Workflow on macOS

By Manny Fernandez

October 9, 2016

Sierra icon 2x

I have been currently running Mac OS X for a year (since this writing). I have become obsessed with workflows. If I can cut down 5 minutes of my time, that is 5 extra minutes I have to enjoy life (although usually it is to work more).

Currently I run a MacBook Pro 15″ Retina with 16GB or RAM and a 1TB Flash Drive. Love it.

Applications I use on the MacBook:

OmniFocus – This application allows me to import all my tasks for a particular project and define ‘defer dates’ (AKA Start Dates) and due dates. When on site, I can create a perspective which is essentially a filter to only show me tasks pertaining to that project; helps with my A.D.D.

TextExpander – This application allows you to create shortcuts of text and even smart prompting for use in scripts. For instance, if I were to type ‘;re’ (without the quotes) this is what it would automatically replace it with:

Regards,

Manny

Evernote – Wow! What can I say about Evernote? I love it. It syncs to Windows, Mac, Linux (web), iPhone and Android. With iOS (recently release on Android as well) you can take a picture of a business card and not only will it save the picture of the card in Evernote, but it will add it to your contacts, send a LinkedIn invite (optional) and can send the person who you just scanned your vCard. It supports markdown and with the premium edition, allows up to 4 GB a month of uploads.

1Password – Great Password manager. Syncs with iOS, Mac and now Windows. Has a great security feature as well that monitors sites that have been compromised and notifies you to change your password for that site.

SecureCRT – One of my favorite tools. I used this while I was running Windows, then when I ran Linux for many years, and now on Mac. It is fantastic. It supports python scripts and has a great script recording feature. Saves your sessions so you can easily connect to customers. I have over 300 sessions in my config. I am a beta-tester for VanDyke Software and love to put new versions through the ringer.

UltraEdit – Great text editor with so much more. Great RegEx support as well. I use this daily.

BusyCal – Love this calendar app. It integrates with Exchange, Gmail. Office 365, iCloud etc. Very flexible and much cleaner than the default calendar.

PDF PenPro – Great for creating PDF Forms, has an incredible OCR feature where it will turn a PDF into a Word Document.

MailTags 4 – This is a must have. It allows me to send an email and add a follow up or tickler to it. This way I can set it to remind me in three days (or whatever you like) that I sent you an email and was awaiting a response. Additionally, it allows you tag mail with projects and or keywords.

Mail Butler – This is a new one to my toolbox, but I wrote a blog post about it. Excellent tool.

Cisco Spark – Spark is an excellent collaboration tool that allows you to create teams and within the teams create rooms.

Applescript for my projects

Here is a link to myscript.txt

Although still a work in progress, this is essentially what it does:

I have a shortcut key ⌘ 8, which will pop-up and ask me for the Job Name, then the Customer Name and then ask if I want to create an OmniFocus project for it. Once I enter the Job Name and the Customer name it will automatically create all of my directory structure I use for a common project. If I choose YES on the OmniFocus question, it will ask me where the OmniOutline file is that contains the tasks. I then import it into OmniFocus. It then creates an Evernote note with the Customer, Job Name and Date.

Using TextExpander I have created a shortcut for updates Evernote, OmniFocus or even the office ticketing system. By typing ‘;up’, Text Expander will automatically add:

===============================================

20141209-0037:

I can then start typing the update. As you can see it adds the Year, Month and Day plus the current time. Very useful for updating statuses.

I also use mail plugins for Evernote which allow me to move/copy things to my Evernote.

:: Coming Soon: Part 2 and iOS workflow.

Workflow on macOS

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