reMarkable 2

When I first saw the reMarkable 2, I immediately saw the appeal from a mindfulness perspective. In this Mindfulness Monday post, I consider the pros and cons of "the world's thinnest tablet." »

Creating a Home Note Dashboard in Obsidian (VIDEO)

Obsidian is a great place to take and keep your notes, but by adding a Home note that acts as a dashboard, you can really transform it into a productivity hub. And in this video, that's what I'm going to show you how to do. »

Take Better Screenshots on Your Mac with CleanShot X

I’ve used the built-in macOS keyboard shortcuts to take screenshots for years, but cleaning up screenshots can be a pain — especially if you have a messy desktop. Enter CleanShot X — a simple utility that offers several tools to make taking screenshots on the Mac easier than ever. The Quick Access Overlay Once you […] »

Big Update to Our Roam vs. Obsidian Guide

A lot has changed in the last year or so since we first published our side-by-side comparison of Obsidian and Roam Research. So we went back and updated everything to reflect the major changes in the apps. »

Obsidian vs. Roam vs. LogSeq: Which PKM App is Right For You?

While there are lots of apps doing lots of interesting things with notes right now, by far the two most popular options are Roam Research and Obsidian. In this article, we're going to compare these two connected note-takers and help you choose the right one. »

Taming Links on macOS with Open In

I recently came across a fantastic little utility called Open In that allows you to modify the default application for browser, email, and call links. Yes, there are other apps that have done this sort of thing in the past, but Open In is built for Apple Silicon and does a whole lot more than any other app like this that I've seen. »

Better macOS Emoji with Rocket

The Mac has long had a built-in emoji picker that you could access using a keyboard shortcut, but Rocket is a macOS emoji picker that makes typing emoji faster and easier by using Slack-style shortcuts. »

How Habits Work (VIDEO)

This is a free video lesson from our Simple Habits course In this video, we’re going to take a look at the mechanics of habits and explain how they work, then show you a way to use this in order to replace negative habits with positive ones. All habits follow the same four-step pattern: Trigger […] »

How Obsidian’s Live Preview Feature Works (VIDEO)

Obsidian version 13 introduced a new editor engine that allows WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) text editing called Live Preview. It's a pretty big update, and in this video, we walk you through how to set it up and how it works. »

Quick Tip: Writing Your Own PopClip Extension Snippets

PopClip is a text utility that I've learned to rely on when working from my Mac. It gives you an iOS-style bar above any text that you select, allowing you to instantly send it to another app using over 200 available extensions. Using PopClip, you can quickly add to-dos to your task manager, events to your calendar, and a whole lot more. »

Sending Highlights & Notes from Matter to Obsidian (VIDEO)

Matter is a Read-It-Later service that integrates really well into Obsidian. So if you like to collect your newsletters, RSS feeds, and even Twitter threads into Matter, you can sync your digital highlights and notes into Obsidian using the official Matter Obsidian plugin. »

How to Change the macOS Menu Bar Clock from Digital to Analog

There’s a state of mind called Flow where you are completely immersed in the activity you are doing. Everything else seems to fade away except the work you’re engaged in. The words seem to write themselves, complex problems become simple to solve, and you are completely uninhibited in doing your best creative work. This is […] »

How to Use Live Text on Your Mac in macOS Monterey

Imagine seeing text somewhere in the real world and being able to easily share it digitally. That's exactly what Live Text allows you to do. Whether it's a handwritten note, writing on a whiteboard, or a printed sign, Live Text allows you to snap a photo and turn the text into a digital version that can be easily pasted into any application. »

How to Install Custom Fonts on iOS Using AnyFont

I've fallen in love with my new iPad mini and am trying to use it for just about everything. I even used it to edit the slide deck I used for the creativity workshop I hosted a few weeks ago. But when I first opened my Keynote file, I was greeted with a long list of missing fonts. »

One Month with iPad mini

When it was announced during the September iPhone event, I immediately thought that the sixth-generation iPad mini was the star of the show. New iPhones are cool and all, but this iPad mini seemed like it was tailor-made for how I was (and wasn't) using my iPad Pro. I ordered one before the end of the event, and having used it for a month now, I have to say this is by far the most fun I've ever had with an iPad. »

Setting Up a macOS Hyper Key Using BetterTouchTool

If you're like me, you probably love using keyboard shortcuts to speed things up on your Mac using automation tools, but you probably also have trouble creating keyboard shortcuts that don't conflict with the built-in ones that ship with macOS. This is where the concept of a hyper key comes in. »

Why You Should Be Curating Your Ideas (Video Replay)

