The Benefits of Habit Trackers, a First Look at Rewind.ai, and More

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.

In Praise of Habit Trackers »

Quick wins are rarely the elements of a long-term strategy.

If you search for quick wins, you’ll find them. But they won’t add up to anything substantial over time.

Instead, focus on being consistent with smaller actions you can stick with over a long period of time. Here’s why…
The two types of goals (and how they overlap)

There are two types of goals:

• Attainment Goals
• Lifestyle Goals

Attainment Goals are something we accomplish. Running our first marathon. Losing 10 pounds. Paying off student loans. Reaching 1,000 newsletter subscribers. There is a clear definition of done and you know when you have attained that goal.

Lifestyle Goals are something we “install” into our everyday life. Such as a daily reading routine, a workout routine, a writing habit, a financial budget. A Lifestyle Goal is a desired outcome we have for what we want our day-to-day life to be like.

On a practical note, these two types of goals go hand in hand.

For example, suppose you want to run a marathon. Naturally, you will need a daily routine of eating and exercise in order to have the strength and stamina for race day.

Moreover, while the marathon itself is a mountaintop type of experience — something exciting and memorable. The race day itself is not a life-changing event. Rather, you will be changed through the lifestyle goal that was required to get you there — the biggest impact on your life will not be the marathon itself, but rather the months of preparation leading up to the race.

Introducing Focus Boosters (for TSS Members) »

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. 🚀

Focus Boosters

Focus Boosters are community-led, themed challenges to help you up-level in a specific area of task, time, and idea management.

Here’s a sneak peek at the 2023 Focus Booster roadmap:

• Jan: Simple Habits (digital declutter + habit building)
• Mar: Margin Reset (breathing room and calm)
• May: Task & Time Management (productivity)
• Jul: Extreme Ownership (protecting what matters)
• Sep: Creative Ideas Systems (PKM and more)
• Nov: Plan Your Year (goal setting)

JOIN THE MEMBERSHIP

A First Look at Rewind.ai »

Rewind is a pretty incredible new tool for Mac users that bills itself as the search engine for your life, and that’s really not a bad way to describe it. It’s the sort of app that is kind of rare to come across these days, as it feels completely new. Truly, I can’t think of a single alternative to Rewind that does anything like this; it feels like they are charting their own course and we’ll be seeing similar apps trying to match what they’re doing over the next few years.

In short, Rewind records (almost) everything you do on your Mac, and makes that information searchable in the future.

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.

Interesting Links From Our Friends and Around the Web »

• (Six Colors) Apple announces M2 Pro and M2 Max-powered MacBook Pros, Mac mini
• (MacStories) Apple Announces Second-Generation HomePod
• (Mac Power Users) #675: Cruisin’ with CarPlay
• (Focused) #169: How to Calm Your Mind, with Chris Bailey
• (Christopher Lawley) Whats on my iPhone: My Everyday Apps