At the end of the year, I will share with you a few of the "productivity tools" that I have used in depth this year.
Arc Browser
I've been using Arc Browser as my default browser since I got my first closed beta. In the article "After 2 rounds of $18 million funding, this startup wants to redefine the next generation of browsers", I also shared several of its design highlights, but looking back at the experience over the past few months, the most frequent are the following features - default full screen, Little Arc, multi-workspace switching, automatic tab closing. And the other small highlights it pushes, like artboards and split screens, are cool at first, but not used much in actual work scenarios.
Default full screen
After turning on the default full screen, the biggest feeling is that the space has become larger. Because there is no address bar, multi-tab interference, browsing the web is more "immersive", if the design of the web page itself is better, you don't even feel that you are using the browser, but directly operating an "application".
Little Arc & Multi-Workspace Switching
In my daily work, I often receive some links, and sometimes I just need to open a quick preview and then judge whether I need to continue to spend longer to consume. For example, the WeChat public account link sent by a colleague, the approval form that needs to be processed quickly, etc., the Little Arc small window mode perfectly meets this scene.
This reminds me of a theory in GTD - if a task only needs to be completed in 2 minutes, complete it immediately, otherwise add it to the to-do list.
A convenient place for Arc's workspace (Space) is to bind a profile to a workspace, such as a work-related and a personal-related, so that the cookies of the two profiles will not overwrite each other, and can be quickly switched on demand. Combined with Little Arc mode, when a link is received, you can also choose which Profile to open from. In the past, when using Chrome or Edge, you either needed to activate the window corresponding to the profile in advance, or you had to copy and paste the link yourself, or one more step. Like the example above, a link to Zhihu, I can choose to open it with the Social Profile. In the future, I hope that this step can be done more intelligently, such as configuring the Profile mapping rules in advance by URL.
Close tabs automatically
In the past, when I used to use Chrome, every few days, there would be dozens of tabs open, and then there would be a "one-click all close".
By default, Arc closes non-resident tabs after 12 hours to save memory. When necessary, I can also retrieve it from the historical browsing history, but I actually use it, and I hardly need to retrieve it manually, so this is a very high-frequency but almost imperceptible function that I usually use. Isn't that how a good tool should be?
Raycast
Most Mac users have used its Spotlight Search and, more advanced, tools like Alfred. Raycast is similar to Alfred, you can think of it as a shortcut center on Mac, in addition to searching, you can also complete a variety of shortcut operations, such as launching applications, opening hyperlinks, viewing calendars, viewing clipboard history, adjusting window layout, running third-party application scripts, etc., only unexpected, not impossible.
The reason for choosing Raycast is also simple - beauty is productivity, and after seeing its beautiful design, I gradually explored more of its advanced features, such as installing various third-party plugins.
Raycast recently published an "annual report" and the entire interface is beautifully done.
Flomo
Flomo has been a popular recommendation for many productivity tool users in the community. I have the Flomo app on my phone and computer, and whenever I have an idea, I quickly launch it to record. For example, when reading, exercising, meeting, or even eating and chatting, I will immediately record any new ideas or inspirations. If I expect it, I hope that in 2023 it will provide a Drafts-like voice entry feature on the Apple Watch, so that I can record anytime, anywhere.
I also turned on its "daily review" function, but the effect is not obvious after actual use. This area still relies more on setting a regular review cycle and allocating dedicated time.
WeChat reading
WeChat Reading has always been one of the most frequently used apps on mobile phones, and this time it is classified as a "productivity tool" mainly thanks to two functions.
One is its "web version" and the other is "audiobook", the combination of the two has greatly improved my reading experience and efficiency.
"Web Version" is very convenient for quickly browsing content on the computer, scribing lines, and taking notes in combination with other tools, which is more suitable for immersive scenes.
"Audiobooks" are suitable for fragmented scenes, such as sports, commuting, bedtime, and other scenes. I read it, and before I knew it, I had read dozens of books this year — a large percentage of which were celebrity biographies. When listening to a book, if I feel that this book is worth reading a second time, I will also use Flomo to record it, add some thoughts, notes, and points of interest, so that I can refer to it when I read it next time.