Last week, I presented a paid workshop here on The Sweet Setup called Your Creative Flywheel. In the workshop, I walked through the process that I use for creating (I call it The Creativity Flywheel). Here's a quick recap. »

Apps We Love: Affirmations

Affirmations is a simple app with a singular purpose — to provide compliments and reminders to help make self-care a little easier. »

Syncing & Embedding Tasks from Todoist in Obsidian

Obsidian has some basic support for tasks built in. But if you rely on notifications for when to do what, then you're going to need a dedicated task manager. Fortunately, there's a Todoist plugin for Obsidian that allows you to have the best of both worlds — you can capture tasks into Todoist directly and get notified on your devices when it's time to do a task, but you can also embed those tasks into an Obsidian document so you can associate them with a particular project. In this video, I'm going to show you how to use the Todoist Sync community plugin to embed tasks using Todoist's filters in Obsidian. »

Journaling Workflow for Appending to Daily Notes with QuickAdd (VIDEO)

Obsidian is a great place to do your digital journaling, thanks to the Daily Notes core plugin. But with the addition of the QuickAdd Community plugin, you can quickly capture journal entries into specific categories using the Command Palette. In this video, I walk you through how to set everything up and use it for daily journaling. »

Automating my video lighting with HomeControl + Stream Deck

I wrote previously about my video setup and mentioned that I had a couple of LED lights I used to improve the background lighting and eliminate shadows for my video. They're pretty basic, but you can adjust the color with an included remote. I used it initially to set the color where I wanted it, and now just use it to turn the lights on and off individually. But I've always been slightly bothered that I didn't have a way to control them all with the press of a single button from my Stream Deck »

Timeblocking in Obsidian

Obsidian is a great place to practice time blocking because you can link your time-blocked schedule to your daily note. In this video, we're going to walk you through how to set up time blocking in Obsidian using the Daily Notes Core plugin, and the Day Planner Community plugin. »

Alfred Adds Universal Actions with 4.5 Update

Alfred recently got an update to version 4.5. This update is a pretty big one, adding a Powerpack feature called Universal Actions which allows you to take text, URLs, or files and perform actions on them directly using a dedicated Alfred Universal Action hotkey. »

Meeting Notes in Obsidian

Obsidian is a great place to keep meeting notes. But there are a couple of best practices, which can make your meeting notes more effective. In this video, we walk you through setting up a meeting notes template and how to use it in Obsidian If you prefer the written version, read on. Setting Up […] »

My Obsidian-Based Kanban Writing Workflow

I've been using Obsidian as my writing app for the past several months, and I absolutely love it. In addition to giving me a great Markdown writing environment, the community plugins allow me to craft my ideal system for tracking my writing tasks well. In this article, I walk through my system and the plugins I use to manage writing projects in Obsidian. »

The Obsidian iOS App is Now Available

We’ve written quite a bit about using Obsidian to manage notes and ideas over the last couple of months. We’re even hosting a workshop on getting up and running with it TOMORROW. But today the Obsidian team released the Obsidian mobile app, giving you all the power of the desktop application on your iOS or […] »

Splitting Notes in Obsidian

One of the key things you need to understand about Obsidian if you really want to make the most of it is the concept of atomic note-taking. The basic idea is to break down your notes into the smallest possible pieces, which allow them to be linked together and makes them visible inside the Local […] »

Customizing Hotkeys in Obsidian

Obsidian is great for Mac nerds like me who like to do everything from their keyboard. In this video, we’ll show you how to access commands from the Command Palette and set custom hotkeys for triggering commands using keyboard shortcuts. And if you prefer the step-by-step written version, read on. The Command Palette There are […] »

Visualizing Metadata in Obsidian with YAML and Dataview

Dataview is an incredibly powerful plugin that allows you to filter data in your Obsidian vault in a lot of really cool ways. In this post, I’m going to show you how I use it to create a table of book ratings from YAML metadata. Don’t worry, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. Here’s […] »

Using Templates in Obsidian

Templates in Obsidian are a great way to jumpstart creating a new note. In this post, we’re going to show you how to set up and use a couple of different types of templates in Obsidian. If you’d like to see it in action, here’s a short video from our upcoming PKM course: If you […] »

A Few of Our Favorite Obsidian Plugins

Obsidian is a phenomenal notes app, but with a few free community plugins installed, it can become pretty much whatever you want it to be. In this article, we're going to show you how to install community plugins if you're not familiar with the process and share some of our favorites. »

