Get Better at Managing your Time in 2018 with the Timing App (Sponsor)

Welcome to 2018! Want to get things better this year? A great way to start would be by discovering where you’re spending your time on your Mac.

This week’s sponsor, Timing, is a tool to help you get rolling. I realized several months ago I was increasingly under water with my own productivity. So I started drilling in on Timing, and it’s beautiful reports showing me where I was spending time. Timing is a timer app that doesn’t require you to manually start an stop timers. Instead, it pays super-close attention to everything you do on your Mac and then reports back to you.

Timings reports are always enlightening and sometimes brutally honest. Reading my own reports, I found that I was sinking a lot of time into some work-related tasks that could easily be off-loaded to someone else. So I did that and got back to work. After a few weeks, I had newer-fresher Timing data that helped me further get rid of unwanted work and identify my own personal time sucks. 

The folks at Timing are serious about productivity. They even write about it on their blog with this post with some solid advice for New Year’s productivity and habits.

Timing doesn’t put your data in the cloud. Timing has been crucial for me, and I expect it can help you too. Don’t believe me? Download their free trial software and see for yourself. 

Try the free 14-day trial and get 10% off until for a limited time using this link. Let Timing help you get 2018 started right.

Great Mac Software Deals at WinterFest (Sponsor)

The new year is just around the corner, and maybe you’re thinking about a big project or two you want to get off the ground. That may take some quality Mac software and this week’s sponsor, the Winter Festival of Artisanal Software will get you sorted out.

WinterFest is a collection of some of the premier Mac developers all putting their software on sale at a significant discount. Get 25% off Tinderbox, Nisus Writer Pro, DEVONthink, Panorama X, TaskPaper, Scapple, PDFpen, HoudahSpot, and more. It’s like a greatest hits list from Mac Power Users, and they’re all on sale. There isn’t a single app on this list that I wouldn’t recommend.

So go check out WinterFest and get the tools you need to go on the attack in 2018.


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Tinderbox Gets Even Smarter (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by Tinderbox, the tool for notes. Tinderbox is a Mac App that lets you collect your thoughts and slice and dice them any way your brain prefers. With Tinderbox you can make a mind map, a check list, make timelines, charts, outlines, and more. My favorite feature is that you are not tied to any paradigm with this app. Put your data in and start moving it around to help your brain make connections that weren’t there before.


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Did you know that Tinderbox recently released version 7.3 with more than six dozen visible improvements and a bunch of new technologies?

Tinderbox can now look at your ideas from Notes, Evernote, Dropbox and more on iPhone and iPad. The new version also has quick links to connect notes instantly and composites to build big ideas from small notes. The new fonts also look fantastic on your Mac.

People use Tinderbox for writing, managing their business, project management and just about anything else where you can benefit from having your own digital personal information assistant.

Go check out the latest version of Tinderbox today. You can download the free trial and see this fantastic app for yourself.


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inShort for Project Planning and Diagramming (Sponsor)



This week MacSparky is sponsored by inShort. inShort is a project planning application for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad that lets you plan projects and processes graphically across all of your Apple devices. I really can’t underestimate that part about graphical project design. With inShort, you visually see excactly how a process or project are intended to work. That visual feedback lets you see quite clearly when things work and when they do not. This brings a new paradigm to process and project planning and is absolutely worth checking out. 

One of the more innovative features is the way it allows you to embed processes and drill down to the level of detail you need at the moment. I like to think of this as nested flowcharts, and I believe that it’s pretty useful.

inShort also supports traditional project management tools, like Gantt charts, as seen below. 

The inShort development team has also added a satellite service, workflow.link that gives you a way to work with, edit, and manage your projects from any device with a web browser. 

Want to learn more? Check out the website and read the developer’s PDF


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Get Focussed with Middle Davids Candles (Sponsor)


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This week MacSparky is sponsored by Middle Davids Artisan Candles. Middle Davids understand the use of rituals to help with productivity. Have you considered using the scent of a candle? It works.

I burn candles while I work and I always feel that the ritual of lighting the candle is a way to help me focus in on my project. After I’ve worked a few hours, I blow out the candle and take a break. When I come back and light the candle again, the focus comes back. It’s kind of magical and don’t worry about using up matches, Middle Davids gives you those too. 


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You’ll be surprised how well this works. This month I’m burning through my favorite Green Tea candle from Middle Davids while I work on my next book. The vast majority of people who try a Middle Davids subscription stick with it. In a world full of technology, this provides a fantastic analog motivational tool. You can literally see the progress of my current side project as the candle burns down in this photo.

With the holidays approaching, you may not just want a candle subscription for yourself. You can gift a subscription so your friends or family get a reminder in the mail every month or two that you care. (They have gift options for one, two, three, four, six and twelve months so every budget is covered.) I love they way they send a hand-written note with something inspirational to all subscription customers.

Dan, the proprietor, is a candle geek (and also a Mac Geek!) and obsesses on candles like I do productivity apps. The candles are 100% botanical soy wax, not paraffin (which is a petrochemical) and the wicks are cotton woven (no metals).

