I’m just sayin’.
Computers have this way of constipating your thoughts because they take away one of the most natural thought laxatives known to man and woman alike.
Computing isn’t conducive to doodling.
But TextEdit can help. Use it as a scratch pad – a temporary spot to hold numbers, bits of text, thoughts, or anything else that chips off during your productive process.
In its simplest form, TextEdit can be just a little box. It can be any size and fit next to any other window. It’s the easiest way to look at two things at once, and it can really accelerate your productivity.
By using TextEdit as holder of temporary bits and bytes, you’re less likely to encumber your mind’s RAM. And you’re less likely to flip back and forth between windows.
Give it a try.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Eddie,
Though I often neglect it, I set up a daily log script to capture thoughts via Launchbar and toss them into Notational Velocity with a timestamp. Every day starts a new file. What you write here reminds me of that, and it’s helpful when I actually use it!
I posted a link to the actual script and some of my adjustments to it a few months ago: http://www.byjohnchandler.com/2011/01/18/a-very-simple-daily-log-using-launchbar-and-applescript/
Oh, and I would argue that Launchbar/Daily Log aside, Notational Velocity makes more sense for what you describe than TextEdit, if only for the quick search and retrieval of thoughts.
This is a good tip, John. My problem — and this will sound dumb — is that even as great as NV is, I still find myself wanting each thing I create there to have “purpose” from the outset.
By opening a blank TextEdit window, my mind is relieved of needing to make what I put there important. Sometimes that’s when the best things come out — and then those get tossed in NV.
I’m an odd one, though. I like your approach.
You’re not odd. You’re just practically efficient.
Eh, no offense, this ‘look how great textedit is’ rant is posted every few months. Yes, it’s very simple, yes you can do what you’re doing. I still find notational velocity far better. Instead of trying to figure out what I will keep, and what I might need when I’m out with my iPhone, what goes where, I’ll just put it in notational velocity. Some days when I’m using random bits I’ll just use a NV page called ‘random’.
Anything I copy is in my clip history, so I don’t need textedit for that.
There’s also (I can’t remember the name) an app that’s even simpler than textedit around. Takes up less ram, is called up by a key combo, and is, in fact, one page. Can’t remember the name though.
I really thing most people (not you, of course) that push textedit mainly do so to say ‘hey, look at me using textedit’. I think there’s better options for most people.
I love TextEdit. One of my fav things is that it opens Word docs! Rather than wait for Word to load (I don’t use it that often) I can review a doc in TextEdit. And if I am copying and pasting (which I did about 4 hours of last night), copying from TextEdit is far friendly than from Word. TextEdit is fast, simple, and versatile.
Now, I’m not an old Mac-hacker – I come from the Linux world – but you’re all wrong. And believe me I tried to use TextEdit perhaps even more than enough. It’s just not enough of a text editor itself.
I never use rich text so formatting is out of the way. But I do spend my whole day writing in two different languages and in two different alphabets: I need spell check for both, ability to launch the editor and open files both from Finder and Terminal, fullscreen and if possible – markdown (for when I’m posting to my blog).
MacVim is the only editor that gives me all this. The spell check for me as a writer is one of the biggest advantages of Vim.
I used to believe in TextEdit but lately I use nothing but Vim.
I couldn’t agree more. Hooray for TextEdit. It’s my temporary storage shelf for almost everything.
I keep different information in different software “buckets” – general reference notes in Yojimbo, tasks in Things, projects in Circus Ponies Notebook. But before my brain figures out which bucket I need to record a thought into, my fingers are typing a keyboard shortcut to launch TextEdit, and jotting it down. When I’m done, I can decide where to file it permanently. But the great thing is that until that point, I don’t have to think about it. TextEdit is hardwired into me.
Oh and I almost almost always use TextEdit in plain text mode. You didn’t mention that, but I recommend setting its prefs to default to plain text.
All great comments. While I did a poor job of saying it in the post, in this context, I think TextEdit is representative of any plain text “thought box” that you could create next to another window. Maybe it’s while reading a PDF. Maybe it’s while working in a document or spreadsheet. Maybe it’s while writing app code.
I’m definitely not committed to TextEdit as my only text editor. I love TextMate and I even play with the free Fraise from time to time. And of course, nvALT is the ultimate destination for any plain text I want to keep.
TextEdit is the new Stickies.
Sometimes TextMate. Depends what’s open at the time.
TextEdit is almost always active on my Mac. Always in plain text mode. Doubt I could get through my day without it.
Hate to throw a spanner in the works but I use Bean for my little scratch pad all the time. Bean rocks. That is all.
{ 1 trackback }