Tag Archive for: Featured

Synology NAS for home backup operations

Home Backup Process

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Over the years, I’ve had an evolving process for backing up things that are important to me. Not unlike many others, I started off creating backups on CD or DVD media, with the presumption that I could archive data (e.g., documents, photos, software) permanently this way. We now know, of course, that optical media is nowhere near permanent, with a life expectancy of 5-20 years, depending on type. I later relied on encrypted volumes in a second internal hard drive, mirrored with an external hard drive. This is certainly an improvement but also not optimal.

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Apple Shortcuts application on iPad

Creating Deep Links in Apple Notes

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I’m in a really weird place with my workflow lately. I capture tasks in OmniFocus and use that as both my digital inbox and task management application. In the past, I used Evernote as my primary reference solution, adding both long-term storage (articles that I found that I know I’ll eventually need to refer to again) and project content (e.g., brainstorming personal goals to understand motivations, incremental targets, capturing status updates). I also used it for meeting notes from 2011-2015 while working for a company that had assigned me a Mac as my work laptop.

When I started working another company in 2015, they only used Windows machines, and since I was in a role that was more prone to HIPAA controls, it was not an option to have Evernote on my work laptop. I started using OneNote for capturing meeting notes and relied on Evernote only from my personal computers for personal content.

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GTD tags and contexts used for organization

Rethinking GTD Contexts

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I recently read the article A Fresh Take On Contexts by Sven Fechner, a Twitter user that I used to follow (he stopped posting), on his blog, Simplicity Bliss. It’s an older article, posted in 2011.

Sven talked about the evolution of GTD both as a practice and from a system perspective. Where he lands, is that contexts have become somewhat ubiquitous in the past several years with online accessibility blending between home and work, and with contexts like “Computer” no longer meaning you’re at home using a desktop. His point is that whether you’re laying on the couch, sitting in your office, or waiting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office, there’s a good chance you have access to the same computer-based tasks, as well as office and phone tasks.

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