I'm not ashamed to admit that there are many times that I doubt myself. I suppose that's the nature of a parent. Or maybe I'm getting older and these are things that happen. Or maybe it's a global pandemic and a global call to end systemic racism. Maybe it's all of these things, and probably a whole lot more. But I find that in these times, I often end up finding my way.

Life, for the most part, has been really great for me. I know that with all that is going on in the world, this is a hard thing to say. But given where I've been over the past few years, I'm in a really good place. The past has given way to new opportunities and better choices for my life. I am in a new relationship that is healthy and fulfilling. I've received not one but two promotions in the last year, and I feel like I'm where I need to be with my job.^[1] I'm even down 20 lbs now, and working on the next 20. I'm starting to hit a stride for my life with which I'm comfortable.

Yet, there were some things that were not happening. My personal projects – my writing and my podcast – have been on hiatus for a while. I felt like my creative energy was zapped, that I didn't have the desire to do these things anymore. I'm not sure if it was depression or a culmination of things, but I just didn't feel creative anymore. I felt unmoored while trying to navigate my creative life.

It's in these times that I turn my focus to my journal, so I can start to figure out what it really is that's driving me. Why am I writing? Why am I podcasting? Do people enjoy this? Does that matter? Who am I writing or speaking to when I share my thoughts? At the end of it all, I have to ask: What's my why? ^[2]

This question set me down multiple paths. I sat alone with my thoughts, figuring out what I wanted to do. My initial thought was to stop. Stop writing. Stop podcasting. Do things for me, and forget it all. I don't owe it to anyone to continue these things. If I don't want to do them, then I can just hang it up and walk away. These thoughts consumed me for weeks.

But in my journaling and even in discussions with others, I found myself pulled another direction. I started thinking of the why for my writing. And really, it comes down to what it started to be: I write for me, and me alone. What I have learned over my time of writing is that people seem to enjoy what I write for myself. I'm honestly shocked most of the time that it even makes sense, people enjoy it, and – much to my shock – it even gets requested at times.

So, I'm going to be doing some things to return to form. I'm starting to write again, and it's pouring out of me. I'm going back to the approach I took when I first started: write for myself, and then publish. Some of my stuff might be small, some of it larger. But it's going to be on the subjects and topics that I want. Over the coming weeks, you'll see some posts about my favorite app Drafts: the posts aren't going to be a regurgitation of the release notes nor will I cover everything. But what I will do is cover particular things that speak to me in the various releases. And this is how I will generally approach most things going forward. If I'm being honest with myself, this is what I should have done all along.

With this renewed focus, I decided to update the site a bit. I commissioned a new look and overhaul of the site from top to bottom, which was done by the amazing Jeff Mueller. I also got to collaborate with Jeff Perry to create a logo for my site. These are two things that I have wanted to do, but did not have the time or the creative energy to develop properly. I'd rather have these things taken care of for me than do them myself, and that's ok. This also helps me recommit to the future of my site, my writing, and my creative life in general.^[3]

I hope that this is a new beginning. By reframing my mind, I'm freeing myself of guilt and returning to the positive mindset that allows me to be creative. I've gone through the questions and come out on the other side with the answers. As I wrote recently:

Sometimes we question what is important. I now realize how vital it is to question – but not doubt – your motives as to why you do something and why you might want to continue. I'm not afraid of this process, but rather I embrace it. Onward…

Onward indeed…

The new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is now available and starting to appear in reviews. Most of them have been video reviews, but I am starting to see written reviews as well.

In watching the video reviews, my early suspicion of the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro was confirmed: I won't be getting it. Not because it's bad, but rather it comes down to a matter of use cases for me. Sure, weight and cost are also factors, but I need to be able to actually use the device if I'm going to make this device a good fit.

Now that I'm working from home for the foreseeable future, I'm using the iPad Pro in a "docked" manner, where it sits off to the right in a stand connected to an external monitor; for input, I use the Logitech K780 keyboard and – new to my home office setup – a Magic Trackpad 2. In this scenario, the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro obviously wouldn't be used, just like my Smart Keyboard Folio sits below my monitor.

I do use my iPad around the house in various ways: handheld, on a table or counter, or to write on. In this way, I could have the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, and just pull it off. I can simply fold the Smart Keyboard Folio around and use it my hand; I am used to the weight now, and it doesn't bother me. I also have a Magic Mouse 2, which I use when I'm away from my home desk, which is small enough to fit in my pocket for me to carry around or use anywhere in the house. So the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro doesn't provide me a benefit here either.

