Sunday 25 October 2020

How I put digital minimalism into practice

Digital minimalism, as defined by Cal Newport, entails focusing your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimised activities that strongly support things that you value, while happily missing out on everything else. You’ll find my recent review of his bestselling book “Digital Minimalism” here.

In today’s post I’d like to report back on my endeavours to implement digital minimalism. As a translator I work in front of a screen most of the time (apart from when I’m revising translations with pen and paper), so it is downright impossible for me to become a full-blown digital minimalist. I am pleased to report, though, that I’ve managed to make tweaks to some of my digital habits. 

 

Digital minimalism is a proven, highly effective approach to
cultivating a more intentional digital lifestyle
   

 

We can probably all relate to the electronic busyness and related feelings of being overwhelmed that define our modern lives. My brain certainly can feel very crowded! This isn’t so much of an issue when I’m working on translations, but can happen after work: it usually results from too much tapping, swiping, tweeting, favouriting, liking, sharing or online-commenting. My brain is then all over the place.
 

Digital minimalism encourages us to reflect on whether the use of a particular technology ultimately is the best way to perform an activity that’s of value to us; if it’s not, it should be replaced by something better. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve realised, for example, that meeting with translator colleagues on Twitter is indeed the best way to meet with them in an everyday context.

 



Is the use of a particular technology ultimately
the best way to perform an activity that’s of value to us?


Online encounters with colleagues 

In-person encounters would be even better, but have, of course, all taken a virtual format recently and even pre-pandemic had been (relatively) few and far between. I have fond memories of my last pre-pandemic meeting with colleagues, which was the ITI German network’s 2019 convivial Christmas dinner at The White Haus in Farringdon, London. Online encounters with colleagues therefore are one example of online activities that I deeply value, so as a digital minimalist I still hang out on Twitter.


Shunning phone apps

I’m continuing to shun phone apps which almost everyone uses. For example, I don’t use WhatsApp. I already receive a lot of (work and personal) messages, my phone is usually in airplane mode during the day anyway, and even if it wasn’t, I simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with what seems to me a constant stream of WhatsApp messages on other people’s phones. What’s more, I recently even went ahead and uninstalled Twitter from my phone. Now that Twitter as the last social media app has left my phone (if Strava is disregarded), I feel a lot calmer. I just feel I have to draw the line somewhere!

 

Gone are the days when I would give in to the temptation of
compulsively checking my social media notifications



Twitter breaks 

One behaviour that’s changed since I read “Digital Minimalism” is that I now take (longer) Twitter breaks. Twitter had always been the social media platform I was trying to keep up with, but I no longer attach so much importance to regular engagement with it. I no longer feel I need to “put myself out there” to be visible to my online community constantly. This means that gone are the days when I would often give in to the temptation of compulsively checking my Twitter notifications.

 

Adopting a digitally minimal life ideally involves developing or rekindling real-life relationships


Phone conversations instead of email 

Adopting a digitally minimal life ideally also involves developing or rekindling real-life relationships, instead of just focusing on virtual ones. As an introvert, I generally feel more comfortable communicating by email rather than by phone, and email (or other forms of written communication) will always be my preferred means of communication. Yet, in line with digital minimalism I now often aim to pick up the phone, rather than send out an email, to make contact in this way instead.



Blocking of websites 

I used to be quite good at not letting myself become distracted too much, but the pandemic and related recent events somehow have changed that. So, to prevent me from accessing news websites (and also certain clothes shopping websites!) while I should be working, I’ve added LeechBlock to my browsers. LeechBlock is a productivity tool that’s designed to block any sites that you choose to add to it. It’s available for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers such as Brave, Opera and Vivaldi. 

 


To prevent me from accessing certain websites while I should be working,
I’ve added LeechBlock to my browsers


Renewed focus on hands-on activities 

Digital minimalism ideally also goes hand in hand with a return to hands-on activities. For example, I’ve never been into cooking, and I have a tendency to neglect hobbies like playing the piano as I feel often more drawn towards activities like reading, writing or computer work. Reading “Digital Minimalism” has reminded me of the benefits of such hands-on activities, and I’ve resolved to focus on them a little more in future.


Using physical books

It seems we can absorb the contents of a physical book way better than any material found online. Plus, the contents of a physical book tend to be more reliable. I therefore no longer aim to rely so heavily on internet content when it comes to checking terminology or background theory for work. Instead, I will now more often pull a physical book from my shelves in order to read relevant content or look up terminology “in analogue mode”.

 

We can absorb the contents of a physical book
better than any material found online


Conclusion
 

I will probably never be able to call myself a “true” digital minimalist because as a translator I will always spend a lot of time at screens and online. I have nonetheless managed to cut down, to some degree, on my engagement with technology in certain areas. Generally, I wholeheartedly recommend digital minimalism as an approach to cultivating a more intentional digital lifestyle. It is designed to help us declutter, and regain control of, our digital lives.