Quick Tip: Changing the Theme in Obsidian

The appearance of the interface is controllable by CSS code, but fortunately you don’t need to be a web developer in order to customize the look and feel of Obsidian using Community Themes. In this post, we’ll walk you through how to install and use a new theme in Obsidian. And if you prefer to […] »

Syncing Digital Highlights from Readwise to Obsidian

Readwise is a (subscription-based) web service that lets you save highlighted text from digital books, web articles, and even Read-It-Later services like Instapaper and Pocket. You can review your notes and highlights inside of the Readwise service, but you can also connect your Readwise account to PKM apps like Roam and Obsidian. »

Timery is Now on the Mac, and It’s Awesome

Timery (our pick for the best time tracking app) was just updated to version 1.2. The iOS version received some nice additions, like time entry suggestions, global keyboard shortcuts to start and stop timers, multi-window support, duration rounding, and a sidebar on the iPad. But the real star of the show in our opinion is […] »

The Art of Note-Making

I've been thinking a lot about Personal Knowledge Management lately and the path information takes as it enters and exits my PKM system, and I've noticed that information tends to fall into one of three buckets »

The Power of Obsidian’s Local Graph

The promise of apps like Obsidian and Roam Research is to give you a tool for connected note-taking. With this approach, you can see the commonalities between your thoughts as your notes bump up against one another, allowing you to see connections and discover new insights. These connections are usually represented in some sort of Graph View, which can look like a complex spiderweb of notes and ideas. »

An Introduction to Callback URLs in Obsidian

One of the things I love about Obsidian is that it offers support for callback URLs. For example, you could include a link to a specific note inside of a task in Things or a link to an email message from your Daily Notes in Obsidian. In this article, I'll show you a couple of ways you can connect things in Obsidian to other apps. »

Appending Captured Text in Drafts to Daily Notes in Obsidian

Drafts has long been the place that text starts on my iOS device. But lately I've been doing a lot more in Obsidian, and was looking for a way to get that text into Obsidian easily when I was done. While this is pretty straightforward using a cloud service like Dropbox to sync your vault, I then began wondering if I could do something more than just dump my text files into a synced folder. »

Quiz: Which Task Manager is Right for You?

Here at The Sweet Setup, we have been finding, testing, using, reviewing, and picking the best apps since 2013. And there are certain app picks that require a bit of nuance to be considered the best, such as email apps, note-taking apps, and task management apps… For these categories, there are many excellent options, and different […] »

Journaling Using Daily Questions in Obsidian

I'm a big fan of the mindfulness I gain from journaling, but have been searching for years for the perfect set of prompts that could completely eliminate the friction from my daily journaling workflow. I've tried many different prompts (and many different apps) over the years, but have settled on a practice called Daily Questions which has just clicked for me. In this post, I'm going to share how I implement my Daily Questions inside of Obsidian. »

Planning Your Day Using Time Blocking (VIDEO)

This is a video lesson from the Time Blocking module in our Simple Time Management course. Downloads:Timeblocking Cheatsheet (PDF) »Daily planner template (PDF) » In this video, we’re going to dive in and create a time blocked plan for our day. I’ll walk you through it by planning my day so you can see how […] »

Ian’s Awesome Counter

David Smith (of Widgetsmith fame) just publicly released a great mindfulness app with an incredible backstory. It’s called Ian’s Awesome Counter, and was originally developed for and with his son to help manage his attention. The app is pretty genius in its simplicity. You just respond to a simple prompt at each time interval and […] »

Creating My iOS Time Tracking Dashboard

This is a video lesson from the new Time Tracking module in our Simple Time Management course. It’s 20% off during launch week. In this video, I’m going to show you how you can use Timery on iOS to set up a time tracking dashboard using widgets in iOS, which can not only make it […] »

Time Management Webinar TOMORROW

Tomorrow… Tuesday, 06 April… at 1pm Central Time… We are hosting a free webinar to help you beat procrastination and buy back your time using the practice of time budgeting. Time budgeting is the practice of giving every hour a job, then measuring how well you were able to stick to your plan. In this […] »

Beating Procrastination with Time Budgeting (TSS WEBINAR)

Have you ever had that feeling where you are completely stressed out because you have so much to do, but you don't even know where to begin? You feel anxiety about falling behind, but you lack clarity on what the best thing to do right now really is? »

New Review: Best Time Tracking App

We've been testing time tracking apps for the last several months, and are finally ready to declare a winner. There are a lot of options to consider and lots of different approaches, but Timery is the best time tracking app on any platform because it makes starting and stopping your timers a breeze and supports modern iOS features like Shortcuts and widgets better than any other app we tested. »

