The idea of ‘Inbox Zero’ is compelling. The promise goes like this: Just clean out …
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Inbox Zero is the path to insanity
The idea of ‘Inbox Zero’ is compelling. The promise goes like this: Just clean out your inbox every day and your productivity will soar. And, to a certain degree, this is true in my opinion. It is a good idea to pursue the goal of an empty inbox. By splitting up your mail into different categories and define ways on how to handle them, you can break up the vast number of mails we face every day. I probably should write about my process at some point. But not today. Today, I’d like to write about the underlying motivation of …
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The iPad Buying Guide (April 2022)
One of the most important questions that arises for paperless studying is that of reading and note-taking. The iPad is generally a good solution for this. In this article, I have a look at all currently available iPad models and answer the question: Which iPad should I buy for university? The obvious solution: laptops But first, let’s take a quick look at the obvious solution: laptops. If you look into any lecture hall, you will see many, many MacBooks (usually MacBook Airs), supplemented by one or the other Samsung device, rarely Lenovos or others. That makes sense, since most people …
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Farewell, OmniFocus, farewell!
For ages, I’ve been a devout OmniFocus user. Even more so after reading Kourosh Dini’s excellent book Creating Flow with OmniFocus. OmniFocus was an integral part of my productivity system. Most days, OmniFocus’ familiar interface was the first thing in the morning and the last in the evening on my computer screen. One could say, it was the most important app in my life. However, sometimes it feels like a company is moving in a direction you don’t want to follow anymore. I had this feeling first when OmniFocus introduced its built-in automation engine. Yes, it is an incredible achievement …
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Eine neue Ära für Papierlos Studieren / A new beginning for this blog
Es ist jetzt ziemlich genau 4 Jahre her, dass ich den ersten Artikel auf diesem Blog veröffentlicht habe. Ich wollte damals einfach eine Möglichkeit haben, über eine Leidenschaft von mir zu schreiben: Digitale Produktivität, Apps, Workflows, Technik-Kram. Und da ich schon einige Jahre Erfahrung mit einem politischen Blog gesammelt hatte (Blog | Buch), war es naheliegend, wieder einen Blog zu starten. Seitdem sind 145 Artikel und ein Buch hinzugekommen. Zugleich hatte und habe ich mehr Erfolg damit, als ich je gedacht hätte. Monat für Monat lesen mehrere Zehntausend Menschen meine Artikel und es hat sich die ein oder andere …
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Add your COVID vaccination certificate to the Wallet app with iOS 15.4
The latest iOS release 15.4 has a few new features to offer, including the ability to use FaceID while wearing a mask. Also new is the function to import the Covid vaccination certificate (for EU citizens) into the iPhone Wallet and the Health app. To accomplish this, you don’t have to do anything other than scan the QR code you received after getting vaccinated – that’s it. After that, you can find the proof in both Health and Wallet.
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My newfound love for DevonThink
I had turned my back on DevonThink for a long time: too complicated, constant problems with iCloud, and often just overkill. Recently, however, the app has become a permanent part of my setup again. What has changed? Some time ago, I had a series on Devonthink here on the blog, in which I introduced and also evaluated the program. At that time, I used it as my digital archive, where I really stored everything: from scientific papers to electricity bills. Over time, the frustrations have accumulated, especially because I had problems with the iCloud sync again and again. Whether this …
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Meine neu entdeckte Liebe für DevonThink
Ich hatte DevonThink lange den Rücken gekehrt: zu kompliziert, ständig Probleme mit iCloud und oft einfach zu viel des Guten. Seit kurzem ist die App aber wieder fester Bestandteil meines Set-ups. Was hat sich geändert? Vor einiger Zeit hatte ich hier auf dem Blog eine Reihe zu Devonthink, in der ich das Programm vorgestellt und auch bewertet habe. Ich habe es damals als mein digitales Archiv genutzt, in welchem ich eigentlich alles abgelegt habe: vom wissenschaftlichen Paper bis zur Stromrechnung. Über die Zeit haben sich dann die Frustrationen gehäuft, v.a. weil ich immer wieder Probleme mit dem iCloud-Sync hatte. Ob …
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How I use Twitter, Readwise, and Obsidian to keep myself updated on the war in Ukraine
I don’t want to say too many words about the terrible things that are going on in Ukraine right now. This is the wrong place for that. But the war there prompted me to inform myself very thoroughly about various topics, such as the history of the war, the situation in Crimea or the Donbass, or military-strategic considerations, so that I can better assess the situation there. As a political scientist, I also have a professional interest in this regard. Twitter has become an enormously important source for me. You can say whatever you want about Twitter, but there are …
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Wie ich mich mit Twitter, Readwise und Obsidian über den Krieg in der Ukraine informiere
Ich will gar nicht viele Worte über die schrecklichen Dinge verlieren, die gerade in der Ukraine vor sich gehen. Dafür ist das hier der falsche Ort. Der Krieg dort war aber Anlass für mich, mich sehr intensiv über verschiedene Themen wie die Vorgeschichte des Krieges, die Situation auf der Krim oder im Donbass oder auch militärisch-strategische Erwägungen zu informieren, damit ich die Lage dort besser einschätzen kann. Als Politikwissenschaftler habe ich ja auch ein fachliches Interesse in dieser Hinsicht. Twitter ist dabei zu einer enorm wichtigen Quelle für mich geworden. Man kann über Twitter ja sagen, was man will, aber …
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My 8 favourite Obsidian plugins (2)
Obsidian benefits greatly from its strong plugin infrastructure. I have picked four of my favourite Obsidian plugins for this article.
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