Defining Inboxes and Learning How to Calm Them, Multi-Scale Planning with Obsidian, and More

May 17, 2024

Here are the things we published this week and last. You can also stay up-to-date by following us on Twitter and RSS.

Also, we have a weekly email newsletter that sums up all the new and cool things published to the site. If you like to stay up-to-date via email, then you should sign up here.

Mindfulness Monday: What Inboxes Need to be Calmed? »

When I say the word “inbox,” what comes to your mind?

For most people, it’s email, right? Email is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of checking our inbox. But the truth is that we all have multiple inboxes. An inbox is just anything that collects incoming bits of information that need to be dealt with.

How Mike Does Multi-Scale Planning in Obsidian »

I’ve been a fan of Cal Newport’s for a long time. He’s been extolling the virtues of time blocking as a method for daily planning for over 15 years, and was the primary influence for creating my own daily time-blocked plans.

So when I heard him bring up the topic of Multi-Scale planning on a recent Deep Life podcast episode, I was intrigued by the mechanics of how Cal did Multi-Scale planning himself. As I dove deeper into the concept, I discovered that (with a few tweaks to what I was already doing) I could create a system for Multi-Scale planning in Obsidian pretty easily using a combination of templates and plugins.

These are the 8 Laws of Focus (May Focus Digest) »

Welcome to May!

This monthly digest is for folks who want to create a more ideal schedule, get organized, and stay in control of the things that matter.

If you are new to the digest… here’s what to look forward to around the beginning of every month:

A short article on a single concept around focus.
A couple quotes that we’ve enjoyed thinking on.
Links to interesting or related articles from our corner of the internet.
Upcoming events and resource spotlights for our Club Members.

Cleft Notes is the Thinking Companion I Didn’t Know I Needed »

I’ve recently discovered Cleft Notes, which has proven to be quite an excellent tool in my writing workflow. Cleft is an AI-powered note-taking app that stands out for me due to its ability to transcribe voice recordings with high accuracy and then magically transform these transcriptions into well-structured, easy-to-read notes. Cleft’s ability to rephrase and summarize my spoken ramblings into a coherent outline is nothing short of impressive.

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?

Turns out, quite a bit.

Automatic Time Tracking with Timing on the Mac »

We’ve been extolling the virtues of time tracking on this site for years. We even have a video course that teaches you how to do it.

But one of the most common complaints we hear is that it just seems too fiddly. People just don’t want to have to manually click buttons to start and stop timers.

Fortunately, with Timing, you don’t have to.

In this post, I’m going to show you how to set up time tracking rules in Timing that will allow you to track the time you spend on your Mac automatically.

Using Blank Space to Make a Minimalist iPhone Home Screen »

According to recent statistics, the average American checks their phone 344 times per day (about once every four minutes).

And before you say, “other people may struggle with this, but I’ve got it under control,” I dare you to go into your Settings and look at your Screen Time stats.

The truth is, we all struggle with this stuff. And the deck is kind of stacked against us.

As Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky (two ex-Google engineers) say in their book Make Time:

“When we use our smartphones to navigate an unfamiliar city, or have a video call with a friend, or download an entire book in mere seconds, it’s like having superpowers. But by default, we don’t just get the best of modern technology. We get all of it, all the time. We get futuristic superpowers and addictive distraction, together, on every screen. The better the technology gets, the cooler our superpowers will become — and the more of our time and attention the machines will steal.” — Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky, Make Time

The book makes a compelling argument for being intentional with our technology. (It was one of the major inspirations for starting the Mindfulness category here at The Sweet Setup when I first read it several years ago.)

Interesting Links From Our Friends and Around the Web »

Design Your Ideal Weekly Schedule

Free → Video Workshop + Productivity Templates

GET THE WORKSHOP + TEMPLATES

If you want to reduce the busywork and distractions, then sign up here for instant access to a brief video workshop on How to Plan Your Week.

♥️ Quick Note: You’ll get access to the workshop, plus a few additional bonuses to help you overcome procrastination and deal with distractions so you can spend more time on the important work that matters.