Habits vs. Tasks

We all want to get things done. We all wish we could be just a little more productive. Our specific reasons may vary, but we are all motivated to solve a common problem: We never seem to have enough time for the things that are truly important. Today we’re going to look at two very […] »

Mike’s Fancy DSLR Webcam Setup

In the past year, you’ve probably spent a lot of time you spend in virtual meetings. Even if you aren’t live streaming on Twitch, hosting a YouTube channel, or presenting webinars very often, improving your video can go a long way in making your online communication more effective. And if you already have a nice […] »

Prime Your Creative Pump (TSS Webinar)

We are hosting a free webinar to help you beat writer's block, make sure nothing falls through the cracks, and take action on those half-baked ideas that you've been procrastinating on by using our four-part idea system. »

Idea Magic (a TSS webinar)

Ideas are powerful things. One good idea has the ability change your world, but as long as those ideas never leave your head, nothing changes. »

Last Call for Tomorrow’s Productive Habits Webinar

Tomorrow… Thursday, 28 January… at 2pm CST We are hosting a free webinar to help you save time and automate progress in every area of your life using habits and routines. Why habits? Because habits are the key to being PROACTIVE and taking action toward your goals instead of being REACTIVE and responding to things […] »

TSS Webinar: Productive Habits

When it comes to our daily routines, we have only two options: We can be REACTIVE and deal with things as they happen. We can be PROACTIVE and take action. In other words, we can either be a thermostat or a thermometer. You see, a thermometer simply tells you the current temperature of something. It […] »

Streaks 6.1 Introduces an Incredibly Useful Stats Widget for iOS 14

Streaks, our pick for the best habit tracking app, just received an update to version 6.1. The update adds a bunch of small health and automation features, but the thing that I’m excited about is the addition of the Stats widget. The Stats widget shows statistics about a single habit in a variety of ways. […] »

A Big Update to Our Best Habit Tracking App Article

Today we updated our best habit tracking app pick for 2021, and it’s a doozy. The updated article now has over 6,000 words in an increased effort to help you find the perfect habit tracker for you. It’s only been a year, but a lot has happened. First, we’ve gotten the addition of widgets in […] »

How to Track Your Habits Using Streaks

Whether or not you set New Years resolutions for yourself, keeping track of habits is something we could all stand to be a little bit better at. Streaks is our favourite app for this—available on all Apple platforms—so let’s take a quick look at how easy it is to get started. Creating a Basic Habit […] »

How to Run 2 Displays From an M1 Mac Mini

Editor’s Note: The LG 4k monitors used for this article are model number 22MD4KA. Some readers have reported that the newer model (24MD4KB) does not work with the mentioned adapter because it requires Thunderbolt 3 instead of USB-C. The Siig adapter mentioned here will ONLY work with a USB-C monitor. I’ve always been a laptop […] »

Make 2021 Your Best Year Yet

2020 was a doozy. From quarantines, to shutdowns, to virtual school/work/everything – 2020 has caused a lot of changes. Many of the goals we had at the beginning of the year never materialized. Which reminds me of this quote by boxer Mike Tyson: Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. The […] »

How I Use Roam Research for Journaling

Regardless of the tool you decide to use, journaling is a worthwhile habit to establish as we leave this year and get ready for the next one. »

Webinar Replay: How I Use Mind Mapping to Take Book Notes

A few weeks ago, I participated in the ReadWriteMap, a virtual event put on by Bigger Plate for anyone interested in reading, writing, or mind mapping. There were several speakers who presented on a variety of topics, and it was a lot of fun. »

Mike’s iOS 14 Widgety Home Screen

iOS 14 introduced Widgets to the iPhone, which has allowed for some very creative home screens to be created to suit an individual’s preferences and personality. Here’s a look at my current iOS 14 Widgety Home Screen, and the thought process that went into designing it. Remember Why You Came I don’t know about you, […] »

How Roam Research Helps Me Time Block My Day

In this post, we share how time blocking works, why you should consider using it to plan your day, and how my time blocking routine is supplemented by my use of Roam Research. »

Using Roam Research for GTD-Style Task Management

As a self-proclaimed productivity nut, I’ve been using some version of the Getting Things Done (or GTD) task management methodology for many years. I’ve also been experimenting recently with Roam Research, and am intrigued by the app’s ability to tie everything together. I’ve tried to do this before and it’s failed miserably, so I was […] »

A Month with Apple Watch Series 6

I've been wearing an Apple Watch all day, every day since the launch of the original Apple Watch in April of 2015. I wear it around the house. I wear it when working out. I wear it to church. Even more than my iPhone, my Apple Watch is the thing that I always have with me. »

