Cognitive Productivity with macOS®: 7 Principles for Getting Smarter with Knowledge

by Luc P. Beaudoin, Lam Wong

Have you ever looked back at a week, month or even year knowing that you spent many hours reading and yet could not recall anything of value?
- Does it take you more than two seconds to re-access important information on your Mac?
- Do you often get distracted by Facebook, YouTube, irrelevant emails or even supposedly high-quality information?
- Do you ever find it difficult to isolate or re-access the key information in a web page, PDF, podcast, book, video or lecture?
- Do you not have a simple system for evaluating, selecting and reading?
- Have you spent less then an hour in the last week reviewing and practicing key knowledge?
- Have you ever made a big mistake that you could’ve avoided _if only you had applied what you thought you had learned?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions and if you value competence, then this book is for you!

In today's competitive knowledge economy, you always need to keep learning —and fast. Unfortunately, most apps for "consuming" information are not adequately designed for learning. If you don't use the right apps and the right strategies, odds are you will
- be distracted by irrelevant information;
- find it difficult to re-access useful information;
- forget more than you should; and
- fail to effectively use your new knowledge.

Much has been written about "information overload". There's also plenty of free information explaining how to use various apps. Unfortunately, little literature provides specific guidance on using software to overcome information overload and to select, organize, re-access and master useful knowledge.

When it comes to learning, not every app is created equal. Common ways of processing information actually interfere with learning. Using the right apps and the right strategies can enormously boost your ability to learn and think effectively

This is what Cognitive Productivity books are all about.

This book will help you select and utilize the most cognitively potent macOS apps: the best web browser, task manager, news reader, PDF reader, practice app, etc. This book demonstrates the best strategies for assessing, organizing, selecting, processing and mastering information. You will learn to stay away from distractions to acquire and apply new knowledge

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a screencast is worth 10,000. This book is loaded with screencasts. They demonstrate effective strategies to help you use your Mac to become even smarter. Whether you are a professional knowledge worker, a student or a lifelong learner, if you value your time and competence, this book is written for you.

This book contains links to screencasts that open in a browser.

Are you ready to use your Mac to apply 7 Principles for Getting Smarter with Knowledge?

Genres: Productivity, Technology

289 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 18, 2018

Reviews

[Curtismchale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lost of great knowledge contained here, but it’s hampered in parts by delivery. The author alludes to future updates, like when he releases an upcoming app, but then hasn’t made them. The app is Hook. The companion videos are...okay. Some are so short that and thought focused that a paragraph in the book should have been used. Some are software related and are good, but so low resolution that you can’t really see what’s happening and are thus wasted time. Some of the videos are high quality and excellent though.

So it’s a mixed bag.

Overall, I feel I’ve progressed in my knowledge acquisition, but I’m unsure who I’d recommend the book to. You’d have to be up for reading what is clearly an academic author and deal with some of the delivery issues outlined above.

Yet, there are good practices to be gleaned.

[Fábio Fortkamp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a really hard time even defining what this book is. It is basically a collection of low-definition YouTube screencasts. The author makes a point of developing mastery, but he clearly did not master the art of screencasting; the videos are raw, poorly edited, with a monotonous voice.

You’ll find nice information and tips on how to use less well known macOS software to organize knowledge (a very hot topic now), but that comes at a cost of navigating through “principles” (which are just a fancy word for chapter). As in Beaudoin previous book, the lack of editor is very apparent - this is not a easy read, with complicated sentences and terms.

Read it if you, like me, are obsessed with personal knowledge management.

[Sean Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

We must process a lot of information, and this book provided some useful (cognitive) categories for sorting and prioritizing and reviewing knowledge using Apple products. I am thankful for the terms and for the many screencasts linked to in the book. I already use some of the apps he recommended and will be adding OmniOutliner and a flashcard app to my arsenal.

[Jan Schaller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many exciting ideas and app recommendations, but a bit cobbled together and immature in places. Could have used a little more work.

[Jason T · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book and I appreciate the subject matter. I like Luc’s style and approach. He brings some academic weight to the topic of productivity and Apple apps. It’s interesting to hear someone talk about my favorite bloggers and apps in that tone. I wish some of the principals focused less on the specific apps and more on general concepts and computing. We all have our own preferences nd I think it will quickly becomes dated. All in all I enjoyed it and it did change my perspective and methods for knowledge work.