Category Archive: Bonus

We are pretty avid readers over here. The books we’ve read have helped shape who we are as people and what our company values and offers to our customers. We all take time in our weekly routine to dive into some kind of book, be it a business development book or a gripping novel. We […] »

Join us for a free, live class on restoring Margin and how to get back your time (and your life) starting now. »

If you’ve ever tried to learn something new or up-level in an area of your life, but fizzled out… then we’ve got just the thing for you. 🚀  This week we are starting something new inside the Focus community membership: Focus Boosters Focus Boosters are community-led, themed challenges to help you up-level in a specific […] »

After teaching more than 15,000 people about productivity and time management, we’ve identified four failures to productivity (and the solutions to each). These four failures are easy to avoid. And that matters a lot because, as you can see from the image below, the four failures work together in a flywheel. A failure of one […] »

This is it! Today is the last day to get 50% off your first month of The Focus Accelerator — the most affordable way to access every resource we have for living a more focused, productive life. If you’re sweating the decision, I get it. A subscription to ALL THE THINGS can feel a little […] »

The new Focus Pathways are part of the Focus Accelerator membership. Each Focus Pathway brings together the curated course lessons and resources you need to tackle the specific challenge you’re facing or skill you want to master. »

Introducing Focus Accelerator: Your all-access pass to every course, workflow, and recourse in our library. This all-new program is launching with a special promotion for Black Friday. »

Join me tomorrow live at 2pm Eastern to show you a simple approach for planning your year — even if you hate planning or think goals are dumb. What: Live webinar, How to Plan Your Year When: Tomorrow — Thursday, Nov 17 @ 2pm Eastern Where: Online webinar broadcast (private link sent to folks who […] »

Before you tell me to calm down… Before you say it’s WAY too early to think about January… Hear me out. Because the truth, dear reader, is that there are only two ways to go about planning your upcoming year: Pick a random New Year’s resolution during that one week in December/January when there are […] »

Join us for a free class where you'll get a walkthrough of our 4-Focus Method and the productivity frameworks we use every day to manage our tasks and time with a schedule that has plenty of breathing room and focus. »

Our new, free productivity assessment to help you diagnose your biggest obstacle to focus right and how to solve it. »

It was January 2020. I hit the New Year with ambition. I wanted to read more, write more, and most importantly, exercise more. We had a dusty old exercise bike adopted from a family member in the corner of the basement. It hadn’t been used in years. »

Today (Monday, Nov 29) is the last chance to get access to the entire Sweet Setup course library at our Black Friday promotion. Course Library by the numbers: 9 In-Depth Courses (See full list here) 175+ Lessons (Screencast walkthroughs, workflow training, and advanced coaching) 50+ Bonus Interviews, Setup Examples, and Articles 23 PDF Templates for […] »

In 2020, when quarantine hit, I bought myself a row machine. And when I do my workouts, I like to learn new things by watching videos. »

Right now you can get the entire TSS course library, bundled together, with a generous discount. »

For Black Friday at The Sweet Setup, we are bundling together our entire course library and offering it at a massive discount. »

I love asking myself, and others, this question: As you begin looking toward the next year, have you considered what you are NOT going to do? »

Free, live workshop with Shawn Blanc to cover planning, goal setting, and focus (even if you hate planning and think goals are dumb). »

Autumn means new iPhones, but it also means new iOS and iPadOS drops. With a push of a button in Cupertino, your year-old iPhone and iPad can feel brand new again. And though many are touting this year’s iOS and iPadOS updates as relatively iterative, there are certain features that are sure to be daily-use features in the months to come. »

Catch up on what we published this week, as well as tips on automating home lights, using the new iPad Globe key in iPadOS 15, and more. »

Don't be like me and spend years of your life doing productivity-whack-a-mole while you try to get this stuff figured out. I have condensed and cultivated everything I know about focus, time management, productivity, and work-life balance into this new, 4-week cohort: Focus Course Academy. »

Come watch the live stream as Shawn migrates from Ulysses to Obsidian. »

We don't think you should be held back from the benefits of an app like this simply because you're not sure how to set it up or use it. Here is a full list of all the modules and lessons inside the new Obsidian course. »

Notion can be a pain in the butt. It can also be the greatest thing ever. Here is how we are using Notion to build and ship our upcoming Obsidian course. »

With big displays come big widgets in iPadOS 15. Though we had a glimpse of the “larger” widgets with iOS 14’s News widget (sort of), the larger horizontal widgets in iPadOS 15 mostly came out of left field. iPadOS 15 widgets are even larger than the vertical News widget in iOS 14, taking up three columns in the app spring board and displaying content in bold new ways. Apple touted these extra large widgets as being great for media apps like Music, TV, and Photos, where the media inside the app can shine brightly. »

Color me geeky, but the feature I’ve been most excited for after Apple’s 2021 WWDC keynote has been Quick Notes. I’m not even a Notes user (or at least I wasn’t). Nor has the Notes feature-set ever been one that feels fulfilling to me. »