Answers to Your Calm Inbox Questions

One of the questions that has come up during launch week has been around how the Calm Inbox approach can also help with the other inboxes in your life, so we put together a short list of answers to your most common questions. »

How to Set Up Custom Swipe Gestures in Airmail (Video)

This is a free sample video from our new course, Calm Inbox. The course will normally sell for $99, but right now you can save 20% during launch week (just $79). The full course has over 50 videos to help you get less email and more focus. It shows you how to handle any message […] »

Setapp Now Includes iOS Apps

ig news today from the team at MacPaw, who just launched support for iOS apps inside of their popular Mac software subscription service, SetApp. »

Email Lessons from Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte was a famous military commander with some interesting information management habits. But he died about 200 years ago (1821), long before computers, the internet, and electronic communication. So what could we possibly hope to learn from his life about handling email in our digital age? »

App’s We’re Trying: Food Noms

I've resisted calorie tracking for years, mostly because the apps that were available for this sort of thing seemed way too complex for me. Every couple of years I'll get inspired to pay attention to what I'm putting in my body and try all the apps again, but none of them have come even remotely close to working for me. I need something simple. I don't want to weigh my food in grams before I eat it; I just want to be a little bit more intentional about my eating habits. »

The iPadification of macOS: What Does it Mean for Developers of Productivity Software?

Last week, Apple announced a ton of stuff during their Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). And even though they used a slide at the beginning that showed the major platforms (iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS), many of the announcements felt app-specific instead of platform-specific. For example, new features in Maps (i.e. cycling directions) are available everywhere. I lost count of the number of times I heard some version of the statement "this is also available on the (fill in the platform blank)." As a causal observer (I'm not a developer), it seems like there's a lot of focus on features being brought first into the Apple ecosystem, then extended to all the available platforms. »

What’s Great (and Not So Great) in watchOS 7 Sleep Tracking

One of the things that was announced during this week's WWDC Keynote presentation was sleep tracking for the Apple Watch. The feature has long been rumored, and is finally making its way to the watch in watchOS 7. Let's take a look at how it works and why it's important. »

A Comparison of the New Apple Pencil Features in Apple Notes & GoodNotes

There was a ton that was announced in the WWDC keynote presentation on Monday. iOS 14, iPadOS, watchOS 7, macOS Big Sur, a bunch of privacy and Home updates, and even a big upgrade for AirPods. But one of the sections that really caught my attention was the announced improvements to the iPad with Apple Pencil. »

How to Watch Today’s WWDC 2020 Keynote Presentation

For the first time, Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) will be completely virtual. Like other years though, the conference kicks off with the much-anticipated keynote presentation on the first day of the conference. Traditionally, the keynote offers a look at some of the new products that will be coming in the near future and gives […] »

An Update to Our Pick for the Best Bible App on iOS

We just updated our app pick for the best Bible app on iOS. While the overall winner is still the Bible App by YouVersion, we took a deep look at the new features and some of the new contenders that have popped up in the last couple of years. »

Building My Bullet-Journal-Based Hybrid Productivity System

It's fun for me to find new and better ways to do things - especially if it involves Apple-branded technology. I love trying new apps and making my devices dance. But with everything going on in the world the last couple of months, I've also found it to be especially difficult to navigate emotionally, which is a big reason why I’ve started doing a lot more with pen and paper. »

Apps We’re Trying: Roam Research

There’s a lot of buzz recently around a new app called Roam Research. Roam brands itself as “a note-taking tool for networked thought,” which naturally raises the question: Do we really need another note-taking app? »

The Importance of Routine: A Habits Interview with Mike Schmitz

This interview is one of the many bonus interviews included in our new course, Simple Habits. The course is 25% off until Friday, May 29th. Your name and a short bio / info about you I’m Mike Schmitz, Executive Editor here at The Sweet Setup. I live in Wisconsin with my wife and have five […] »

How to Sustain Long-Term Habits

This Mindfulness Monday post is a video from Shawn Blanc, founder and editor-in-chief of The Sweet Setup In this short video, Shawn talks about: Maintaining momentum and motivation after the “honeymoon” period is over The role of automation in creating sustainable habits The balance of goals and habits in creating positive outcomes If you want […] »

Deckset Update Allows You to Present to a Window, Perfect for Online Presentations

As much I love Keynote, I've used Deckset for a long time because it's a simple solution for throwing together quick presentations using Markdown. With Deckset, you actually edit your presentation in plain text in an app like Ulysses and Deckset applies all the styling automatically based on the styling in the currently selected theme. »

