Matthew Lang avatar

Matthew Lang

Family guy and web developer

For me, web apps still rule

Like most people I've spent my fair share of money on apps for the iPad, but recently I've found that I'm just not using them that often. The problem is that while I like the apps themselves and chose them for their functionality and their ease of use, the freqeuncy with which I use them just isn't right. When was the last time I wrote anything with iA Writer? I can't remember.With web apps though, I'm finding that they are more accessible to me during the day at work and at night when I am at home.

I looked at a number of apps for keeping a journal before I ended up writing Journalong, and the same goes for writing. I managed to write a whole book with 750words.com. The only reason I didn't use it every day after NaNoWriMo was the fact that the pressure to write 750 words became a bit too much. My journal is for every day thoughts, but typerighter is for taking those thoughts and fleshing out something more fuller and richer.

Web apps like Typerighter and Journalong also work well on my mobile devices. I don't want separate apps for each device I have.Don't get me wrong, native apps have their places where they don't require a web interface. However if a service has a web interface with no need for a native app then I will use that service as it's web interface is easily accessible from the number of different of platforms and devices I use on a daily basis.UPDATE: Since publishing this, I've deleted my Typerighter account in favour of writing using Sublime Text 2. Typerighter is a great product if you need a minimal writing interface, but I've started using ST2 for writing as it's easier to pick up my drafts which are kept in Dropbox.​ Maybe I'll go back to Typerighter when they let you connect to your Dropbox.

Habit holiday

Building habits and routines is a great way make sure you're staying on top of life but for all the structure that you have built, sometimes you just need to let it all slide. And that's exactly what I did last week. Took a holiday from the humdrum habit cycle.The last couple of weeks have seen some major upheaval (the good kind) in the Lang household.

Little baby Drew is a great little boy, but like all babies he needs constant feeding, changing and sleeping. Rather than fight a losing battle trying to work on Journalong, do some blogging and get stuff around the house. I let it all slide.It was just time to take a holiday from all my usual day to day habits. RSS reading, spot of writing, journaling and everything else. The great thing is my habits have become so ingrained in my daily task lists that I immediately returned to my usual schedule today. There was no procrastination in getting started or reminder needed to get back on track. I simply decided to start my habits again.If your habits are ground in to what you do then it's okay to take a break from them every now and again.​