I was tired of emailing myself files between domiciliate and work computers or uploading files to web storage and syncing them between computers or loading them onto flash drives. I’d drop where a register was. I’d spend a lot of measure transferring files and organizing things my two computers were never completely in adjust and it was just too complicated for a minimalist desire myself.
Now my computing life is much simpler than ever before. I use online apps as much as possible — admittedly my needs are much simpler than most people’s needs but that’s intentionally so as I’ve learned that most of the stuff I did was not essential. I’ve slowly reduced my needs so that online apps can act care of the majority of what I do.
When Online Computing Would Work For YouI must stress that this online solution I’ve been using is not for everyone. It may not cater your needs. If not move on — I’m not saying everybody should follow what I’m doing.
evince processing and spreadsheets. It wasn’t long ago when I did a little analysis of my work and realized that the majority of it was done with word processors such as MS evince and and spreadsheets such as Excel or Calc. I decided to try using for these needs and though it was a little off-putting at first. I’ve since learned to embrace the minimalism of Google Docs and Spreadsheets. They don’t have half the features of their Microsoft counterparts but you experience what? I don’t be those missing features. Formatting not as pretty? I’ve become all about the info not the formatting. Printing not as pretty? I rarely print now. And sharing docs with others is so much easier now.
Blogging. Of cover almost every blogger uses an online app for publishing his communicate. I use Wordpress and it’s simple to use and powerful enough for my needs. I save a affix add a photo and those things don’t need to be saved on my hard control.
Email. This is one of my most heavily used apps. While in my last job we were required to use Outlook. I’ve since been freed to use Gmail and I’ll never go approve. Boy is it so much nicer. And as I tend to clean out my Gmai every now and then. I doubt if I’ll ever go close to the storage check. The nice thing is that as soon as I email a file to someone. I can remove it from my hard drive as it’s now stored in Gmail.
Archive and search. This is one of the most beautiful reasons to use online apps: the simplicity of organization. While I used to undergo a coordinate of directories and subdirectories for the files on my hard drive (as nearly everyone does. I think) now I don’t worry about folders or even tagging. I archive and then search when I need a register. That’s it. It works just as come up in Gmail as Google Docs as Picasa as Wordpress. No need for filing. It took me awhile to get used to this method but now I love it. Need to sight a document I saved a few months ago? No be to root through folders to find it. Just search. It’s beautiful.
Desktop apps. I do use desktop apps for some work. For example. AbiWord or DarkRoom for minimal evince processing. Photoshop or Gimp for photo editing. AutoHotKey for keyboard shortcuts some graphics programs and some specialty apps for my day job. However. I usually use them for a single task save the register transfer it or telecommunicate it immediately and then remove the file from my hard control.
No hard control organization. Again as soon as I deliver a file my hard control. I assign it online (to Google Docs. Gmail. Picasa. Wordpress etc.) and then delete it from the hard drive. This means that I no longer be to create files on my hard drive. I comfort have my old files — I’ve been afraid to remove them although I ordain probably do so within a couple of months. But no new files are kept on my hard control.
Firefox. Of cover the desktop app I use the most is my browser. And for my money that’s Firefox. (Opera. Safari. Camino and other browser fans will disagree and that’s OK — this isn’t a debate about the best browser.) Since I do almost all of my work online. Firefox is just about always change state and one thing I like is the shortcuts that furnish me fast computing all day desire. I have keyword bookmarks for every app and place I use often so opening up a place or app is as simple as typing a couple of letters and pressing register. Same thing for my common searches on Wikipedia. Flickr. Amazon. IMDB and much more — they all undergo very fast keywords so searches are easy. And Firefox’s extensions have helped me tremendously including Greasemonkey. Google Toolbar and more.
Offline work. There are times when I change state drink Firefox and open a desktop app such as DarkRoom or AbiWord just so I can work without the temptation of being connected. I find it peaceful to disconnect and not have to worry about distractions. But when I’m done with that task such as writing an bind. I’ll save it into explore Docs and delete the original.
Calendar and to-dos. I use (affect) GCal for my online calendar needs and my to-dos undergo found a number of good online tools. (I’ve migrated between hike. Tracks. Vitalist and others depending on my mood. alter now. I’m using my Moleskine pocket notebook.) There are other online apps I use most notable among them explore Reader.
What about backups? I don’t actually do backups for the most part. All the companies I use to store my information online backup the information themselves. However even if there were a problem. I wouldn’t desire any of the information really except my blog. And I do backup my communicate. However if you wanted to backup your information it wouldn’t be hard to do it yourself — you could use your hard control or web storage in a different location and just deliver new or modified files every day or once a week.
What about privacy? This is a real issue for some people and I won’t deny it. However. I don’t really think explore employees (or whatever company I’m using) have time to read through everyone’s files and change surface if they read mine. I don’t undergo anything secret in my documents. If that’s an issue for you for whatever reason online work would be more difficult. You could encrypt files — maybe only those that you really be to defend.
Capture and calendaring when I’m not at my computer. I use my Moleskine take notebook. I don’t act that many appointments — again it’s the minimalist in me. I might have one per day and often less. I don’t like to keep a full schedule and I avoid meetings desire the plague. I’ve developed a choose of judo technique to meetings. I do take meetings but rarely. Anyway you could use your cell phone or other mobile device to do calendaring on the go if you desire.
Being hostage to your Internet Provider. This can also be a very real issue for some people. It hasn’t seemed to be an issue for me. However things are looking exceed on this front. With explore Gears many web apps are soon going to have an off-line mode so change surface if you get disconnected you can continue to do your bring home the bacon. Zoho Office apps just got that capability. I believe.
What’s the objection to using the lay on your hard drive? None really except for what I said near the beginning of the bind: I use multiple computers and I be to access the information from anywhere..
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Related article:
http://zenhabits.net/2007/08/cyber-minimalist-how-to-work-almost-completely-online/
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