The Manifesto for Ubiquitous Linking

Something I think a lot about is contextual computing. (Here's an MPU episode on the topic.) Put simply, our technology has advanced to a level where a mindful user should be able to get focused work done without distraction. As a few basic examples, you should not have to go to an email inbox to answer a specific email or a list of all your tasks to find only the tasks related to a particular project. And yet, too many software developers don't consider this. Often the only way into specific data is first to wade through all the general data.

To use travel as an analogy. If you were in Los Angeles and wanted to visit Trafalgar Square in London, you'd have to get in a car, then on a plane, then a train, and then a cab. All the way, you'd have distractions that may delay or divert you from Trafalgar Square entirely. It doesn't have to be that way with technology. Why not skip all that and zap yourself right to that data set you need.

I've slowly built my entire data management stack around this principle, and I can usually stay in context and on target. You should too. I'm going to be covering this in much greater detail in 2022.

In the meantime, I'm not alone in this belief. Cognitive scientist and Hook developer Luc Beaudoin has spearheaded a movement called the Manifesto for Ubiquitous Linking. Linking is the key to contextual computing. It is how we can skip the plane, the train, and the cab. There is no better place for this movement to get traction than the Apple developer community. So many Mac developers have already built linking systems already. We need them standards-based, not loaded with tracking garbage, and ubiquitous. There are many smart people behind this and I hope it gets momentum. There are plenty of problems in the world for us to tackle. Are we going to use our computers to do focused work and make things better, or will we use them to distract us from what matters? This is a good start.

Focus Mode and Contextual Computing

Watching WWDC Monday, one announcement that landed with me was the new Focus feature. (If you follow my podcasts, this shouldn't be a surprise.) Regardless, I've spent the last few days playing with this new feature, and I like it. Focus is like Do Not Disturb, except it solves most of the limitations associated with Do Not Disturb.

First, Build a Wall

With Focus mode, I can set a specific kind of focus. One of mine is Podcasting. When you set up a Focus mode, your Apple devices put up walls to keep out distractions while you work on focused work. That may be the best part of the Focus feature: It starts with a wall. It's then up to you to punch very specific (and small) holes in that wall. The fact that it begins with the concept that everything is blocked is why it works.

Make Exceptions for People

You can then add specific people that can breakthrough. Getting interrupted while trying to make an entertaining show is distracting. So in the case of my Podcasting Focus, the only people that can get through are my podcast partners and my wife.

Make Exceptions for Apps (or Don't)

Next, you can poke holes for app notifications. In the case of podcasting, the only app I'm letting through is Zoom on my Mac. In my "Legal Work" Focus, it's a different set of apps. This is the nice thing about switches and dials. Different areas of focus require different kinds of walls.

Consider Time-Sensitive Notifications

In addition to exceptions for people and apps, you can also make space for time-sensitive notifications to get through. Maybe this is something like a delivery notification or a notice that your Lyft driver is waiting. While I've got this option turned on for some of my Focus setups, it's off for podcasting. Again, no interruptions are allowed when the mic is hot.

Let Folks Know

You can also auto-respond, letting people know you are in Focus mode and giving them a way to breakthrough if something is truly important. I use this feature in most modes.

Choose a Home Screen

If that's not enough, you can also have your phone go to a specific home screen when you set the Focus mode. This includes pages you usually keep hidden. I will be setting up a hidden page of apps I use when I play music (metronome, tuner, sheet music app, and music app for play-along) and tie it to a reasonably liberal Focus mode. Then when I trigger the mode, I get the hidden music tools home screen.

Focus Automation

You can trigger Focus mode based on app usage, time of day, or, location. Alternatively, “Smart Activation” uses all of these variables for the device to turn it on for you. Also, the Shortcuts integration is bi-directional. I could just as easily run a Shortcut that has an action that triggers the Music Focus mode. It's up to you.