How Dave Caolo Makes Apps Earn Their Way onto His Home Screen

In this Mindfulness Monday post, podcast and D&D enthusiast Dave Caolo joins us to talk about resisting the pull of social apps, his unique approach to apps earning their way onto his Home screen, and what baking cookies from scratch can teach us about focus and intentionality with our tech. »

How to Use Your iPad as a Second Monitor with Sidecar

Using a second monitor can make computer-based tasks much easier and be a big boost to your productivity. But, if you find yourself having to work from home, that doesn’t mean you have to drop hundreds of dollars on new hardware. Here’s a short guide on how to set up your iPad as a second […] »

MindNode gets an update with new export Shortcut, new node options

MindNode (our pick for the best mind mapping app) just received an update to version 7.1. It’s a small update that adds a couple of new node customization options and one important Shortcuts action for exporting tasks into your task manager. New Node Shapes If you like to customize the look and feel of your […] »

Why Matt Ragland Starts Every Project by Planning on Paper

In this Mindfulness Monday post, YouTuber Matt Ragland shares about the boundaries he's established to maintain intentionality with his tech, his bullet journaling practice, and why he starts every project using analog tools. »

Working From Home Linked List: Some of Our Favorite Things Right Now

If you're struggling to figure out how to effectively work from home, you're not alone. It can be difficult enough under normal circumstances when you've had time to prepare, but millions of people are having to figure this out on the fly. Fortunately, there's a lot of great advice out there that can help ease the transition. We've put together a collection of resources from around the web that can help you get off to a good start if you find yourself suddenly needing to figure out how to work from home. »

How Rosemary Orchard Uses Automation to Stay Focused

Rosemary is a tech lover and frequent contributer here at The Sweet Setup who lives in Vienna, Austria. During the day, she works as a web developer, but she can also be found at RosemaryOrchard.com and hosting Automators, a podcast about automation, and Nested Folders, a podcast about productivity. She loves to experiment with new apps and workflows, and the more automation included, the better! »

iThoughts vs. MindNode: A Comparison of the Two Best Mind Mapping Apps

When it comes to mind mapping on Apple hardware, there are lots of great options available. But two apps rise above the others as the true cream of the crop: MindNode, with a stunningly beautiful user interface, and iThoughts, with powerful features and impressive flexibility. Both of these apps are great, but they take very […] »

How Mike Schmitz Changes the Email Rules by Removing it From His Phone

In this Mindfulness Monday post, Executive Editor Mike Schmitz shares his moment of clarity with intentional technology use and how he continues the fight to shift expectations around email. I’m Mike Schmitz, Executive Editor here at The Sweet Setup and co-host of the Focused and Bookworm podcasts. I’ve asked quite a few people to share […] »

Free Mind Mapping Webinar: March 10, 2020

Update: The Idea Magic webinar is over, but we have posted a public replay here. We’ve gotten a lot of feedback around our new course, Mastering Mind Maps. It’s been really cool for us to see how many of our readers have embraced mind mapping for themselves and the clarity and confidence they’ve gotten as […] »

Apps We’re Trying: Tot

Tot is a simple text scratchpad app from Iconfactory that does one thing: capture and edit small bits of text. »

How to use mind maps when running a business and personal life

Recently, I shared with a couple of friends about the new mind mapping course we just released, and one of them (Brandon Wentland, who previously shared his sweet setup here started telling me about some of the cool ways he uses mind maps to run his digital marketing agency. »

How and Why to Make the Time to Think

If you've been following along, we've covered quite a bit when it comes to capturing and developing your ideas. In this post, we'll delve into why it's important to schedule thinking time for your work. »

Sharpening Your Mental Saw

In this Mindfulness Monday post, Mike shares part 3 in his series on capturing and developing ideas using mind maps. »

A Few of our Favorite New Fantastical Features

One of the things that makes the new Fantastical app so great is that you now have features like Calendar Sets available on all your devices. There's a big emphasis on parity and bringing all the formerly Mac-only features to all platforms, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing new for Mac users. »

Mindfulness Monday: We Updated Our Best Mind Mapping App Review

I've been sharing recently about the system I use for capturing and developing ideas, and at the heart of this system is a mind mapping habit. Mind Mapping helps me develop my ideas so that I don't deal with writer's block and saves me a ton of time by making it super easy to get started whenever I sit down to write. »

Why Mind Mapping Works

How a mind map can save you time, energy, and anxiety when it comes to writing, creating, planning, and more. »

