GoodNotes Journaling Files


I wrote up my GoodNotes journal pages a few months ago. Since then, I have found myself increasingly using a paper journal for much of this data, but I know a bunch of readers wanted to modify my forms. Links are below in OmniGraffle, PSD, and PNG format. (I built all of these using OmniGraffle.) 

These differ from the versions I made for myself in that I used a custom flavor of Futura that I purchased years ago. I changed the font to a system font for these downloads and changed some of the titles specific to me, such as working on a Field Guide every day, to something more generic. Enjoy, and let me know if you make something amazing with them.

Once you complete customizing your form, export to PDF, and you can then import and edit them in GoodNotes. You can leave them right in GoodNotes or, if you are a fancy Day One user like me, export the completed page as an image to Day One. Sort of related, Tom Solid made his own forms that are far superior to mine if you want more detail.

Regardless, click below to download:

Daily Diary Forms

Daily Plan Forms

Week Scorecard Forms

Week Review Forms

Go nuts!

Finding Margin with Shawn Blanc



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Shawn Blanc’s productivity courses are some of my favorites because Shawn speaks to you instead of speaking at you. Today he is releasing his newest course. This one on Margin. This course is particularly dear to me since it has been this quest for margin (which I think of as space to make my best stuff but also live my life) that I’ve been most obsessed with the last few years. Shawn’s thinking on this is way ahead of my own and I learned a lot watching the course. If you find yourself lacking margin and in need of a little help, look no further than the Margin Course.

Mac Power Users 493: My Life is an Edge Case, with TJ Luoma



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On the latest episode of Mac Power Users, pastor and Apple nerd TJ Luoma returns to the show to catch us up on his journey with Apple’s notebooks and the iPad. He also shares some of the apps that he uses every day to make his work more efficient, as well as his explorations in Internet filtering and content blocking.

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.

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

  • Hover: Get 10% off any domain name — extensions for anything you’re passionate about.

Unlock Your Productivity With TextExpander

This week MacSparky is sponsored by TextExpander, the application that saves me time every day. TextExpander works everywhere you type, improving your productivity and accuracy no matter what apps you use.

You may think of TextExpander as a way to quickly type your address or phone number but it is so much more. I use it to run AppleScripts, draft legal contracts, and everything in between. With TextExpander, you can easily insert text snippets in any application from a library of content created by you and your team.

I’ve talked on my podcasts about my Date and Time stamp TextExpander snippet I use all the time to date/time stamp notes on my Mac. Here it is if you’d like to create it in your copy of TextExpander. I use the the snippet “xdts” to trigger it.


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Whether you use it on your own or with your team, TextExpander makes you more productive. TextExpander is available for macOS, Windows, iPhone and iPad, and Chrome. Head to this link to get 20% off your first year. 

Focused 78: Changing Defaults, with John Zeratsky



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John Zeratsky had the dream job at Google but left it all to write a book, Make Time, and reset his defaults. Join us for the latest episode of Focused to hear about John’s journey and how resetting your own defaults can make all the difference.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

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

  • Blinkist: Read 3,000+ books in 15 minutes or less. Start your 7-day free trial.

Mac Power Users 492: All of the Ks



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In this MPU feedback episode, Stephen and I talk about a borrowed MacBook Pro and a Catalina meltdown, Voice Control and Dictation in iOS 13, and answer a few listener questions about iOS file storage and justifying a Mac to a boss who doesn’t get it.

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.

  • The Omni Group: We’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.

  • Linode: High performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit.

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

Voice Control is a Game Changer for Voice to Text Dictation Apple Devices

When I made my video a few weeks ago about the problems with dictation on the Mac and mobile devices, I was aware of some new changes coming with iOS 13 and Catalina concerning the accessibility voice control but hadn’t dug in deep enough. Since that time, I have installed some betas, and now I realize why Nuance is abandoning Apple.

The feature is called Voice Control, and it is pretty remarkable. It works very similar to Dragon on the Mac. It allows you to dictate text and control your device with your voice. It does not run on a timer so you can speak as long as you need to. It has its own custom dictionary (although as I write this, it does not seem to be working) and even uses many of the same commands that Dragon uses. Best of all, starting in September, it will be on everyone’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

I’m writing this very article with it.

This is more than a simple voice to text dictation tool. It does that with all of the above bells and whistles. But you can also use it to navigate the cursor around your text and make corrections, open applications, and otherwise control your device. If I were to talk to someone at Apple, I presume they would say this is primarily an accessibility feature than a dictation feature. However, in the few weeks I’ve been using it, I believe it does both pretty well. I like it so much that I have canceled my Dragon Anywhere subscription that I talked about just a few weeks ago.

You enable the new feature under the accessibility panel. You can toggle it on and off with your voice using the commands “wake up” And “go to sleep”. I’ve also added the accessibility panel to my control center so I can swipe down and tap a button.

Is this as good as Dragon on the Mac was? Probably not. But it’s close enough. And I expect once a lot of people start using and the Apple artificial intelligence fires up, it will only get better with time.

The new voice control feature is a significant upgrade to voice to text dictation on all Apple devices. It’s going to be baked into everybody’s device without any subscription or additional software, and if you want to start writing text with your voice, there is no better time to start than September. See the below demonstration video to get a better idea of how it works.