Middle Davids has a subscription plan that gets you two candles a month with 40 hours of burn time. You also get a box of wooden matches, and a sample of the next month’s scent. Give it a try. Best of all, they are giving their biggest discount ever to MacSparky readers. Use the offer code “SPARKY10” (in recognition of 10 years of MacSparky) and get $10 for any new customer or gift subscription. Whether you purchasing for yourself or as a gift, you can’t go wrong.

OmniGraffle, My Secret Weapon for Graphics (Sponsor)


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This week MacSparky is sponsored by the app that I use as my own personal graphics toolbox, OmniGraffle. OmniGraffle was created as a diagramming tool but it is so much more. I don’t need to use a graphics app every day but I do have plenty of use for one. My early attempts at using graphics tools were always failures because so often the software was too obtuse. OmniGraffle, however, is not. Using OmniGraffle’s powerful, but easily understandable tools, I am able to not only make diagrams but also maps, flow charts, court exhibits, garden plans, countless school projects, and even the family Christmas card. If I’m doing something that involves moving pixels around the screen, OmniGraffle delivers.

OmniGraffle users range from artists to data mappers to (even) geeky lawyers. The tools are fast and easy to learn and there are versions of OmniGraffle for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. I frequently hear from readers that are OmniGraffle-curious. They are interested in the app but not sure whether it is something they need. My answer is always the same. If you have OmniGraffle, you will find uses for it. OmniGraffle makes the creation of graphics and diagrams manageable. Once you lower that bar of entry, you’ll find all sorts of uses for OmniGraffle.

OmniGraffle has recent updates on both the Mac and iOS. Everything is cleaner and easier to use and access to Stenciltown (where you can import and use other folks’ artwork in your diagrams) is easier than ever. They’ve got some great demonstration videos (although their choice in screencasting talent is questionable). Best of all, there’s a free trial so you can download and try it risk free. Up your diagram game today with OmniGraffle.


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Plan Your Next Project with inShort – Sponsor



This week MacSparky is sponsored by inShort(website) (Mac App Store) (iOS App Store). inShort is a project planning application for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad that lets you plan projects and processes graphically across all of your Apple devices. Click on the above image to get the idea. This brings a new paradigm to process and project planning and is worth checking out. 

One of the more innovative features is the way it allows you to embed processes and drill down to the level of detail you need at the moment. The trick with inShort is to build a detailed diagram, and from there the application creates a Gantt chart to execute your plan.
Most recently inShort’s received an update making it easier to edit diagrams and input text. Routing connections also got better. 

The inShort development team has also added a satellite service, workflow.link that gives you a way to work with, edit, and manage your projects from any device with a web browser. 

Want to learn more? Check out the website and read the developer’s PDF

Get Mac Help with Willems Tech (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by Willems Tech. Rogier Willems is a wicked smart IT professional that specializes in Macs and security. Rogier and his team do remote IT for customers all over the world, and they are a great asset if you need any help managing your Apple network. 

As long as your Mac connects to the Internet and powers on, Rogier and team can assist with all Mac problems and even to a complete Tune-Up to make your Mac run like new again. They untangle email, contact, and calendar problems.

Finally, Willems Tech does a lot of consulting in data privacy and security with the knowledge that most IT professionals lack, like email encryption for instance. If you need some IT help, reach out to Willems Tech.

Timing Makes Time-Tracking Easy (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by Timing, my tool for tracking time on my Mac. Knowing how you spend your time is one of the most useful bits of knowledge you can have when deciding on new (and old) commitments. I’ve gone deep down the rabbit hole of time tracking as I try to figure things out for my own sanity and this week’s sponsor, Timing, has been an essential tool for me.


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Time tracking is hard. Having to throw a switch somewhere every time you change tasks or projects never works and is super-distracting. As a result, you end up with bad data. 

Timing fixes that. Timing automatically tracks which apps, documents, and websites you use — without start/stop timers.

  • See how you spend your time, eliminate distracting activities, and improve your client billing.
  • Timing lets you stop worrying about time and focus on doing your best work instead!
  • Timing also understands that your time tracking data is super sensitive, so Timing keeps it safe on your Mac.

In short, with Timing you get detailed information about how you spend your time on your Mac with zero work on your behalf. Try it yourself with the free 14-day trial and get 10% off if you buy in the next two weeks.

Unrelated but cool – The developers of Timing have also recently released Faviconographer, a free utility that adds Favicons to your Safari tabs. If you ever found yourself wanting those icons on your tabs for easier navigation, check it out!

inShort for Project Management (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by inShort. inShort is a project planning application for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad that lets you plan projects and processes graphically across all of your Apple devices. This brings a new paradigm to process and project planning and is absolutely worth checking out. 

One of the more innovative features is the way it allows you to embed processes and drill down to the level of detail you need at the moment. I like to think of this as “nested” flowcharts, and I believe that it’s pretty useful. Most recently inShort’s received updates making its Gantt charts and work breakdown structure tools even more powerful. 

The inShort development team has also added a satellite service, workflow.link that gives you a way to work with, edit, and manage your projects from any device with a web browser. 

Want to learn more? Check out the website and read the developer’s PDF


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