Creative Struggles and App Switchers
Some Thoughts on Creative Frustration, Burning Out, How to Judge Art in Relation to the Artist, and Thoughts and Recommendations for App Switching
Last week was an exciting week for Apple device users. The WWDC updates for iPhones, Macs, and Apple Watches have me looking forward to the new AI features. While I'm keeping my expectations low, it would be great if Siri could automatically detect languages and improve its transcription capabilities. I don't think specialized apps will be replaced anytime soon, even with similar features coming to our devices. Having native alternatives is great, but it's also good for independent developers to have competition that drives improvements in other options.
Oh, and I am happy to know that I’ll be able to type Spanglish.
Ok. Let me tell you some of the things that stood out the most of my week:
On the Creative Process
I read THIS INTERVIEW with John Wray who talks about some of his background as a writer, some of his personal story, and also—most interestingly for me—some of his creative process. I really enjoy reading different perspectives on the effort and the struggle it takes to create. Like, in one part of the interview when asked about how much he writes every day (and while explaining why he sets himself low daily goals) he explains the following:
…for me, writing is not painful, but it’s really effortful. I always liken it to holding your breath underwater. That’s what it feels like in my brain. It’s not painful, but I wouldn’t choose to do it, either. It is effortful, and I can’t sustain it for more than a few minutes before I need to kind of surface again.
I find this interesting because a few weeks ago I was reading THIS OTHER ARTICLE where it talks about creative frustration, and musician Viv Albertine is quoted saying the following:
I just wish I loved playing guitar. I thought you were supposed to love playing music, that it’s a release and a comfort, that’s what other musicians always say. For me it’s agony.
There’s no denying that creative works requires huge amounts of efforts at times. I still think there is an element of joy and energy that (hopefully) appears as a result from all the struggles. A sense of purpose or meaning. Still, the when it comes to the creative act itself, I think I relate more to Viv Albertine…
On Burning Out
This past week, I read THIS ARTICLE by Alin. He talks about how he's been working with wood as an escape from the frustrations of software development. Some months ago, I found Clop, which was an introduction to Alin's apps. The app was great, but I was even more impressed by the developer's responsiveness to my feedback. I am no developer, but as someone who's shared a few tools, I know support requests can take time and energy. I can't imagine dealing with hundreds constantly. For me, exploring automation and Shortcuts is very related to learning, productivity, PKM, but also a creative outlet. I guess you always have to find the right balance when something like this becomes part of what you do for a living. And oh boy… having photographed and filmed weddings for over a decade, I can relate to that challenge.
On Judging Art
I read THIS ARTICLE that explores the complex relationship between a work of art and its creator. It particularly talks about how—as viewers—our personal principles may clash with the character of the person behind the creation. The author gives a thoughtful and balanced perspective on the topic. I really respect that it did not feel like the article was pushing a strong agenda. Here's a relevant highlight:
My own formula for separating the art from the artist isn't a formula at all: it's more a sorrowful reckoning that acknowledges both the suffering these men have caused and the beauty of what they gave to the world. I would do the same for women, if there were more women monsters. The best art shows the human touch; the catch is that it also has to be made by humans, who are inherently a mess.
On App-Switchers
I think that one of the most overlooked yet powerful productivity hacks is having the right application switcher. Those few seconds spent tapping the CMD-Tab keys really add up, and that moment of "transit" between apps can easily break your concentration. When you're working on something important, losing that focus is just the worst.
In my search for the best app switcher for my workflow I've tried many of the most popular options. It took me a while, but years ago I settled on Contexts, which offers a minimalist interface with plenty of features and customization. It's not only an app switcher but also a window switcher, though what makes it stand out from other alternatives—some of them great, like the free Alt-Tab—is its "Fast Search" feature. This really changed my whole approach to switching apps and thought it just couldn’t get any better. Well, that is until I started using RCMD.