Linear
Linear is a recent foreign hot project management tool, the biggest advantage is "fast". I mainly use it for personal task management, such as reading books, new products or new technologies worth researching, I will record in Linear and follow up the progress.
Although Linear is a SaaS application, in terms of technical implementation, it adopts relatively excellent localization caching technology, and there will be no feeling of loading other Web products when used, which is completely like using a pure local client. Combined with Command + K commands, you can quickly search, create a new one, modify the state, switch to the next task, and so on. Linear has also recently been integrated with Raycast, making it more suitable for keyboard streaming users.
Mem.ai
Mem.ai is a note-taking tool, compared to Notion, which is talked about a lot in the community, its biggest feature is "lightweight, automated, intelligent". I use Mem.ai to make quick notes of my usual meetings, and because of Google Calendar, I can easily link and locate the meeting corresponding to this note. Mem.ai also automatically suggests similar notes, perfect for finding relevant content. Its ultimate goal is to achieve "no manual tidying" through intelligent organization, but I have recently used it and feel that it is still some distance from this goal.
Mem.ai has a lot of "automated workflows," officially called Flow, which won't be familiar to you if you know Zapier or IFTTT. I mainly use it to generate a daily summary note on a regular basis every day, combined with templates, to quickly help me review.
Recently, Mem has also launched the function of intelligent authoring assistance, and the ability to call OpenAI at the bottom level also requires additional fees. However, after trying it out, the effect of Chinese is not very good, and the tuning of this piece should not be the focus of their team at this stage.
Heptabase
Heptabase is a "visual note-taking" tool that can freely organize text, pictures, videos, and other content in a whiteboard-like manner, and present them visually for quick review and review later.
I mainly use it to take reading notes, and when I need to review after a while, I can quickly find the most critical information.
Obsidian
Obsidian is an open-source, free, purely native note-taking tool with a very active community and rich support for plugins. Many of Obsidian's concepts are similar to Roam Research and LogSeq, but from the perspective of iteration speed, quality, and plug-in richness, it can basically replace Roam Research and LogSeq (of course, Obsidian can also be used at the same time as LogSeq), the biggest advantage is localization and free, combined with iCloud or cloud disk tools, you can also easily achieve cloud synchronization.
Obsidian will launch the Canvas feature in version 1.1, which is an official plug-in that can already reach the same capabilities and experience as Heptabase from the demo. I think when it launches, I'll most likely be migrating from Heptabase to Obsidian Canvas.
Paralles Desktop
Due to work reasons, it is sometimes necessary to switch to the Windows platform to complete some transactions. In the past, it was common to install virtual machines such as VMware and VirtualBox, but it was time-consuming and laborious to find a suitable image to install.
In the past, Paralles was mainly used for remote desktop, but recently tried its paid function, and installed Windows with one click, saving a lot of time. Compared with the traditional virtual machine solution, the most powerful thing is that it realizes the seamless integration of Windows applications and Mac desktop experience, as if running a Windows application directly on the Mac, which is very efficient.
M1 MacBook Pro
Although it is the only hardware in this series, it should be ranked first if it is calculated from the use time.
The reason for recommending M1 is also very simple, one is battery life, especially when there are many video conferences, and there is no longer the problem of hot computers and too fast power consumption. The second and biggest advantage is that you can install iOS apps directly. For some apps that occasionally need to be used on a computer, it is often necessary to switch to a mobile phone because there is no corresponding desktop or a better web version.
After having the M1, I install its iOS app, combined with Raycast to quickly start, view, and close, saving a lot of time, such as Now, Clubhouse, ProductHunt, Small Universe, etc.
The most anticipated product for next year
This year, I have been looking for a tool that better combines "personal task management" and "calendar", and can facilitate the classification and review of time allocation. Tried several products like Akiflow, but it didn't quite meet my expectations. If you know this excellent tool, welcome to leave a message to recommend.