Part 3 - Designing Flows and a HomeScreen - iPad as my main computer

Many people have asked me why I’m trying to go iPad-only when I’m so productive on the Mac and don’t really need to go so far. Well, apart from being excited by the challenge and the new gadget, the other thing is to really re-think how I use my computer and why I do things I do the same way. I’ve already discovered in my last posts that I need to use different cloud services and also need to change the way I write which brings me to the real deal here: I’m really re-designing my “flows” or processes

The work is not a place to go, it’s a thing you do - was my favorite quote when I was writing my master thesis years ago about tele-working… and the “PC” is also just a machine that should help us get our stuff done… unless we are in the “PC-manufacturing/repairing” business where the PC is our job.

My iPad-only work imposes constraints that make me re-think how I use computer every day

As you have seen in my post about writing - I have to “design” the way I do writing on the iPad and the Mac. I have to make sure there’s almost no friction there and I focus on writing and not on “setting up to write”. I want to get my writing done as easily as possible.

There are more processes to come

What I’m saying here is that over the course of next weeks you’ll see more “flows” or “processes” on this blog where I’ll be explaining how I do stuff on the iPad with the apps at hand. I’ll be posting how I:

• do photo management and sharing with m family
• do videos for my show and for my family
• do coding
• do feedback loops with my team
• do email
• do reading
• do listening
• do everything else…

These all are completely new processes for me and I’m studying them to make sure I finally get them right, with as few apps and services as possible but also in the most focused way possible, too.

My early iPad home screen

Here’s the screenshot of my iPad homescreen as of now:

Apps for browsing:

Apps for creating:

Apps for traveling:

Apps for photo and video:

My iPad became my ultimate flow-management tool

Thanks to the fact that the iPad is so small, so full of great, focused apps, I can learn new processes and optimize the way I use my computer. And because there are no windows on the iPad, there are no distractions. It’s a different beast but my guess is, that even if I do get back to work on my computer for 20% of my time, I’ll be working on it in a totally different way than before, thinking about these processes a lot more.

Which flows do you use? How do you design your “processes” on your PC or your iPad or iPhone? Have you thought about your computer this way before?