Matthew Lang

For a long time now I've kept my iPhone setup largely the same. Just two rows of apps on the home screen with other apps on the following screens. I've had it this way for over a year now, but recently I've changed this setup.

More Screen, More Apps

With a larger screen on my iPhone 6, I've started adding more apps to the home screen. I started adding a third row of apps. Then a week later I added another row of apps. The following week after that I added another row.

There was two reasons I kept just eight apps on my screen in the past.

1. I like using photos of my family on my phone and so keeping the number of apps to eight means I have more screen to use a nice photo.
2. I kept the number of apps down to the ones I used on a daily basis. At the time I also had an iPad, so I didn't need as many apps on my phone.

Things have changed though. I no longer use an iPad. The iPhone 6 screen is big enough to do most tasks I throw at it with the sole exception being programming. This means I do use my phone alot more. The tade-off of using my phone alot more rather than using two seperate devices is well worth it.

Also, I just set a nice picture of the family on the lock screen and reserve the wallpaper on the home screen for a different image from Unsplash. These two changes mean that I am free to use more apps on my home screen.

No More Folders

Another change to my previous setup is the abolishment of folders to group apps. In the past I used a verb based grouping for apps to keep related tasks together. It was fine for a while but I found that even by using the verb based folders, I wasn't gaining anything other than keeping the screen organised. I was also allowing myself to hoard apps. Even the apps that I used infrequently I kept on my phone in a folder. I didn't have a need for these apps, I simply kept them there, "just in case".

Now I simply keep a couple of subsequent screens with apps on them. My second home screen is largely apps I've installed for use every other day like banking, health tracking, server management and games for the kids (and me!).The third home screen is all Apple's own apps that I don't use often or at all. It's still annoying that you can't delete apps like Notes, Voice Memos and Tips, but with them being on the last screen I rarely see them.

One Last Thing

One last change that I have been making in terms of app usage is I've started to use web based services instead of apps which is why I have a Feedbin icon on my home screen. Previously I've used Reeder and Unread for scanning through my RSS feeds, but Feedbin has such a great user-interface for the phone that it makes more sense to use Feedbin with it's sharing feature available on my iPhone rather than adding another app layer between myself and the Feedbin service. This doesn't work for all services, but where a web based client has been designed with a phone in mind, it can be just as easy to use the web based client rather than an app to connect to your service in question.

That just about covers my iPhone setup. Tools have definitely changed since the last time I wrote about this. I might delve into these apps more in the future and my reasons for choosing them but for the foreseeable future this is what I'm sticking with.

... with Nicholas Bate.

I love the idea of incorporating monthly themes into the calendar.

Each month leaves a space on the first day to enter your Monthly Theme, and you can also theme your weeks as well if you wish. These themes will act as catalysts to inspire you to move the projects forward that you want to complete and the goals that you want to turn into reality. By planning these things now, you’re setting yourself up with a better chance for success in the future. And The NOW Year Calendar keeps the plan front and centre in a design that is both simple and stunning.

— The NOW Calendar

It's that catch again. This time looking at the tech behind Odell's gloves.

Beckham’s are custom-made versions of the Nike Vapor Jet 3.0, which features molded fingers, a “strategic mesh,” and “MagniGrip CL” on the palms and fingers. MagniGrip CL is a sticky material made from a mix of neoprene and silicone designed to help receivers hold on to a ball.

— Odell Beckham’s Helping Hands—the Tech Behind the Catch by Nautilus

Whatever Odell was wearing on his hands, I've a feeling that his 10 inch hands are the main reason that he made the catch look so easy.

Ensuring that your productivity system is correct is important if you want keep the actions flowing through it. Like deciding if a project is in fact a context.

Many of you have been reading my post on using projects in Todoist. Up to now I've always used projects in Todoist as lists. They're just placeholders for actions. What I'm starting to see now though is that some of my projects might in fact be better used as contexts.

This week I listened to Mike Vardy's Productivityist podcast and caught up with two episodes focusing on context and their application in productivity systems. It made me look more closely at my own projects in Todoist. I singled out two projects that I think are better suited to being contexts, reading and writing.

My reading project is just a list of chapters from the books I'm reading on a daily basis. Breaking books into chapters means that I can schedule different books in for different days. Reading isn't a project, it's a label to describe a particular action. My writing project is essentially a list of ideas for the blog, but writing isn't a project. Writing describes the action. Clearly something is amiss here.

A context can be defined as the circumstances that surround a particular event. In the case of David Allen's GTD framework, a context is a label that you put on your actions so that you know two things:

1. What you need to get that action done
2. When that action can be done

When I look at my projects I see them differently now. In the case of reading and writing, they're not projects, they are in fact contexts. They are used to describe the circumstances in which I can finish their associated actions. I read a chapter of a book first thing in the morning as it's when I'm most receptive. Writing tends to happen in the morning as well. I'm just more swithched on during this time. So not only do these contexts describe the action but also when I schedule them in the day as well.

I can't recommend enough that you continually review your productivity workflow. Finding that point where everything falls into place isn't going to happen overnight or even come boxed up and ready to go in a system like GTD. It takes time to see what works for you and what doesn't. After taking out the reading and writing projects from Todoist, I'm starting to see a change in how I view projects in Todoist. I'm still digesting Erlend Hamberg's 15 minute guide to GTD and there's a few more changes that I'm going to try with projects in Todoist, but that folks is for another day.

The new Bond movie, Spectre, is out next year but that's not what I was interested in. I'm not a petrol-head, but you can't deny that the new Bond car looks great.

Yes, another Terminator movie. Anyone else think that these movies will keep going and going with the inclusion of a time machine in the plot?

Still, looks like it will be good fun to watch, especially with Emilia Clarke as a younger badass Sarah Connor.