RCMD is developed by Alin, the developer of Clop (the same developer I mentioned above, who is into woodworking). RCMD is simple yet powerful, allowing you to launch or switch to apps dynamically or with a single predefined letter, and it can also launch files, URLs, or scripts, all with just one or two key strokes. Plus, it has useful window actions that can be triggered at the same time while switching apps.
Let’s say I have the app “Bear” to which I’ve assigned the “B” letter. I press my Right Command Modifier + B and I’m already in the app. What if I want to hide all other apps at the same time I switch to Bear? Then I switch to it using Right Command + Left Shift + B. And if I have another app I haven’t assigned a letter yet, but it starts with the same letter—let’s say, BetterTouchTool—then I can activate it with Right Command + Right Shift + B.
I love the idea behind RCMD—it's very intuitive, fast, and it helps me stay in the zone like no other app switcher. I've been using it alongside Contexts, but something that's become increasingly problematic is that I have way too many apps, and I often struggle to remember the letters I've assigned to those with similar names. For example, if you constantly use Photos, PhotoBooth, Photoshop, PhotoGrid, and Photo Mechanic, it can become super confusing. I’ve tried assigning them something other than their first letter, but then the confusion is at a different level, since now they compete with other app names that also start with that other letter. RCMD can show me an actual app switcher with the list of apps, but using that defeats the purpose, as it slows me down.
A few months ago, I discovered LaunchPalette, which was inspired by RCMD but allows you to create sublayers by assigning two letters to your apps instead of only one. At the time, I did some quick tests and saw it as a simpler and more user-friendly alternative to Karabiner Elements's sub-layering features, especially because of its ability to also trigger scripts. Recently, I’ve started to become more frustrated with the accidental triggering of the wrong app using RCMD (I can only blame my bad memory), so this past week I decided to give LaunchPalette another try—this time more seriously considering the switch.
In the end, I thought LaunchPalette was great for app switching, but it felt somewhat lacking in the other small features that RCMD has, like customization of settings, dynamic app switching, window actions, and per-app URL/file/scripts shortcuts. RCMD still comes out as the winner, it really is such a fantastic little utility.
Currently, I'm using Contexts for traditional window and app switching (using Left OPT + TAB or Left CMD + TAB respectively), Charmstone for mouse-based app switching (this app is also AMAZING), and after my short-lived affair with LaunchPalette, I decided to work on a custom solution for fast switching with my Right CMD and OPT modifiers. It's like a Frankenstein switcher, incorporating ideas from RCMD, the sublayering as seen in LaunchPalette, and some window management features from Yabai. All of this put together in Karabiner with the help of Keyboard Maestro. It's still a work in progress, but I'm excited to share more once it's complete. If you don’t have as many favorite apps with a similar name, or have great memory, RCMD may just be a great solution for you and it perfectly complements most other app switchers.
On Cinema
Exhibition (2013) Brilliant. I’ve seen other films by Joanna Hogg but none of them felt so personal and relatable as this one. Tricked me into thinking it was an observational documentary the whole time. Synopsis: An intimate examination of a contemporary artist couple, whose living and working patterns are threatened by the imminent sale of their home.
La Chimera (2023). I waited for this one for about a year, and it didn’t disappoint. A film that felt like a fairy tale, magical and full of metaphors. Truly beautiful and amazing use of the cinema language. Synopsis: Just out of jail, crumpled English archaeologist Arthur reconnects with his wayward crew of tombaroli accomplices – a happy-go-lucky collective of itinerant grave-robbers who survive by looting Etruscan tombs and fencing the ancient treasures they dig up.
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023). I don’t even know how can I define this one. Very anxiety inducing, perhaps. Kind of political, kind of experimental, somewhat comical and at the same time sad. I would not want to watch it again, but still I thought it was pretty incredible. Synopsis: On behalf of a multinational company, a production assistant drives around the Romanian city of Bucharest, interviewing various citizens who have been injured due to work accidents to cast one of them in a “safety at work” video.
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