While I get my head around the main theme of this blog I thought I'd start adding a few things I have wanted to do for a while and the first one is my home screen on my Nexus 4.
This is not meant to be a shot of "beauty" or how tricked out my phone is. It's more towards productivity - what apps I use, why and why they are in the home screen as opposed to other screens.
So, here's my home screen:
Then, going from the bottom up are my:
Business apps:
Drive for access to my documents online. I am learning to use this more and more to eliminate the thoughts of "where is that document?" distraction. Everything I am working on goes into Drive. So if I am out and about I know I will have access to anything I need. For example, I met up with a recruitment company today and had my CV on my phone to refer to if I needed to.
Evernote is the reference section. I've tried using it as a to do list but it seemed cumbersome, though I can see how Fraser Speirs uses his and it makes sense. But otherwise I use it for all receipts, warranties, paper mail worth keeping etc. (Letters of employment, bills, tax outcomes etc)
Any.Do is my to do list. I started using Any.do ages ago, before the Any.Do moment had arrived. It has a nice clean interface. I wish it has proper subtasks. But again, I need one system where everything goes for my to dos and this is it. I'll write post later on my very first hack for to do lists back in the late 90's. These days it would be considered quite retro.
Cal is my calendar and as it is made by the good folk at Any.Do it syncs with the Any.Do app. So the idea is these two apps sync with each other and make my life simpler. That's the plan anyway!
Kindle is a great reading app. I have tried a few but keep coming back to Kindle. I still need to work out how to add PDFs into the app but I just need to follow the instructions. The 4.7" Nexus screen is fine for reading on public transport or a plane. If I need a bigger screen I have the Nexus 7 as well. But if I'm engrossed in the subject screen size becomes immaterial.
Maps - I just use it when I need to find an address that may be tricky. Works well.
Camera - the camera on the N4 is not the best so I rarely use it. Having said that I did have the iPhone 5S and took some photos side by side and then ran a slideshow on my PC. Now, I know the photo fanatics out there will be horrified but I could hardly tell the difference on my screen. So the 5S went and I kept the N4. I do know the quality at some level is a lot better on the iPhone. But I am not a photo nut. Pixels are in the eye of the beholder.
Play Music - I listen to podcasts, music and the occasional book. It works. It's fine.
My Health Row - these are the apps I use to record my movement and food intake. I can be a bit OCD about this hence I record my food (My FitnessPal), exercise (Runkeeper), steps (Noom) and try and complete the 100 push ups (Hundred Push ups by SoftwareX) program. (I have started that program and not completed it about 10 times now! Shame on me! But it's there whenever I feel the urge to punish myself!)
Being Social - The top row is my social media row which I am learning to use more effectively each day.
I've created lists in Twitter which I check daily and then get on to other things. Some posts and links are really good and I need to follow them up. Other are just nice to know. I'll edit these lists as time goes on.
Google+ I tend to like. There are good days and bad days but I do like its format and ease of use. I'll become more effective as time goes on. Early days.
LinkedIn is necessary for my work at the moment. It's good to help with networking and who I know. The annual subscription is coming up soon. I evaluate it every year but always resubscribe.
Ah, Facebook. The time I waste on you. Actually, I have reconnected with a lot of school friends recently so I should not be too hard on Facebook. I also completed a few physical challenges by being part of a Facebook group. Outside of that and following my kids when they are overseas, it's a pretty quick look each morning.
Lastly I have tried to organise them by theme. More for my ageing brain to remember where my icons are. Generally, it works. My Nexus 7 is set up pretty much the same way, though with more icons.
So that's it for now. There is some vague logic behind it.
This is not meant to be a shot of "beauty" or how tricked out my phone is. It's more towards productivity - what apps I use, why and why they are in the home screen as opposed to other screens.
So, here's my home screen:
The dock section contains the apps I use everyday: Mail, Hangouts for SMS, Chrome to browse (obviously) and the phone app. I don't play games so there are none here ... at all! (a tad sad perhaps!)
Then, going from the bottom up are my:
Business apps:
Drive for access to my documents online. I am learning to use this more and more to eliminate the thoughts of "where is that document?" distraction. Everything I am working on goes into Drive. So if I am out and about I know I will have access to anything I need. For example, I met up with a recruitment company today and had my CV on my phone to refer to if I needed to.
Evernote is the reference section. I've tried using it as a to do list but it seemed cumbersome, though I can see how Fraser Speirs uses his and it makes sense. But otherwise I use it for all receipts, warranties, paper mail worth keeping etc. (Letters of employment, bills, tax outcomes etc)
Any.Do is my to do list. I started using Any.do ages ago, before the Any.Do moment had arrived. It has a nice clean interface. I wish it has proper subtasks. But again, I need one system where everything goes for my to dos and this is it. I'll write post later on my very first hack for to do lists back in the late 90's. These days it would be considered quite retro.
Cal is my calendar and as it is made by the good folk at Any.Do it syncs with the Any.Do app. So the idea is these two apps sync with each other and make my life simpler. That's the plan anyway!
Kindle is a great reading app. I have tried a few but keep coming back to Kindle. I still need to work out how to add PDFs into the app but I just need to follow the instructions. The 4.7" Nexus screen is fine for reading on public transport or a plane. If I need a bigger screen I have the Nexus 7 as well. But if I'm engrossed in the subject screen size becomes immaterial.
Maps - I just use it when I need to find an address that may be tricky. Works well.
Camera - the camera on the N4 is not the best so I rarely use it. Having said that I did have the iPhone 5S and took some photos side by side and then ran a slideshow on my PC. Now, I know the photo fanatics out there will be horrified but I could hardly tell the difference on my screen. So the 5S went and I kept the N4. I do know the quality at some level is a lot better on the iPhone. But I am not a photo nut. Pixels are in the eye of the beholder.
Play Music - I listen to podcasts, music and the occasional book. It works. It's fine.
My Health Row - these are the apps I use to record my movement and food intake. I can be a bit OCD about this hence I record my food (My FitnessPal), exercise (Runkeeper), steps (Noom) and try and complete the 100 push ups (Hundred Push ups by SoftwareX) program. (I have started that program and not completed it about 10 times now! Shame on me! But it's there whenever I feel the urge to punish myself!)
Being Social - The top row is my social media row which I am learning to use more effectively each day.
I've created lists in Twitter which I check daily and then get on to other things. Some posts and links are really good and I need to follow them up. Other are just nice to know. I'll edit these lists as time goes on.
Google+ I tend to like. There are good days and bad days but I do like its format and ease of use. I'll become more effective as time goes on. Early days.
LinkedIn is necessary for my work at the moment. It's good to help with networking and who I know. The annual subscription is coming up soon. I evaluate it every year but always resubscribe.
Ah, Facebook. The time I waste on you. Actually, I have reconnected with a lot of school friends recently so I should not be too hard on Facebook. I also completed a few physical challenges by being part of a Facebook group. Outside of that and following my kids when they are overseas, it's a pretty quick look each morning.
Lastly I have tried to organise them by theme. More for my ageing brain to remember where my icons are. Generally, it works. My Nexus 7 is set up pretty much the same way, though with more icons.
So that's it for now. There is some vague logic behind it.
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