So let's talk about when I'm actually at work. In an office. Remember those times? Anyway, I do go from meeting to meeting in conference rooms. In these scenarios, I'm often at the table in the room where it happens. I often will switch modes depending on what I'm doing: for some meetings I'm able to use my iPad Pro in more of the laptop mode with the Smart Keyboard Folio; in others, I might be writing down notes and focusing on presentations being given. And for those times where I'm not at the table, I'm sitting off to the side where there is no place other than my lap. The Smart Keyboard Folio lends itself to all of these conditions, and affords me the opportunity to use the iPad Pro in any one of those during the course of the day. The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is sold in a particular way: as a keyboard, not a folio, and is for landscape orientations only. This would hinder the way in which I use the device for my day job.

Looking at all of those use cases together, it really is apparent to me that using my iPad Pro with the Smart Keyboard Folio is my best opportunity to meet all things. I can augment the experience when docked, or I can carry around the Magic Mouse 2 when I need to be mobile. It's not always going to be the ideal experience, but it does what I need to get the job done. Also, I already have the components I need, and don't need to spend an additional $300 on something that would be a limited use case for me.

All that aside, I really love the idea of the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. The engineering of it seems solid, and it appears to be very well built. The fact that you can charge the device using the built-in port while using another USB-C device in the other is something that I hope gets more extensible over time with software updates. I'm delighted that this device exists: this is the first generation of the device, and it will only get better with feedback and iteration.^[1] The fact that this device exists for everyone is fantastic, so they can choose what works for them. This is what Apple excels at: creating multiple devices in given form factor/class, and providing options for users to suit on their individual needs.

The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro looks to be an amazing device, but one thing is clear: this is not for me. And that's OK.

For a long time, I've wanted my own office. For a while, I've had a podcast space of my own, but it has never been what I've truly wanted in a home office/podcast studio. So in this time of social distancing and staying-at-home to reduce the spread of COVID-19, I realized very quickly that my podcast area was going to be very insufficient for long-term working from home. This sent me down a path of incorporating what I currently have to what I've wanted for so long: a sit/stand desk.

If you want to see where I've started to where I've ended up, I posted some pictures on Twitter to show the progression. It's a massive change. The original setup was just abysmal. The middle two setup steps were ok, and really just a move from one area of the basement to the other with some upgrades. But this last one has been special for me. I've been able to take my time and craft a setup that works best for this space in my home. As always, the focal part of a new desk setup is, well, the desk. I've looked for a long time at various options for me: buying a pre-made sit/stand motorized desk, making my own table top and using a sit/stand motorized frame, or just making a standing desk with a high stool for the short periods of time I'd like to sit.

Frustrated at the prospect of spending $600 on just the desk, I took a walk to clear my head. During the walk, I kept thinking "sit/stand" and tried to get at the root of what I wanted. I wanted something I could change frequently. I wanted to move from one level to another for comfort. I wanted something adjustable. So when I return from my walk and typed "adjustable desk" into Amazon, a bunch of different opportunities presented themselves. And that's when I saw what I wanted – the Husky 62" Adjustable Height Work Table.^[1]

This is really an adjustable workbench, primarily used for garages. But there's no reason I can't use this; and, at $300 total shipped to my door, it's half the cost of the other desks I was considering. It has the same depth as my old desk, but it's 14" wider than my previous one. The extra room gives me the space to both my laptop and my iPad Pro up at the same time on either side of my monitor, effectively having three screens if I need to do it. It's plenty of space to include other things like my bluetooth speaker, my Yeti mug, a giant mouse pad, and a midi keyboard.^[2]

The other nice part of having an adjustable desk is that I already had an anti-fatigue mat and a balance ball chair to use with it. I adjust the desk maybe two times in a day, so the manual adjustment isn't that big a deal. When I need to stand, the chair goes behind me to the side and the mat is placed on the floor; when I need to sit, I pick the mat up and put it to the side of the desk against the wall, and move my chair in position. If I needed to do this more frequently, I'd be doing something different. But this is more than fine for my needs, and I'm following the ergonomic guidelines I've found. So with the adjustable desk and comfort taken care of, I focused on the top of my desk. First, this all centers around my monitor: it's a 31.5" Dell 1080p monitor with a Logitech webcam on top. It's not 4K but it does the job.^[3] I needed it to be slightly higher up for the setup, so I purchased a monitor stand to raise it up the appropriate amount. I picked this one for a few reasons: it looks clean, has flexibility with the shape and width, and had some hidden features within it. I have a small stand for my work iPhone as well as a drawer/stand for my personal iPhone. I can also store some small items in the drawer. Surprisingly, the 11" iPad Pro Smart Keyboard Folio fits perfectly underneath in the way I have it configured.