When I sit down at my desk in the morning, it’s time to write. I’ve had this writing habit for more than a decade. It has certainly taken various forms, locations, and devices over the years. (Last year, when quarantine life kicked in, I began a 6am iPad writing habit.) Sometimes I’m in my office, […] »

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 […] »

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 […] »

Remove the mess and stress from organizing your schedule, and get back hours of your life each week. In our brand new course we'll help you win the game of time management. »

Some recommendations for working tunes to keep you focused and in the flow. »

iPads and iPhones have long had more power housed in their tiny, fanless bodies than most people have been able to truly grasp. In the last few years, Apple’s A-class chips in the iPad have even outpaced the chips found inside Apple’s Intel-based Macs, allowing for a glimpse into the future of what an Apple-chip-enabled Mac could do. »

If you want to customize the look of the home screen on your iOS 14 device here are our top picks for the best home screen widgets. »

Widgets and custom app icons... »

iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 have debuted some handy and powerful new features, like Widgets on the iPhone and the ability to change your default email app and browser. Though Scribble may top Apple's list as one of the coolest new features for iPadOS 14, it's a particular use-case that appears to be limited in many ways. »

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 […] »

On September 15, 2020, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 6, new iPads, and few great new services that we are very excited about. Here's our overview. »

After two full months with the new email service, I’ve found myself settling into new email habits I never expected to form. Some of these habits are great (like checking The Feed only once or twice a week) while others are still forming, evolving, and restarting (such as how to handle emails I want to read, don’t want to miss, yet don’t need to keep for later or reply later). HEY’s consistent updates since debut have been met with much acclaim in my book. »

Over the summer, there were a few days when my Apple Watch didn't charge, and it ruined my 2-year streak of perfect activity. »

Each year, the tech experts advise all bleeding edge iPhone and iPad users to stay away from beta software. Developer betas — especially iOS 13 — were particularly buggy, and the iOS 13 public beta wasn't notably better. Of all years to put a bad beta taste in your mouth, 2019 should have done the trick. »

The updates of iPadOS 14 feel like updates done by people who actually use their iPad, for people who use their iPad. There are a lot of thoughtful and exciting new features and refinements which not only improve the iPad experience right now, but continue to set the stage for future innovation as well. »

Here is the video recording of our initial WWDC 2020 Keynote reactions. Thanks for everyone who attended live. During this webcast we discussed our overall thoughts and impressions from the Keynote. (In our opinion, one of the most enjoyable and well-presented Apple keynotes of the past decade.) In our reactions webinar, Josh, Rose, Mike, and […] »

Here’s a roundup of our favorite implementations of trackpad and cursor support so far, along with a few we’re hoping see an update sooner rather than later. »

For the past month I have been waking up at 6am to spend the first hour of my day writing without distraction. »

We recently hosted a live webinar for the TSS community. In it, we covered some productivity misconceptions as well as a handful of quick-wins and workflow ideas that you can use right now. Here is the full video replay. »

We are excited to announce a brand-new timeblocking course, created just for the TSS community. Discover a simple and effective way to manage your tasks and your time. »

Yesterday, my 3-year-old took an entire roll of blue ribbon and cut it up into about 10,000 tiny little strips and while walking all around the house. (At least it wasn’t the toilet paper.) Needless to say, for the past few weeks, I’ve been using even Day One more than I usually do. As far […] »

The new, 2020 iPad Pros are here. And we've gathered together the best reviews, tips, and resources for you. »

Shawn and Mike talk all things mind mapping in this webinar replay. There's even a live mind mapping example! »

The Model 3 has picked up adoption speed very quickly, but that mean it's the ideal car of the future for anyone who can afford it? »

Apple seems to make changes to the Photos app each year. iOS 12 introduced the For You tab, replacing the Memories and Shared tabs from iOS 11. Better facial recognition hit in iOS 10, and Live Photos hit with the debut of the iPhone 6s. »

This excerpt from our Learn GoodNotes course explains the many ways you can efficiently organize your notes and ideas in GoodNotes. »

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be looking at apps that help facilitate a mindful approach to your technology. »

iOS 13 appears to have finally solved the difficulty of travel research planning. Maps has been dramatically improved in the iOS 13 and iPadOS public betas and promises next-level features when the new iOS goes live in the fall. »

For years now, Bose’s QuietComfort 35 IIs have been the industry standard when it comes to noise-cancelling headphones. Back in May, they surprise announced that they’d be releasing something a little different that could potentially unseat their own flagship product: the Noise-Cancelling Headphones 700. As Marques “MKBHD” Brownlee puts it in his excellent YouTube review, […] »

iPads and pointing devices have never coexisted before, so we've taken a close look at how this new input works on the latest public beta of iPadOS. »

iPadOS provides some more robust tools for taking screenshots, providing annotations, and deciding where to send them, and today we look at how these new features work. »

The new version of Shortcuts in iOS 13 iPadOS will be publicly released in September, and we are incredibly excited for that milestone based on what we've seen so far! »

The iPad is no longer seen as just a bigger piece of glass. Apple is making a commitment to bring consistent, device-specific updates to the iPad. »