Capturing Ideas and Thoughts on the Move

As I mentioned in previous entries. I'm an avid audiobook listener. I have a twenty minute commute between my home and work. Using my forty minutes of commute time in addition to listening when I exercise, I easily go through two audiobooks a month.

I listen to wide range of titles: to give you an idea I am currently listening to The Creative Destruction of Medicine by Eric Topol and Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing by Po Bronson.

Often, when listening to audiobooks in my car, I have a flash of insight. It might be an idea for a research project, and idea for an entry in my blog, or a quotation I'd like to capture. Although I could pull off the road and type my thoughts into my device, I've found a more efficient method that works when I'm on the move. Before you read more, please go through my post on Capturing Ideas.

Okay, back? Now let's talk about what I do to capture ideas on the move.

I'm an avid user of Siri. If you don't have a Siri enabled iOS device, you won't be able to take advantage of this workflow. First I ask Siri to launch TextExpander. Then I ask Siri to launch Drafts. Within Drafts I hit the Microphone Icon on the bottom of the virtual keyboard and dictate a TextExpander Snippet Trigger and then hit done. TextExpander expands the snippet for me. For instance, if I dictate: "dot i d x" Textexpander launches my personal ideas snippet. Next, I hit the Mic Button again and dictate my idea and then hit done. Siri converts my voice to text.

I've configured my Drafts menu so I know the "send to Notesy" choice is first. I wait until I've parked my car before sending my new note(s) from Drafts to Notesy (letting Notesy sync while walking to my office).

Using this method, I've captured many ideas that would have been lost had I waited until I reached my destination. I hope it helps you too.

Switching from SimpleNote to Notesy

In past entries I’ve written about how I rely on the combination of SimpleNote and nvALT to capture ideas, meeting notes, and more. I’ve been blissfully ignorant of the syncing issues between the two. I’ve had little problem with this combination, but apparently others have. 

When I read that Brett Terpstra (the architect of nvALT) will no longer support SimpleNote, I knew it was time to find an alternative. For me, the choice was between Notesy and Nebulous Notes. Since I need my SimpleNote replacement primarily as a pass-through and for quick mobile searches, I settled on Notesy. I’ll reserve Nebulous for more in-depth tasks.

I also learned that Brett recommends DropBox syncing for nvALT–so I’ve moved my nvALT Folder back to DropBox. I backed up my folder and followed Michael Schechter’s directions to make sure I suffered no data loss.

The total time to make the switch was about 10 minutes.

Meeting Workflows: Processing Meeting Notes and Discovering Linkages

It was a great deal of fun to join my friends, David Sparks - MacSparky, Katie Floyd, and Brett Terpstra (hosted by Dan Miller) on stage at MacWorld Live to discuss my Meeting Workflow. The session was webcast live from the MacWorld site. Following the session, I received many questions as to how I process my notes once they’ve been collected. Here is what I do…..

As I mentioned, I write and capture all my notes in Plaintext (using Drafts on my iPad and iPhone and nvALT on my Mac). I covered the way I capture ideas (IdeaX) using TextExpander. I use a similar method for capturing meeting notes (MeetX), chunks of writing (ScribbleX), quotations (QuoteX), and random thoughts (ThoughtX). Using Simplenote Notesy, I’m able to keep my notes on my iPad and iPhone in sync with my Mac. A single folder indexed by nvALT serves as the repository for everything, regardless of their content. In a pinch, I can search my notes on my iPad or iPhone using SimpleNote Notesy, but the true power of this workflow is realized when I return to my Mac.

I have alluded to my love of Devonthink Pro Office. I’m especially fond of DT's ability to find related notes using its artificial intelligence. For the purpose of this workflow, I have a single database that indexes three things: (1) my collection of manuscripts (from Papers2), (2) my web clippings, and (3) my nvALT notes. My web clippings are added directly to my DT database, but my Papers folder and nvALT folder are INDEXED, not imported into the same database. Indexing in DT is done by choosing File:Index… and navigating to the folder of interest on your computer (this is only during the initial set-up). You will have to manually update the index your folders each time you add new information. This is quick and simple– done by choosing the appropriate folder in DT and choosing File:Update Indexed Items.