How Isaac Smith Fights the Urge to Stay Connected

In this Mindfulness Monday post, we talk to Blanc Media Production Manager Isaac Smith about his intentional limitations, fighting the urge to stay connected, and his 6-month "dumb-phone" experiment. »

Behind the Scenes with Our Upcoming Course on Mind Mapping

A while back we posted a survey about capturing, developing, and organizing ideas using mind mapping. Since then we’ve been hard at work on a new course designed to help you capture inspiration when it strikes, and also to help you create a system for developing those ideas so you can be more creative and […] »

Creating Intentional Technology Habits in 2020

In this Mindfulness Monday post, we consider how to leverage our technology to create intentional habits. Last week, we published an interview with bestselling author James Clear about starting and building better habits. There’s some great insights in the interview about how habits work, and James shares some great tips about how to create them. […] »

Essential iOS Apps for Musicians

It's a fine time to be an iOS musician. There are a ton of great apps out there that can help you refine your craft and even perform live music in new and interesting ways. »

Take Control of Shortcuts for iOS with Rosemary Orchard’s New Book

There is a new Take Control book available today on Shortcuts, and it’s written by our own Rosemary Orchard! If you’re looking to take your iOS automation game to the next level, Rosemary is definitely qualified to help you. She’s written several automation posts here at The Sweet Setup on automation, like how to start […] »

Turning Ideas Into Action

In this Mindfulness Monday post, we talk about how to use your technology to develop your ideas and turn them into action. »

Technology, Margin, & the Lost Art of Authentic Connection

As the pace of our everyday lives continues to increase, it's only natural to look for an escape. As information and commitments are thrown at us without discretion at breakneck speed, we covet every opportunity to hit "pause" and disconnect. »

The TSS Awards: Announcing the Best Apps and Hardware of 2019

Our goal here at The Sweet Setup is to help you find the best apps and hardware for your Apple devices. We spend an inordinate amount of time using and recommending the best apps and workflows for Apple users like you. This year, the whole TSS staff got together to vote for our very first […] »

Create, Not Consume: A Mindfulness Manifesto

Creativity is not based on your artistic ability. It has nothing to do with your natural talent. It depends entirely on your perspective, and is vital to embracing an intentional approach to technology. We must all learn to flip the switch from mindless consumption to conscious creation if we want to reach our full potential. »

Comparing Apple TV+ and Disney+

Which streaming service is right for you? We break down the pros and cons between the latest two steaming services. »

Spark Version 2.5 for iOS Brings New Design, Dark Mode, and Customizable Email Actions

Earlier today, the Spark email mobile app got a significant update to version 2.5. The update brings a new design, support for Dark Mode, customizable email actions, and much more. New Design & Avatars Spark has always been a beautiful application, but version 2.5 features a new design which makes it even better. Messages in […] »

Do You Mind Map? We’d Love to Hear From You!

To tip our hat, we have something brand new in the works for 2020. But, as usual, we would love to hear your feedback and input before we get started. (As you’ll soon discover, it is related to idea management and mind mapping.) Would you mind taking a few moments to provide your feedback on […] »

Apps We Love: Sleep Cycle

In this Mindfulness Monday post, we share how using Sleep Cycle can help you wake up well-rested. When I was 18, I had a seizure while standing in line at a McDonald’s. Fortunately, there was a nurse nearby and she kept me safe until the ambulance arrived and I was rushed to the hospital. When […] »

Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo

In this Mindfulness Monday post, we share some tips on how to set yourself up for NaNoWriMo success. »

Apps We Love: Brain.fm

Brain.fm is a special kind of music service designed for the brain to enhance focus and relaxation within only 10 to 15 minutes of use. »

Automating Habit Tracking with Streaks & Shortcuts

In this Mindfulness Monday post, we look at how to reinforce positive technology habits through automation using Streaks and Shortcuts. There is no shortage of high-quality habit trackers for iOS. Whatever you’re looking for, you can find it. There are options for tracking your habits across multiple platforms, options for ramifying your habit tracking, and […] »

GoodNotes 5.3 for iPadOS Adds Multiple Window Support, OCR Scanning, and Dark Mode

GoodNotes (our pick for The Best App for Taking Handwritten Notes) was recently updated to version 5.3. This is a pretty major update, adding support for multiple windows, OCR scanning, and Dark Mode. Here’s a breakdown of what’s new. Multiple Windows There are lots of ways you can open multiple windows in GoodNotes: With GoodNotes […] »

Apps We Love: Forest

Forest is an interesting iPhone app that actually encourages you to use your phone less. »