In front of the monitor sits my keyboard, the Logitech K780 keyboard. I picked this up before the Logitech MX Keys was released, which I would recommend picking up over the K780. And next to that, I have the Magic Mouse 2; this is mainly used for my iPad Pro, which is primarily to the right of my monitor sitting in my iPad stand. This is plugged into the monitor via HDMI and a HyperDrive USB-C Hub 6-in-1 Adapter. Eventually, I would like to get a Magic Trackpad 2 for my setup, and use the Magic Mouse 2 for travel.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking: do you have a Mac? Well, I do have a late-2012 Mac mini, but it's pretty much invisible in the picture. That's because it's attached to the Vesa mount holes on my monitor in a HIDEit Mount. I've done my best with some velcro straps to keep the cables as invisible as possible throughout the desk, and this was no small feat. But this is working very well so far. I have an HDMI switch also mounted to the back of the monitor via some trusty 3M Velcro Command Strips, which are a big enabler for cable management. I do use the Mac, albeit rarely; most times it acts as a nice mass damper on the back of the monitor. Perhaps one day I will upgrade it, but for now, it's back there when I need it for the singular task of uploading an MP3.

To the left of the monitor sits my mic: this is the Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB microphone in a microphone shock mount which has a metal pop filter, mounted to the desk via a Knox Gear 38" Microphone Stand. I absolutely love the boom arm: it's well made, feels solid and fluid in it's movement, and is long enough to extend the microphone to the center of the desk from the corner. When I'm not podcasting,^[4] it can be moved out of the way.

On the under side of my desk, I have the Elevation Labs Anchor for my headphones on the left, and the Shelf for some odds & sods on the right. I liked these options as they stick to the bottom of the desk, and they aren't holding heavy items. In addition to those items, I also have a power strip along with an Anker 5-port wall charger mounted to the bottom to keep things nice and tidy. On the back side of the desk, multiple command strips keep the cords running out of sight as well. On the right side, I also have a magnetic flashlight attached along with a hook for my iOS Podcasting Kit.

With all the bits of my desk figured out, I needed to make sure I had some decent soundproofing. For a long time, I had some foam in my setup. And while that's good, and looks good, the walls around where I have my desk have had some holes put in them over time when mounting different items, and I'd have to cover the entire wall. I started doing some research and spoke to a few people on the most effective yet most inexpensive options. And I ended up going to something I've said before: use what's around you if you can. I had the blanket I had used previously to dampen sound from the metallic desk worked, and it worked perfectly for the backdrop. Then I added two moving blankets on either side because I wanted it to be as uniform as possible; for the left side, I made a simple triangle out of some wood, and attached that to the wall to create a false wall out of the blanket. I hung all of the blankets using some screws and some washers.

While this doesn't look as "professional" as others with acoustic foam, it actually works better for my situation. I didn't have to spend money to fix the wall, and it looks good enough that I can share it without feeling some shame. To cap it off, I have a decent-looking room divider; in the future, I plan on getting a second, and also attaching some thin sound barrier to the back side of both; this will help with the sound behind me during recordings, but is easy enough to get out of the way. About my only gripe with this setup is that I'm in the basement, but that's nothing that a happy light couldn't fix.

I am overjoyed with how this has turned out. I had to put in a bit of money (around $400 total) to make it this way, and I was able to use all of the other items I've collected over time. However, the sum total is less than what a typical sit/stand desk could cost me, and that makes me smile. With the flexibility that the desk affords me has helped me mentally focus on work and writing, it has been invaluable to me. I feel more professional now, or really, more like an adult who has their own place. Maybe not quite an adult, but at least a man-child with some new toys.

This setup is tailor made for me and my iPad-first lifestyle. I've been using the iPad Pro over the past few years as my main computer, and even at this time from home, I've been using it for both work and home as well. There are very few times I'm reaching for my work laptop. Most everything can be done now for me on an iPad. And with this setup, I can use it as an iPad and the pencil flat on my desk; I can type on my keyboard with the iPad on a stand; or I can turn it into a docking station and use my keyboard & mouse to navigate it fully. It really feels like the modern computer I've wanted, and we are only at the start.

Over the years, I've added and removed multiple things from a travel kit. When I got my tactical bag, I started to think of minimal carry. In fact, it's starting to bleed into my regular life as well. But that's a post for another time.

