Drafts for iOS: The Official Point Guard of my iPhone

There’s a new most-used app on my iPhone. Upon first inspection it seems to be a simple note-taking app. But underneath the hood it’s the equivalent of a hybrid electric car getting over 200 miles per gallon. I came across Drafts for iOS thanks to David Sparks of MacSparky. I’ve mentioned the app before, but I thought I’d share more in-depth about how I’ve come to use and love it and how it’s made it’s way into the illustrious iPhone dock. First, here’s a sampling of what I use it for. I’ll get into the specifics a bit further down: Writing reminders for myself Taking down notes and quotes from (library) books I’m reading Writing tweets and sending them to Buffer Sending emails to myself Sending a text to Niki (or a saved group) Copying down people’s contact information Saving my workout plans Adding new notes to Evernote Adding to my reading list Adding to my wish list Creating calendar events Saving documents to Dropbox Writing short notes in Markdown Searching my blog Looking for products on Amazon Finding a saved password in 1Password Jotting down a quick idea and saving it to my ideas list In just the list above, it takes the place of using at least 11 different apps. And that’s just scratching the surface. Here’s why Drafts is awesome. ...

September 6, 2013 Â· 8 min Â· 1503 words Â· Jordan Shirkman

Save Your Fingers from Finger Fatigue: Using a Text Expander to Improve Your Productivity

Finger fatigue. It’s what you develop after answering a crap ton (more than a normal ton, for those of you who aren’t up on your international measurements) of emails after the holidays. Well, prepare your fingers to do a little happy dance of relief after this delightful world of text expansion is revealed to you. There are certain things that you write frequently that are just a pain to keep typing out on your computer or smartphone. Things I’m always typing: my email for website logins, my address, bill payment information*, certain phrases at the end of emails i.e. “If you have any questions, please let me know”, etc. ...

January 2, 2013 Â· 5 min Â· 930 words Â· Jordan Shirkman