Tonight I’ve released the newest version of the Simple Llama design. Officially I’m calling it 2.0, since it’s the second design created from scratch by yours truly. Just like last time, though, it’s built on the excellent Thesis framework.
The first thing you’re sure to notice is the lack of stuff in the new design. My sidebar is stripped down to the absolute barest essentials – an email subscription box on the main pages, and a search box on individual post pages. That’s it – no category links, recent articles, or fancy widgets. In fact, I’m not using a single widget in this design.
I’ve also decided to scrap my Archives page. Instead, I’ve combined the About page and Archives page. Instead of a boring list of links, I’ve dispersed the links to various categories in my About page. That way, when you read my story, you can jump to the things that interest you.
Finally, I’ve axed a few categories. The biggest one was Time Management, which really isn’t all that different from Simplicity, when you get right down to it. I have a feeling I can pare a few more off eventually.
So that’s about it. This is the new Simple Llama. If it doesn’t look gorgeous on your screen, would you let me know in the comments? I try to test in all major browsers, but sometimes one slips by me.
I’ve written about Spaces before, but I feel the need to do so again. Spaces is one of the most powerful tools in Mac OS X, yet it’s often forgotten.
Computers today, and Apple computers especially, are extraordinarily powerful. Incredibly fast processors, lightning fast hard drives, and gigabytes upon gigabytes of RAM. All this computing power makes it very tempting to multi-task like crazy. After all, your computer can handle 10 or 15 applications open at once, so why not go for it?
The problem isn’t the computer, it’s you.
Your Mac can handle just about anything you throw at it. It doesn’t care if you have one app open or 16. It will keep chugging right along without a care in the world. However, all those things going on are sure to keep you from focusing.
All those applications will keep you from working, instead of helping you get work done.
You’re faced with two choices here. First, you could close everything that you’re not actively using right now. While that’s a very minimalist solution, it’s not always the smartest. You’ll probably need those closed apps before too long, which will just result in you opening them back up again. Not very efficient.
The second choice, and by far my favorite, is using the brilliant tool built right into Leopard and Snow Leopard – Spaces. When it comes time to hunker down and actually do something, hit F8 and move to a new space. Open up your writing / coding / graphics / whatever tool and work. You won’t be distracted by all those open windows – because they are off in another Space. Everything is still open and easily accessible if you need it, but it’s no longer distracting you.
Spaces is an amazing productivity tool. It removes distraction and allows you to focus on one thing at a time. Spaces helps you get work done, and it doesn’t even cost you a dime. If you’ve never used Spaces, you’re really missing out. Give it a try, and your focus will improve, allowing you to get more done in less time. Go ahead, try it, and let me know what you think.