I’m a huge fan of productivity tools, and one of my current favourites is Cultured Code’s Things.
I was reading a post by Gail Carson Levine on handling the passage of time in storytelling, and came across a book recommendation. Ordinarily, I’d be torn at this point. Do I finish reading the post, or go make a note about the book recommendation?
Now, I just hit CTRL-spacebar and a dialogue window that pops up automatically, ALREADY FILLED IN with my highlighted text as well as the source URL and title. At this point, I can just hit Enter and it’s added to my Inbox in Things; I can go back later if I want to add details and file it in the right folder. Or I can take a couple seconds now and add a subject, then pick “To Read” from the drop-down menu before sending it to Things.
Next time I’m in a library or bookstore trying to decide what to read next, I just call up my Things list on my iPhone.
This method is also great for clipping inspiration quotes, articles, or anything else I want to save for reading later. I switched my default browser from Firefox to Safari because the keyboard shortcut doesn’t work in Firefox.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m using a pair of Firefox add-ons called “Copy as HTML Link” and CoLT for something similar: The first creates a link to the current page using the selected text, the second copies an existing link with its text. They go into the clipboard, and I just paste them into my favorite text editor, which is always open on the appropriate notes file in another window.
A few months ago I started using Evernote (www.evernote.com), which basically does the same thing. It also has a free iPhone app. It’s SO nice and I feel so much more organized than before when I’d bookmark everything but then never be able to find where I saved a certain page.
This is an excellent tool I’ve not yet come across so thanks to you and all those people that have suggested these productivity tools.
Key to good work is organisation and I think this is definitely a way to ensuring this is the case.