The MacSparky Field Map
Every way in, every guide, and where each one leads. Start with something free, pick up the system, then add only the tools you actually need.
Zone One
Start Free
Three podcasts, a YouTube channel, and an email. No purchase, no account, no funnel at the end of it.
Getting the most from your Apple technology, one geek at a time. Focused topics and real workflows, every week since 2009.
The systems, habits, and honest failures behind doing your best work. Staying focused in a connected world.
Using AI on purpose, not by accident. What’s worth using, what’s worth ignoring, and how to stay in charge of it.
A regular note about Apple gear, productivity, and getting technology to work for you instead of the other way around.
Zone Two
The System
One guide on this page teaches no app at all. Start here and every tool decision after it gets easier.
The foundation
The Productivity Field Guide
Ancient and modern productivity combined. Every other guide here teaches an app. This one teaches how you decide what is worth doing.
Roles and arete. Maker, manager, and consumer modes. Hyper-scheduling, planning, and a daily shutdown that actually ends the day. None of it is tied to a particular app, so it works the same whether you run OmniFocus, Apple Reminders, or an index card in your pocket.
That is why it sits on its own rung. Pick your tools afterward, and pick fewer of them.
The four movements
- Roles and arete
- Maker, manager, consumer
- Planning and hyper-scheduling
- Daily planning and shutdown
What comes with it
- 80+ lessons, 8+ hours of video
- The companion book
- The webinar and workshop series, included
- Free annual updates. Buy once, get the 2026 edition
- Recorded. Yours to keep, no subscription
“The Productivity Field Guide helped me out of a productivity slump. The roles rather than goals framework and focus on arete resonated.”
Gemma N. · Productivity Field Guide
Zone Three
The Field Guides
One app, taught properly, one time. Buy what you use and skip the rest. Everything in this zone is recorded, delivered in Circle, and yours to keep. No subscription, no expiry.
Knowledge and Files
Make AI do your bidding. Everything in one searchable place.
What’s inside
- Get set up, get everything in
- Organize and find
- Inspector, email, automation
- Mobile, sync, power users
Master the app that helps you master your thoughts.
What’s inside
- Foundations
- The core plugins
- Community plugins and automation
- Mobile, real uses, webinars
Get the most from Apple Photos, however many thousands you have.
What’s inside
- Set up the library and iCloud
- Capture better photos
- Organize and edit
- Extras and safety
Write once. Format anywhere. Plain text that outlives any app.
What’s inside
- Start here
- Going deeper
- Every platform
- Put it to work
Tasks and Calendar
Unlock the productivity suite you already own. Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Freeform.
What’s inside
- The four pillars
- Bringing it together
- Every device
- Workshops
Master the app that masters your tasks. Most people use a fraction of it.
What’s inside
- The foundation
- The payoff: perspectives
- Going deeper: automation
- Webinar series
Which one?
Two roads to the same place. Pick the one that matches how your head works, not the one with more features. Apple’s suite is already on your devices and costs nothing extra. OmniFocus goes deeper than anything Apple ships.
Either way, the Productivity Field Guide is what tells you where to put the tasks once you have somewhere to put them.
Automation
Make your Mac, iPhone, and iPad dance. No code required.
What’s inside
- iPhone and iPad basics
- iPhone and iPad advanced
- Mac fundamentals
- Mac power tools
Powerful Mac automation, made approachable. Updated for version 11.
What’s inside
- Getting started and triggers
- Actions and palettes
- Power tools and script library
- Settings, syncing, webinars
Your Mac at the speed of thought. Far more than a launcher.
What’s inside
- Getting started and core features
- Workflows
- Build your own and automate
- Advanced and power users
“David is the Bob Ross of technology. Calming, enjoyable and instructive. David’s Field Guides aren’t cheap, but they are some of the best value products I’ve ever purchased.”
Matthew · Obsidian Field Guide
Zone Four
The Frontier
The newest thing I teach, and the one that changes fastest. It stands alone, but it lands harder if Zones Two and Three are already behind you.
Where it’s going
The Robot Assistant Field Guide
Build a personal AI assistant. No code required.
An assistant that lives in your Obsidian vault and handles email, tasks, filing, and reviews. The Builder’s Club runs live in seasons, and every session is recorded. Buy the guide and the whole back catalog comes with it.
The four parts
- Foundation videos
- Recorded workshops
- The live Builder’s Club
- The starter kit
What comes with it
- 10 videos plus 22 live sessions, 40+ hours
- The full recorded Builder’s Club back catalog
- A starter vault you can copy
“This is the best two hundred bucks I ever spent. After the Create Your First Skill video, I built several that blew through work that usually took me a couple of hours in about 15 minutes.”
Timothy · Robot Assistant Field Guide
Zone Five
MacSparky Labs
Not a next step so much as a place to stand. Three levels, each one layering on the last. Cancel or switch anytime.
Does the Labs include the Field Guides?
The Field Guides
Bought once, kept forever. Each one is a separate purchase. Buying a guide does not make you a Labs member, and nothing expires if you never come back.
MacSparky Labs
A membership, renewed yearly. It buys the ongoing work: weekly videos, the Lab Report, meetups, Deep Dives. It does not include the Field Guides.
Both live in the same Circle community, which is why the two get confused. Members do get a standing Field Guide discount: 10% off at Insider, 20% off at Pathfinder . The basic Member tier has no code. Worth knowing if you are buying anyway, though the discount is a perk rather than a reason to join.
The guides are finished things you buy once. The Labs is the ongoing work: what I am testing this week, what broke, and what I would do differently.
- Weekly videos
- The Lab Report podcast
- Book club
- The community
- Everything in Member
- Zoom meetups
- Friends of Dave
- 10% off Field Guides
- Everything in Insider
- Deep Dives
- Quarterly planning
- 20% off Field Guides
- Early Field Guide access
“Being a member of the MacSparky Labs is like having your favorite nerd buddy around the corner and available for frequent cheerful visits to chat about making the most of life in the world of Apple tech.”
Barry P. · MacSparky Labs