We Updated Our Guide to the Best Password Manager for iPhone, iPad, and Mac

It's only been a couple of years, but (thankfully) internet security has come a long way since we published our pick for the best password manager. While 1Password is still our favorite because it gives you a great design, powerful security features, and the ability to store just about anything private inside it, there are a lot of other options available for keeping your passwords safe. »

How Shahid Ahmad Stays Focused on His Phone

In this Mindfulness Monday post, we talk to video game developer and podcaster Shahid Kamal Ahmad about the steps he takes to stay out of the Infinity Pools and stay focused on what's important. »

Changing Defaults

It’s 6:34 am. The sound of your smartphone alarm startles you awake. (Actually, it’s the sound of the fifth alarm you’ve set because you’ve gotten so used to snoozing them that it now takes several to finally get you out of bed.) You instinctively reach to grab your phone from the nightstand and perform your […] »

A Guide to Sketchnoting on iPad (using GoodNotes)

Sketchnoting is a powerful and visual way to take notes that helps you retain more of the information you hear. It’s an excellent way to capture ideas during meetings, workshops, conferences, and more. »

Apps We Love: Moodnotes

Moodnotes is a simple iOS app that helps you track and understand your emotional state. »

Keyboard Maestro Releases Version 9, with Dark Mode, JSON, OCR, and More

Keyboard Maestro by Stairways Software is a powerful automation program which allows you to create your own macros that automate certain actions on your Mac. With Keyboard Maestro (and a little bit of practice), you can use your Mac to automate virtually anything. Keyboard Maestro has been an essential Mac app for me for years. […] »

Some of Our Favorite Tech Podcasts

We've been listening to (and making) podcasts for a long time, and there have never been so many incredible options available to podcast listeners as there are currently today — no matter your interests — which means there are a ton of great tech podcasts out there for Apple enthusiasts like us. »

Jour: A Guided Journaling App for the iPhone

Journaling is one of the best habits you can create. It allows you to distance yourself from the emotion and business of the day by reflecting on the events that happened so you can achieve clarity on the situation and see things from the proper perspective. »

Bumpr 1.2 adds Custom Browser Rules, Browser Plugins, and More

Bumpr is a Mac App Store utility that allows you to select a browser in which to open links when clicking them. It’s a handy little app that is great for anyone who occasionally has a need to open links in various browsers, and it recently received an upgrade to version 1.2 that adds several […] »

Macstock is This Weekend

If you’re going to be coming to Macstock this weekend (July 27-28) in Woodstock, IL, be sure to stop by and say hi! Myself and Rosemary Orchard will be speaking from The Sweet Setup team, along with David Sparks, Brett Terpstra, Chuck Joiner, and a lot of other really smart people eager to teach you […] »

Day One 4.0 Brings Video Support, Apple Health Integration, and More

Day One (our favorite journaling app) just received a major update to version 4.0. There’s a couple big features in this release, but the big one is support for videos in your Day One entries. The ability to add video to Day One is a game changer for parents like myself who record small video […] »

Airmail Switches to Subscription-Based Pricing

This week, the popular email app Airmail made the switch from a standard paid app to a subscription-based app, angering many of its users. Before the change, Airmail was priced at $4.99 in the iOS App Store. Now, Airmail Premium (which allows you to use multiple accounts and enable push notifications) is $2.99/month or $9.99/year. […] »

We’ve Updated our Review of Our Favorite iOS Podcast Client

We love the new innovations Overcast has pioneered like the Clip Sharing feature that allows you to create and share your favorite moments from your podcast episodes, and Castro has also made several large advances, making the decision even more difficult. »

Creating a Custom Alfred Theme

While there are a ton of features that factor into us selecting Alfred as our favorite app launcher for the Mac, one of our more whimsical favorites is the ability to change the appearance by creating a custom theme. This is a paid feature that is part of the Alfred Powerpack, a worthwhile upgrade that […] »

A Closer Look at the Updated Reminders App: Who is it For?

This week, Apple unveiled a bunch of new features alongside their major operating system updates at WWDC. The keynote this year was jam-packed, and many major software updates only got a few moments of stage time. With so many things to cover, there were a couple that kind of flew under the radar that we […] »

How to automate Day One entries using IFTTT

Day One makes logging important conversations, milestones, and special moments incredibly easy by allowing you to automatically create journal entries by connecting various services via IFTTT. »

Creating custom Perspectives in OmniFocus

One of the most powerful features a task manager like OmniFocus offers is the ability to filter your tasks and projects to show you only what you want to see at any given moment. »

Working with email URLs on macOS

Mail and Airmail both offer methods of copying individual message URLs so you can easily create references in action items, notes, and more. »