The Walls Go Up Everywhere

Another great point about Focus mode is that it works across all your devices. If I set this Podcasting Focus Mode on my Mac, it also kicks in on my iPhone and iPad. For years, my pre-podcast ritual involved finding stray Apple devices to turn off before hitting the red button. This solves that.

Room for Improvement

I am digging Focus mode but already see a few things I'd like added/changed. First, picking multiple contacts for exceptions is slow and painful. I'd prefer it also give me an option to select contact groups, like "family" or "clients". I would also like the ability to duplicate focus modes as a starting point for new modes. Finally, I’d like to be able to customize the focus notification based on the specific Focus mode.

Focus Mode and Contextual Computing

Regardless, this new feature is aces. Moreover, it dovetails with my never-ending quest to further contextualize all of my time with technology. When I want to write a contract, I need my digital gizmos to set me up for that task and no other. When I want to make music, it should be the same. With a bit of effort, Focus mode will bring this power to all of us and across all of our Apple devices. I'm only two days into figuring out the best workflows for Focus mode, but I can already see how this will be a fixture of my work (and leisure) time going forward.

Linking and Contextual Computing

I think a lot of people are underutilizing links. Lately, I have been working with contextual computing and the idea that you can go from idea to action on your computer with the least amount of friction. For example, if you need to access your task list for a specific project and open your task manager, you will be immediately exposed to much more than that particular project’s task list. You will see your daily list, your flags, and a host of other unrelated data that can distract and divert you from the reason you went to your task manager to begin with. This is even worse with infinite bucket apps like email and your web browser.

It is far better to jump straight from thought (I want to see the shrink ray project) to execution (looking at the shrink ray project) without the intervening steps of navigating through an app. This eliminates the possibility of distraction. So the trick is to find ways not to open apps, but specific data sets within apps to avoid further distraction.

This is easiest to implement with websites. Every page on the internet has a URL address that takes you to that specific place without any intermediate stops when fed to your browser of choice. If your work involves going to websites, you can save those URLs to your devices and trigger them from just about anywhere. I keep URLs to tasks, calendar entries, notes entries, and other places where I often find myself working and want to go quickly to a particular spot on the internet. When you click that embedded link, you go straight to your destination. No distractions.

It is easy to forget these URL links work for web services. I have been trying out Hey.com for personal email, and one of the things I like about the service is that every email has an easy-to-grab web address. Later, I can get back to that specific message with a URL link.

The bit you may not be aware of is just how many applications have their own built-in URL linking schemes. Most modern applications include a deep link or URL link mechanism to get you to a specific location of the application. I use these app-based URL links daily on my Mac, iPad, and iPhone in Drafts, Obsidian, Craft, OmniFocus, and DEVONthink. DEVONthink takes it a step further and creates unique URL links for any file you store within DEVONthink (iCloud and the Finder have no such feature), so you can additionally link to specific documents inside your DEVONthink library.

As I collect the web and app-based links, I keep them together concerning a general project overview page, but I also put the links in the apps so I can jump back. For example, I may have a project page in Drafts with links to an OmniFocus project, but the OmniFocus project will also link back to the Drafts page. The trivial amount of time it takes to set up these links is paid off immediately. You can start linking things together today with no additional software. Most all of the app-based links I use work on the iPad as easily as they do the Mac.

If you want to go even further with this, I recommend downloading Hook on your Mac. Hook recently released version 2.0 that gives it even more features. Hook gives you extra tools for this linking workflow. Using Hook, you can keep associated links together in the Hook app. Hook also can put links on files and locations that aren’t otherwise linkable. For example, I use Hook to link documents on iCloud drive storage that would not be otherwise linkable. (However, these Hook links only work on the Mac.)

If you are reading this and rolling your eyes, I understand. If I came to this workflow intentionally (as I’m now recommending), I would have rolled my eyes too. Instead, this grew organically for me as the apps I use daily increasingly added linking features. (I’ll blame Drafts as my personal gateway drug.) Over the past six months, I have started to wake up to how often I am doing this direct linking and how much more efficient I am at getting work done without all of the distractions. In short, this stuff works, and you should try it.