At the start of the year, I started thinking of an all-USB-C charging setup. I've had other power bricks and cables, but as I move towards devices which can accept more from higher-output chargers, the idea of using USB-C only is really appealing. My iPad Pro 11" and iPhone Xs are both capable of faster charging speeds, which is really why I started my journey.

Here's what I'm doing for my regular travel setup. And by travel, I mean trips, back and forth to work, etc. Keep in mind that I (barely) use a PC for my day job, and I don't carry a MacBook of any kind. This setup is really for my 4 devices: iPad Pro 11", now with a Cover Buddy case, Moshi iVisor AG screen protector, and the Smart Keyboard Folio; iPhone Xs; Apple Watch Series 4; and AirPods Pro with modified foam tips for extra comfort. I'm not always charging these devices at the same time. In fact, I'm normally charging my Apple Watch before bed, and my iPhone and iPad Pro overnight. At most, I would need 3 USB-C ports to charge. At the time of me writing this, there are zero options for a 3-port single charger, but it's something I hope comes in the future.

The main source of power in my setup is the AUKEY 63W PD wall charger with dual USB-C ports. This is about the same size as my previous wall charger, but with a lot more power. The top port is an 18W PD port, and the bottom is a 60W PD port^[1] meant more for a MacBook than an iPad. But, thanks to the technology in the iPad Pro, it can accept the maximum charging and quickly power the device.

For the cables, I have a single 6' Anker USB-C to USB-C cable cable to power my iPad Pro and my AUKEY PD Power Bank 10000mAh. There are no dual USB-C battery packs available right now that I can find; but when the technology is there, I'll replace this with a 2-port USB-C battery pack with double the capacity; that way I can charge both the iPhone and iPad to 100%. For the AirPods Pro and my iPhones, I use the 1m USB-C to Lightning cable which came with the AirPods Pro, along with a 6' Anker USB-C to Lightning cable. I travel with 2 iPhones, one for work and one for travel, and might need to charge both at any given time. And given that my day job requires road trips in vehicles for testing, I recently purchased a Anker 2-Port USB-C Car Charger to dual charge devices at 18W each; this has proven very useful on the road. I also carry my HyperDrive USB-C Hub 6-in-1 Adapter^[2] along with a USB-A male to USB-C female adapter, which does allow me to utilize either the HyperDrive's USB-A port or a port in the car when I'm testing and want to use CarPlay.^[3]

To facilitate the watch charging during travel, I was faced with a couple of options: keep the watch charger I have and bring another charing brick with me, buy a USB-C version of the watch charger, or try something new. I voted for the last option, and I picked up a Satechi USB-C Apple Watch Charger. This device plugs into my iPad Pro while I'm winding down for the day, pulling from the battery of the iPad itself. If I find that my iPad Pro is too low on power, I can simply plug this directly into the small Aukey 18W USB-C wall charger I carry; it's a little bigger than a standard iPhone 5W charging brick, but delivers 18W of power over USB-C and has a folding plug. It is a small device, which is great for travel, but I will need to be mindful about where I might leave it.

I've been enjoying this setup. It's not quite the ideal setup that I'm looking to achieve – a future where I have a 3-port USB wall charger and a 2-port USB-C battery pack – but it's what I have available now. With this setup, it's compact and fairly light, and I have charging for all of my devices no matter what the scenario. As the future moves forward to USB-C for everything, I feel like I'm ready to embrace that future, and not much on my end will need to change. Being ahead of the game isn't a bad thing.

Drafts 15 has been released to support both iOS and the new iPadOS 13. And as it is with the major releases, I had the opportunity to write about it over at MacStories.

I encourage everyone to go read it there, but wanted to offer a couple of highlights:

• Enhanced Shortcuts Support: the support for Shortcuts has been very well implemented and enables users to not only create, but to pull from drafts without opening Drafts itself.
• Multiwindow Support for iPadOS: this is another game-changing feature, and is the cornerstone of this release. This will empower users to create new ways of working on their iPad, allowing users to integrate Drafts into more of their daily lives. I give a few examples here. For more on how Multiwindow works, I recommend reading Federico's review and watching Chris Lawley's video, which provide the overview for all of iOS/iPadOS 13.
• Updated Interface: there are a multitude of improvements here, from iconography to re-written UI to contextual menus, new in iOS 13.

This is a fantastic update, and has once again changed the way I use my devices with Drafts. In addition, it's streamlined my workflows and opened up new possibilities for me. I hope that everyone finds more and more use cases for Drafts going forward.