Creating Habits with Sunsama, Staying Focused Instead of Checking Inboxes, and More

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How to Create Habits with Sunsama »

Want to know the secret to creating new habits and sticking with them? Hint: It’s not Sunsama (though, as we’ll see, Sunsama can be a really big help.) There’s no app or workflow out there that will magically transform all your desired habits into actual habits.

The key to developing habits is to perform the habit over and over and over. Each day, or every other day, or every week (depending on the habit, of course). But you have to actually do the thing you want to do.

If actually doing the thing is the goal, then you have to set up a few things to ensure you will do the thing. First, you’ll need a desire to complete the task. Second, you’ll need a goal or some sort of reward at the end of the rainbow. Third, you need some time to perform the habit.

Seven ways to stop “casually checking” your inboxes so you can be more focused »

Of all the things you can do to make your inbox more calm, the biggest thing, by far, is to eliminate what I call the “Just Checks.”

The Just Checks are all the times when you’re not quite sure what to do, so you reach for your phone to “just check” social media. Or “just check” your messages. Or “just check” your email.

You don’t really have anything specific you need to do, you just have a few moments to fill, so you’re pulled magnetically pulled towards the screen in your pocket. That’s a just check.

My biggest pet peeve in life are people who are checking their phones when at a stop light. Seriously??

The problem is that these “just checks” can become an actual addiction. I call it inbox addiction.

Using Web Apps in the New Arc Browser Rather Than Native Apps »

If I had written about using web apps in Arc a month or two ago, I would have discussed how this was a failed experiment. Instead of using the native Notion, Hey, and Slack apps for macOS, I opted to create spaces and tabs inside the new Arc browser. The apps behaved super quickly in Arc and all the latest and greatest features were present from the start.

But something gave way over time.

I have a few theories why the first stage of the “browser-only” life failed for me.

First, I had a bunch of muscle memory already in place with apps like Notion, Hey, and Slack.

Second, I was fooling around with keyboards at the time and the standard keyboard shortcuts to jump between spaces and tabs in Arc always had to be changed between keyboards (specifically, from a 40% keyboard to a 100% keyboard). This is on me and not on Arc.

Interesting Links From Our Friends and Around the Web »

• (512 Pixels) My Homemade iPad mini Bike Mount
• (MacStories) Matter: A Fresh Take on Read-Later Apps
• (Mac Power Users) #674: Workflows with Shawn Blanc
• (Six Colors) The real secrets of iOS and accessibility
• (Christopher Lawley) Whats on my iPad: Game Changing Apps