When I’m writing (or searching for information), I can select a particular note and find all related information in my library-whether it’s a scholarly article, a newspaper clipping, a web site, or a note I’ve taken. Often times, DT finds linkages for me that weren’t readily apparent. This speeds my writing process immensely and makes me look like a magician to my peers. I hope it works for you too.

Appended March 2, 2013: Read this entry on why I switched from SimpleNote to Notesy.

Meeting WorkFlows: Efficiently Capturing Meeting Notes

In academics, like every other corporate entity, meetings are a necessary evil.

I’ve tried all sorts of solutions for capturing notes and action items from my meetings. For many years, I would haul my MacBook Pro into the room, relying on a slew of software invoked through Launchbar.

Next, I transitioned to the cool LiveScribe Echo. The Achilles Heel of Smart Pen Technology for me, true to the physician stereotype, is that I have awful handwriting. Most of my handwritten notes were illegible. To make matters worse, sending handwritten notes to OmniFocus was a kludge.

Recently, I’ve been carrying my iPad + Zagg Folio to meetings. Although convenient and portable, I have continued to depend on a slew of software to capture my notes and to-dos. None of my methods were standardized; my notes would constantly get lost.

This inefficient workflow was why I was so interested in the 512 Pixel post, The Capture Form. The author developed a standardized PDF form to capture meetings. But that wasn’t what I found interesting. It was the very last line of the article, with a link to a TextExpander version of the form.

I riffed on his work and developed a new workflow for my iPad + Zagg that I’ve been trying out.

My workflow starts with setting up the following TextExpander snippet:

MeetX - Untitled - %Y-%m-%d at %H:%M

 

ATTENDEES:

JMT

BACKGROUND / REFERENCE:

 

NOTES:

 

ACTION ITEMS FOR ME:

 

ACTION ITEMS FOR OTHERS:

 

The first line automatically names the note as a meeting, appending the current date and time. I use the title "MeetX" to help me with search. I know if I search for MeetX I'll only see my meeting workflow notes (instead of every document that had Meet or Meetings). All that's left to do is fill in the title. Since I synchronize TextExpander between my Mac, iPad, and iPhone using DropBox, my snippet is immediately available on my all my devices.

The second part of the set-up involves OmniFocus and their Mail Drop service (note: in order for this to work you have to sync OmniFocus with the Omni Sync Server). If you haven’t done so, log onto the Omni Sync Server, and apply for the Mail Drop Beta (when I applied, I received my invite in a matter of minutes). Once accepted, you set up a unique email address that is your direct link to Sync Server. To learn more, check out the Omni Mail Drop story at MacSparky.

When I want to take meeting notes, on my iPad, with TextExpander running, I launch Drafts. I expand my snippet (in my case by typing “.mtg”), fill in a title, and am ready to go. If I’m preparing for a meeting in advance, I type in my reference material under the appropriate heading, then fill in the remaining fields during the meeting. Most days, I get started with my note taking immediately when I enter the room.

When the meeting is over, within Drafts, I forward my notes to Notesy Simplenote. Since I’ve set up Notesy to synchronize with NValt on my Mac (as I wrote about previously), my meeting notes are immediately available and searchable on all my devices.

If personal to-do items came out of the meeting, I have another step. From within Drafts, I select “forward to email,” type out a subject name, then email the note to my personalized Omni Mail Drop address. When I open OmniFocus, the item is waiting for me as an Action in my Inbox. Even cooler, the complete meeting text is available in the "Notes" field . If there are multiple actions embedded in the original meeting notes, I spend a few minutes processing the set into single unique actions.

An alternative: from within Drafts select "Send to Omnifocus as note" (of course you have OmniFocus installed on your iPad for this to work). Drafts will launch Omnifocus and the notes of your meeting will be placed in the appropriate section of a new action. The only thing left for you to do is type in the name of the action.

This workflow has helped me immensely. I now have an efficient, standardized, searchable, multi-device method for recording and retrieving my meeting notes.

I’m really excited about this workflow–I hope it works for you too. Let me know what you think.

Appended March 2, 2013: Read this entry on why I switched from SimpleNote to Notesy.

