The New 2023 Digital Planner, Setting Do Not Disturb with the Apple Watch Ultra, and More
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New Drop: 2023 Digital Planner (perfect for iPad) »
The new, 2023 Focus Course Digital Planner is an interactive, digital planner meant to be used on a daily basis. And it is available now!
The system in the planner is based on the proven ideas for time tracking, time blocking, goal setting, and regular reviews.
All you need to do is follow along.
Setting Do Not Disturb With the Action Button on the Apple Watch Ultra »
The Apple Watch Ultra’s Action Button is one of the biggest departures from standard Apple Watch design in, well, ever. Ever since the introduction of the original Series 1 Apple Watch, we’ve only had access to the Digital Crown and the Watch’s side button. The Action Button increases the onboard physical buttons by a full 50%!
Unfortunately, the Action Button’s functionality is a little limited out of the gate. It sits pretty specifically designed for the Watch’s ruggedness — you can quickly start a workout, launch the stopwatch, set a waypoint, start Backtrack, launch the Dive app, fire up the flashlight, or launch a shortcut.
All but that last option are pretty limiting — I use the “Dive” action all the time to jump in and out of water mode when I go into the hot tub each night. Otherwise, I’m not sure which of the standard Action Button functions would appeal to me.
Except for the ability to launch a shortcut. The Action Button and Shortcuts can combine to unlock some super Apple Watch Ultra functionality. We’re talking true Inspector Gadget levels of functionality here. The sky is the limit for the Action Button when supercharged by Shortcuts.
The Apple Watch Ultra’s Impact on My Focus and Presence »
I’m lucky enough — or dumb enough — to have most of Apple’s technological lineup at my disposal each day. AirPods Max, Studio Display, iPhone, iPad… you get the drift.
But since 2018, I haven’t had an Apple Watch. I tried Series 1, Series 2, and Series 4, but all resulted in the same sense of superfluous extra. I ended up selling each of those Watches and have carried on blissfully Watch-free ever since.
Like so many others though, the Apple Watch Ultra offered a breath of fresh air to the Watch lineup, and provided me yet another chance to play with a new Watch.
This time has been a little different, at least to this point. This time, I have three children. This time, I take fitness more seriously. This time, I run a business. This time, my phone rings 15 to 20 times a day.
This time, the Watch is here to stay. I think, at least. I’m simply too happy with the impact the Watch has had on my focused periods each day.
Raycast for Mac. The Next-generation Alfred? »
We love Alfred here at The Sweet Setup. It’s been our go-to app launcher for the Mac for years, and it’s hard to believe, but it’s been 11 full years since Alfred 1.0 hit the scene and took over as the app launcher of choice for nerds like us.
Raycast is a newer entry into the space, and it’s turning more than a few heads, so we had to take a look at it.
I’ve fully switched to Raycast as my full time app launcher, but it’s worth noting that not everyone here at The Sweet Setup likes it as much as I do, so I’m not expecting everyone to make the move. Raycast is not “Alfred, but better” for me, it’s a whole different experience, and different people with different workflows will react differently to it.
That’s more than enough disclaimer, so let’s get into it!
Is your productivity busted?
If you feel like you could use a tuneup for how you manage your tasks and your time, get access to our Productivity Workshop.
Shawn Blanc (founder of The Sweet Setup) covers:
1. The four most common symptoms of a busted productivity workflow
2. What you can do to overcome them
3. How to improve your approach to managing and organizing your tasks.
You’ll also get the downloadable templates and cheatsheets.
Interesting Links From Our Friends and Around the Web »
- (iMore) iPhone 15 Pro to get major USB-C data transfer speed boost, iPhone 15 stuck with Lightning speeds
- (Mac Power Users) #666: The 2022 MPU Gift Guide
- (Liftoff) #170: It Flew
- (Six Colors) Redirect Web for Safari takes me to the right places
- (Christopher Lawley) iPad External Monitor Support First Look
Our Must-Have, Most Used Productivity Apps
We spend an inordinate amount of time sorting through hundreds of apps to find the very best. We put together a short list of our must-have, most-used apps for increasing productivity.