 

Further reading:


For tips on practical steps to reduce your screen time, check out my blog article “8 Proven ways of minimising screen time” of 16 March 2016.




Thursday 1 October 2020

Working more efficiently with AutoHotkey (part 1)

AutoHotkey has recently started making a notable difference to my computing life in that I can now, relatively simply, automate certain repetitive tasks and hence work more efficiently. AutoHotkey is a free, powerful tool for writing scripts that will run in any Windows application. It’s beginner-friendly, so previous coding experience is not required. I highly recommend this tool!

 



My attention had been drawn to AutoHotkey following the publication of an ITI Bulletin article about it by Richard Lackey MITI and two posts on his blog in which he explained the basics of AutoHotkey and listed AHK scripts useful to translators.

 

I find AutoHotkey intriguing also because I’ve always been fascinated by IntelliWebSearch, which is based on AHK scripts. What’s more, AutoHotkey hotstrings work exactly like the Autocorrect feature in memoQ, which I rely heavily on for those recurring long compound nouns in patent translations.

AutoHotkey can be downloaded from www.autohotkey.com. To write a script, you then create and run an .ahk file, which you can later edit in a simple Notepad programme whenever you wish to change or add to the script.

 

Text expanders

 
The most typical use of AutoHotkey is the creation of hotstrings to expand abbreviations into full text. To give a simple example, typing the string thx will automatically produce the following sentence: “Thank you for your email”. This is my script for it:

::thx::Thank you for your email.
 

When I type tn, the script will enter the word translation. Here’s the script: 

::tn::translation


When I type @@k, the script will enter my email address kontakt@hippe-heisler.de. Here’s the script:


:*:@@k::kontakt@hippe-heisler.de

 

(Note: Using the asterisk * means that an ending character, e.g. Space, ., or Enter, is not required to trigger the hotstring.)
 

 

Instant access to folders or websites
 

When I press the Ctrl key in combination with the dollar sign on my keyboard (i.e. Ctrl + Shift + 4), the script will instantly open my folder for the 2020-21 tax year. Here’s my script:
 

^$::                        
Run, C:\Users\User\Documents\Accountancy\Cash Books tax year 2020-21
Return

 

(Note that in AutoHotkey ^ stands for the Control key.)

 

To access TweetDeck, I first press the Alt Gr key and then the t key. Here’s my script:


<^>!t:: Run, https://tweetdeck.com/


To access Woxikon (a site for German synonyms), I press the Alt Gr key and then the d key. Here’s the script:
 

<^>!w:: Run, https://synonyme.woxikon.de/


(Note that in AutoHotkey <^>! stands for the Alt Gr key.)

 

Quick access to several folders, displayed in a pop-up menu
 

This is a slightly more complex script that enables me to access, in an instant, the folders which I (currently) visit most frequently, for which I simply have to press the Alt key and x. The folders will then be displayed in a pop-up menu (at the location of my cursor).

 


This is my script for it (which needs to be written into a separate AHK file, not the one already created for other AHK scripts!):


Menu, Folders, Add, &Downloads, !1
Menu, Folders, Add, &OneDrive, !2
Menu, Folders, Add, &Murgitroyd, !3
Menu, Folders, Add, &Terminology lists, !4
Menu, Folders, Add, &Patent translation, !5
Menu, Folders, Add, Temporary, !6

!x:: Menu, Folders, Show

!1:: Run, C:\Users\User\Downloads       
Return

!2:: Run, C:\Users\User\OneDrive
Return

!3:: Run, C:\Users\User\Documents\Clients\Murgitroyd
Return

!4:: Run, C:\Users\User\Documents\Terminology lists
Return

!5:: Run, C:\Users\User\Documents\Patent translation
Return

!6:: Run, C:\Users\User\Documents\Temporary
Return


(Note that in AutoHotkey ! stands for the Alt key.)

 

Adding the ampersand symbols (&) to the script above has the effect that I don’t even have to use the mouse to open any of the folders in the pop-up menu. Instead, when I open the pop-up menu (by using Alt + x), pressing the letter d on my keyboard activates Downloads, the letter o activates OneDrive, and so forth.
 

Note that not including an ampersand symbol before Temporary in the Menu, Folders, Add, Temporary, !6 line means that I do have to use the mouse to open a folder which I’ve called Temporary (since pressing t will open my Terminology lists folder).

 

Finally, a word of caution, as also pointed out by Richard in his article: do be careful of any AHK scripts which you find on the internet as they have the potential to do anything assigned (even in an extreme case to wipe your hard drive!). It is vital that you understand the code before running any scripts.


AutoHotkey is a free, powerful tool for writing scripts that will run in any Windows application. It is used to automate certain repetitive tasks. AutoHotkey can make a huge difference to your computing life!

 

Check out my other blog posts about AutoHotkey:
 
Working more efficiently with AutoHotkey (part 2)
Working more efficiently with AutoHotkey (part 3)