The Software You Live In

When I was a professional writer, I "lived" in Microsoft Word. Everything was done there, from to-do lists to reminder notes.

When I was running a web site and editing online newsletters and books, I did everything within my text editor, BBEdit.

When I worked for CNET, mostly serving as a communications nexus, I did everything within my email program, Eudora.

These days I'm back to BBEdit again (using Markdown to write blog articles and such, having primped up the font and interface prefs to make the app more writerly, and making great use of tabbed windows, "projects", and Dropbox synching to segregate my diverse activities and interests and synchronize between devices) and in my to-do program, The Hit List.

My accountant friend, Leslie, does everything in Excel, even composing brief notes there.

It's all part of the trend that's made software environments the new operating systems.

There's turbulence and light trauma involved in switching software "lifestyles". But as your tasks and interests evolve, it can become painfully obvious that using spoons to butter bread ain't working for you anymore.