Leo at www.mnmlist.com (got to love that url) has a Definitive Guide to a Minimalist Mac Setup that is an interesting read for OS X users out there. I think he is missing out by not using Time Machine, but he links to a bunch of great apps and has a lot of ideas on how to keep your computer lean and work focused.
I think Leo provides a great list of apps (I use many myself).
I’m not sure that a lot of the rest of it is for me though. A few of those apps have “fullscreen” modes to hide everything else, and really, if you have to go so far as to hide every possible distraction, you’ve got more serious issues in my opinion.
Also, to go so far as to try to maximize the amount of free memory on a multi-gigahertz / multi-gigabyte system and then work with web apps and text files seems a bit OCD to me.
But then again, what do I know, I don’t have a blog with 100k+ faithful readers :)
(I’m quite happy that I am able to concentrate sufficiently at *any* computer on *any* operating system and work productively without having to tweak the heck out of it.)
Makes you wonder why he is using a Mac at all…
Exactly… a typewriter would be just as good, you’d think.
@Brett – It is kind of hard to post to a blog from a typewriter. :)
True enough – though if ultimate focus when writing is desired, a typewriter would do the trick. Then just use a scanner with OCR into a computer, and upload your post!
(Yes, I’m being silly now…)
@Brett – I’ve been considering getting an old typewriter to try writing with it–just to see how it changes the way I think.
@Mark,
Of course, you won’t get the tactile feel but there are a few programs that have those kinds of “typewriter” modes, where you can’t backspace or anything.
Liquid Story Binder XE (for Windows) has such a mode, and I’m sure I’ve encountered a couple of others. I use LSBXE via Fusion on my Mac and it does encourage you to write like the wind – full screen, no changing your mind as you go!
@Brett – That’s pretty interesting. I hadn’t seen a word processor that won’t let you edit your writing as you go. I’m not sure if that would make my writing better or worse.
Do you like writing like that?
@Mark,
Well, it is an option in the software – so you can turn it on or off as you like, just as you can make it true fullscreen or not.
It depends on what you want to do, I guess.
Truth be told – just as I’m disciplined enough to not have to turn off and hide all potential distractions, so I am able to “just write” without backspacing and editing as I go.
It can be done by learning a new habit (and that’s one area where Leo can help all of us!)