Workflow: Capturing Ideas

Ideas are my lifeblood. Whether ideas for writing projects, grants, or to-dos, I need a simple method to get the ideas out of my head and into my system. An idea might come to me during a meeting, in the car, or on a walk. My system has to be fast, ubiquitous, and flexible. The less thought I have to put into capturing my ideas, the better.

Over time, my workflow for capturing ideas has evolved. You won't be surprised my system revolves around plaintext.

Here is the software you'll need for this workflow (you may also want to read my previous entries on why I use plaintext, Launchbar, and Drafts):

TextExpander allows me to type short key combinations (called Snippets) that expand into words, phrases, or even pictures. I use TextExpander constantly to type things like my email address (.hm expands to my home email, .wm expands to my professional email). I use similar combinations for my home address, my city, state, and my email signature. TextExpander is available for iOS devices (called TextExpander Touch) and is integrated into an increasing number of iOS programs. Under preferences, I choose to keep TextExpander Snippets synchronized using DropBox. I highly recommend this--identical snippets are then available on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad only needing to be entered once.

One must also have nvALT - Notational Velocity Fork installed on your Mac. Notational Velocity Fork is a special version of Notational Velocity that was developed by the genius, Bret Terpstra. It allows me to create text notes seamlessly and has a lightning fast search function. nvALT launches and I just start typing. Whatever I type becomes the title of my new note (after I hit return) while simultaneously searching the nvALT database for matching text strings. Hitting return finalizes the title and move the cursor down to a full note area. It's very fast. You need to check three settings in nvALT. First, be sure to set the "Read from Notes" drop-down menu to your desired folder. I synchronize to my nvALT folder in DropBox. Second, under the "Synchronization" Tab, make sure SimpleNote synchronization is OFF. Finally, under the "Storage" Tab, make sure you're saving as plaintext (not as RTF or HTML). If you choose this set-up, you won't be able to encrypt the nvALT database, but the trade-off in accessibility for me is well worth the price.

Next, make sure you have Simplenote Notesy installed on your iPhone and iPad. Notesy is a note taking program that synchronizes between your Mac and iOS devices using DropBox. Make sure Notesy is configured to synchronize with your nvALT folder in Dropbox hierarchy. I use Notesy as a conduit and for searches, but I rarely use it for writing.

The final programs you'll need are Drafts for iPhone and Drafts for iPad. As I discussed in my previous entry, Drafts is my go-to note taking app and has a place on the coveted home-screen of both my iPhone and iPad. I can get information entered quickly. Only after the information is captured, do I need to decide where to route it. Drafts gives me dozens of possibilities that I can personalize to show or hide.

IDEAS WORKFLOW: when sitting at my Mac and and idea hits me I invoke Launchbar (hitting Command-Space), type nv then return--launching nvAlt. Depending on what the idea is, I use TextExpander snippets. For instance ".wix" automatically types the following: WiPPPx - Untitled - 2012-12-10. I have a similar snippet for project ideas ".idx" expands to IdeaX - Untitled - 2012-12-10, and many others as well. All I have to do is change the "Untitled" to something descriptive, hit return and start typing. My idea or writing snippet is captured to nvALT (and is thus searchable via Spotlight, nvALT, or any other search utility I prefer). Because I've set up synchronization these idea files are available on my iPhone or iPad regardless of location.

If i'm on my iPad or iPhone and want to capture an idea, I use Drafts. Once I've completed the thought (using typing or voice entry), I must enter a title. Since Drafts is TextExpander Touch enabled, I can use my same Snippets to name the idea to convention (make sure TextExpander is open on your iPad or iPhone for the text expansion to work). I then route the completed Drafts note to Notesy (via the Drafts interface). It is saved, synchronized, and available on all my devices, all the time.

I can then search and find single or multiple ideas using the nvALT search interface. If I type "IdeaX" in the nvALT search box, ALL my ideas are returned in neat order. If, instead, I'm searching for a specific idea, I can be more explicit with my search terms, finding related items or even a single item.

Although this workflow takes a bit of set-up, the payoff is immense. Over time, I have accumulated hundreds of potential projects, text snippets, and more using this method. Many of them would have been lost, had I not had a quick and convenient way to capture them.

I hope you find the workflow useful.

Appended March 2, 2013: Read this entry on why I switched from SimpleNote to Notesy.