168 Hours

That’s all you get. Every week you have 168 hours to spend. It’s like currency, but much more valuable and you can’t put it in the bank. We all get the same allotment, whether we are rich or poor, and every week we start over again, with another 168 hours.

I recently received a cranky email from a reader about my practice of hyper-scheduling (1) (2) (3). I understand that scheduling appointments for myself to work on my priority work can be odd. Still, the reason I continue to do it almost every day is all about the intentional use of those precious 168 hours. When I hyper-schedule, I use those hours intentionally. When I don’t hyper-schedule, I use that time un-intentionally. This is the one factor that changes my happiness and stress levels the most. This is how I move the needle. When I fall off the wagon, I feel it. This week I’ve blocked time for Field Guide production, writing, podcasting, and client work. I’ve also blocked time for family, friends, and watching the new Clone Wars episode on Friday. I’ve even blocked time for a puppy. The point is, I’ve planned out my 168 hours intentionally. Once you’ve done that, other distractions and time-sucks are so much less tempting. We all get just 168 hours a week. Use them wisely.

Mac Power Users 524: Photographing the Stars, with Andrew Burwell

The stars and planets are within sight, given the right hardware and software. Andrew Burwell, who has been honing his astrophotography skills, joins Stephen and me on this week’s episode of Mac Power Users to talk about using Apple products to produce some amazing images of our universe.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore. 

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

  • Direct Mail: Create and send great looking email newsletters with Direct Mail, an easy-to-use email marketing app designed exclusively for the Mac.

Jazz Friday: Chuck Mangione’s Carousel


Screen Shot 2020-02-21 at 11.22.04 AM.png

Today’s jazz Friday is me indulging myself having grown up in the ’70s. At the time Chuck Mangione (Wikipedia) did the impossible: He broke into the pop charts playing the Flugelhorn. I remember hearing his most popular tune, Feels so Good (Apple Music) (YouTube), playing everywhere. But the tune that I woke up thinking about a few weeks ago, one I probably hadn’t listed to since 1979 or so was Carousel with that sweet soprano sax from his Bellavia album. (iTunes) (Apple Music) (YouTube). This song just makes me happy. I think it would be a great song to play in the morning while you are brushing your teeth.

While Chuck did gain popularity as a pop star, he also has some serious jazz chops. He played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers filling the seat held by Clifford Brown. Either way, no matter how you feel about jazz, take a minute and listen to Carousel and see if it doesn’t give you the same smile it gives me.

Keep Your Mac Apps Current with MacUpdater (Sponsor)


icon_macupdater_256x256.png

What if all of your Mac apps were as easy to update as those on the App Store? Unfortunately, that’s just not the case. Instead, you only see most Mac application updates when you want to launch (and work in) the app, which is precisely the worst time to be updating apps.

MacUpdater solves that problem for you. Launch MacUpdater, and get a list of all the apps that need to update on your Mac. MacUpdater even walks you through the process. Most apps are a one-click update. MacUpdater can also notify you when your indexed apps get updates so you can get those updates installed on day one. Also, do you have any of those apps that don’t have their own self updater? MacUpdater will track those and let you know about updates fro them too.

MacUpdater solves the Mac software updating problem. There is a free trial, and if you like the app, you can use the offer code MACSPARKY to get a 10% just for MacSparky readers.

Download the free trial and get all of your Mac apps up to date with MacUpdater.

My thanks to MacUpdater for sponsoring MacSparky this week.


screenshot_1.png

Microsoft’s Anti-Virus Software Heading to the Mac

Microsoft is now getting into the anti-virus business for the Mac. While I’ve run virus software on Windows PCs in the past, I’ve never run it on the Mac. Every time this question comes up, I get emails asking for advice. Notably, Windows switchers often feel like they are doing something wrong if they don’t have virus software, so I can see why Microsoft could see former Windows users wanting to bring familiar virus software to their Macs.

Everyone has to make their own decisions, but I can tell you that when I was running anti-virus software on a Windows PC, it was maddening. It almost felt like the virus software became a sort-of virus all on its own. Everyone has to make their own decisions on this, but I don’t see myself installing Microsoft anti-virus software on my Mac any time soon.

Focused 93: Attention Overload

In this second part of the overload series, Mike and I discuss emotional hijacking, the myth of multitasking, and how to tame the lizard brain.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Ahrefs: SEO Tools & Resources To Grow Your Search Traffic. Get a 7-day trial for just $7.

  • Blinkist: Read 3000+ books in 15 minutes or fewer. Start your 7-day free trial.

  • Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code FOCUSED to get 30% off. Offer expires on January 31, 2021.

The Keyboard Maestro Field Guide Update

I’ve just released the first free update to the Keyboard Maestro Field Guide. This new version includes ten new videos covering all the significant new features in Keyboard Maestro, version 9. New videos include a full explanation of the Elgato Stream Deck and how to use it with Keyboard Maestro, support for the Catalina Music app, automating optical character recognition, working with multiple editor windows, combining items on the clipboard, dark mode and additional palette themes, how to tag multiple files automatically, and how build your own Pomodoro Timer. My favorite is one that lets you apply multiple tags via Keyboard Maestro script.

If you already bought the Keyboard Maestro Field Guide …

Great news! This is a free update. Log into your course. Anything with a (1.1) in the title is new.

If you haven’t bought the Keyboard Maestro Field Guide yet …

Why not? A lot of course graduates are crushing Mac automation with Keyboard Maestro. You should too! To further entice you, I’m giving you the discount code HOORAYKM to get $5 off. Hurry, though. That code expires in a week.

As always, you can stream or download the videos. Also, I am about to start doing monthly seminars for Field Guide customers to cover specific titles. The first one will be with Keyboard Maestro Field Guide customers. If you are already a customer or about to become a Field Guide customer, keep an eye on your email in the next week for further details. Space will be limited.

Mac Power Users 523: State of the iPad

In the last decade, the iPad has gone from a brand-new device to a wide-reaching line of products that meet the needs of a range of users. On this week’s episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I talk about the current state of the platform, and how it fits in with the iPhone and Mac.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

  • SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

Automators 43: Capture and Review

On the latest episode of Automators, Rosemary and I look at our automations surrounding capture and review. Between Shortcuts and web-based automations, Drafts and URL schemes, there is plenty you can automate.

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code AUTOMATORS to get 30% off. Offer expires on January 31, 2021.

  • ExpressVPN: High-speed, secure, and anonymous VPN service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

  • Kensington: The professionals’ choice. Find the right docking solutions for your organization today.