Digital Simplification
One of the main issues with being a tech enthusiast is allowing things to get a little too complicated. Yes, the shortcuts, automations, niche apps, and random hacks are fun to create and experiment with, but there always comes a point where things are a little overdone.
Here's an example. I love Omnifocus, or rather I love the idea of Omnifocus. A task list manager with that level of flexibility and power seems to be the dream. In reality though, I've spent more time optimizing Omnifocus than I do actually doing the tasks I put into the app. And don't get me started on the hoops you have to jump through to make things even partially acceptable to a normal-person collaborator.
At the end of the day, Apple Reminders does all of the things I really need. Honestly, it does more things I need than Omnifocus does (shared lists, primarily). By making the switch, I've eliminated complexity while at the same time introducing simplicity. This is the strategy I want to take with other things as well, not just apps.
The biggest weakness of Apple Reminders is the lack of any ability to create a recurring task based on completion date instead of due date. For example, I want to change my air filter every 90 days. But if I miss the due date, I want the next recurring event to be 90 days after I actually accomplish the task, not 90 days from the original due date.
With that in mind, I've taken a few extra steps that align with that thinking:
- Deleted lesser used social media platforms/accounts
- Moved away from a smart watch
- Deleted unplayed games on my iPhone
- Re-thought my keyboard shortcuts
- Slimmed down utilities/extensions
- Thoroughly restricted push notifications across devices
- Simplified my iPhone wallpaper
- Eliminated many smart WiFi products
There's a lot more I want to do, but this is a start. My biggest obstacle right now is the glut of communication apps I use (mostly by obligation). Messages is for 90% of my communication, GroupMe for my son's baseball league, Discord for a couple of communities I engage in, Planning Center's suite for work, Facebook Messenger (exclusively for Marketplace), and 2 email accounts. If I can find ways to optimize those, it would be a huge victory.
A few other things I'm attempting to tackle while this motivation is at the forefront are creating an easy-to-use workflow for the initial creation of research files, finding the best way to blog from a mobile device on the Bear platform (I know this culminates with copy/paste), and finding my preferred quick way to add tasks to the Reminders app.
There's obviously still more I can do, and I am open to all thoughts and suggestions. Reach out on Mastodon.