Late in 2011, I started doing something I hadn’t done for at least seven years. I started keeping an analog journal.
I’ve always been an erratic journaler, more streaky than the tears of a clown. I have seasons of daily scribbles, followed by months of silence. But one thing was consistent for the last seven years … all that journaling was hacked into a keyboard for digital capture by an asortment of different programs.… Read more
As much as I like to dabble with new apps and imagine the possibilities that they might offer me, I tend to stick with the apps that are tried and true, that I know will get the job done for me. They sustain a system that works for me, and it’s not a system I want to mess with.… Read more
A year ago, I scratched out a drawing in Penultimate. It was an idea I dubbed The Creative Loop as an attempt to visualize how my creative process works itself out. (At the time, I think it was mostly an excuse to try out Penultimate. An app I love, even though The Creative Loop scrawl is the only thing worth keeping that I’ve captured.)
The sketch stuck with me, and I revisited it from time to time to look at it and refined it here and there.… Read more
I was thrilled to find an email in my inbox Tuesday about Yojimbo for iPad (iTunes) and Yojimbo 3.0. I didn’t have any expectations for it, and it was a nice surprise. As I wrote about a few weeks ago, I’ve reworked how I use Yojimbo so that it is really only a resource for design work on my laptop.… Read more
In some of the discussions weighing the pros and cons of ebooks, there is one significant point that I think is often overlooked. For my use, it is one of the most important. And Kindle ebooks do it best.
I capture digital notes from most books that I read. That might be underlined passages, or notes made in the margins.… Read more
I do a lot of my notetaking and capture digitally. Everything worth keeping ends up being stored digitally, so I prefer not having to capture information twice — even if it’s as simple as taking a picture of handwritten notes…
However, there are times when it is best to go with pen and paper.… Read more
As I promised a few weeks ago, I have a few posts in the works with some tips on managing my workflow for web design. This would be the first of those…
I’ve been building websites for about 15 years, mostly for personal projects like this one. There have been some side jobs here and there, but it’s been in the last year that I’m doing significant freelance work to put food in my family’s mouths.… Read more
A few months ago, I mentioned that I was using Shovebox — one of the endless number of Mac apps to organize notes, photos and more.
At the time, I mentioned that it was not going to replace Yojimbo for me. Still true. But I found that it worked well as a means of storing information for the short-term.… Read more
(Before I get into this post, an aside: Is my memory of the Double Whack Pack an example of good advertising by Tic Tac, or wasted memory cells on my part?)
Curio and Evernote are two of the most popular search terms that lead people here. So when I got an email last week about both, I knew it would be of interest to a lot of Creativityist readers.… Read more
My use of Scrivener has been increasing of late. I’ve had a few different projects that require the ongoing collection and shaping of ideas. Yojimbo is my general idea bucket, but when I am focusing in on a specific project, Scrivener works much better for collecting, arranging and developing ideas and research in one place.… Read more
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I am a husband, dad, lover of words, webdesigner / WordPress consultant, and the pastor of a church community in Austin.
Most of my life, professional or otherwise, is marked by ongoing creative work: generating content or shaping ideas that didn't exist before. Read More →