What app saves you the most time each day?

I always enjoy learning about other people's processes, I usually find something I can tweak to make my system even better!

Fantastical covers off weekly and monthly planning.

With easy natural language task and event entry along with calendar sets keeps me focused on the right task at the right time.

Shortcuts streamlines my productivity stack.

Creating linked notes and reminders with common templates saves me a ton of time for YouTube planning

Raycast launches apps, replaced my calculator and has custom AI integrations with the latest models!

3 Apps I Use Every Day to Save 2 Hours of Work:
• Raycast
• Shortcuts
• Fantastical

See how 👇

Make sure the chapters and the transcription are separated. I would like the transcription first, then the section with chapters."

Let me know if you try it out or make adjustments to the prompt that improve results. I've been using Claude 3.7 Sonnet as the model.

Please remove the numbering and timestamps and keep only the text. Reformat the transcription to make it more readable.

Please also make the timestamps into chapters.
Start at 0:00 with “introduction” and have less than 10 chapters total....

"These are transcriptions from a YouTube video srt file. They contain a numbering system and timestamps associated with the video timeline.

You are assiting in helping me to cleanup the transcription so that it may be used on YouTube as well as repurposed for other social media content....

In @Raycast, I created an AI chat preset to help with making YouTube chapters, it works pretty good.

I feed the SRT file from Final Cut Pro and use this prompt:

I'm convinced the future of AI is at least as big as promised.

I also don't think that AI is truly replacing humans in the near term.

The technology is truly amazing, but what we will actually do with it and how it will change the world has yet to be determined.

Back to the regular Saturday morning upload this week and it feels so good!

Apple Pricing Ladder and App of the Month Issue 17

Read more in this weeks' Newsletter!

billmclean.substack.com/p/apple-pri...

Did Apple just trick me into buying a $2500 MacBook Pro when I only wanted the new M4 MacBook Air? 🤔 Let's talk about the infamous Apple Pricing Ladder.I we... Macbook Air to Pro: Expertly guided up Apple’s Pricing Ladder

I dove deeper into how this "Pricing Ladder" works in my latest video. Check it out for the full breakdown and visuals!
youtu.be/zC8i_jl26wU

Those incremental upgrades cleverly bridge the gap between product tiers.

Plus, 0% Apple Card financing makes the monthly hit feel smaller. Masterclass in strategic pricing, right? Was I expertly guided? Yes.

Am I happy? Also yes...

Now you're eyeing the M4 MacBook Pro (~$2000).

Better chip, active cooling, gorgeous screen! But wait... only 512GB storage?

One more rung... boost storage, maybe add nano-texture glass... hello $2350+ machine.

It starts innocently.

That base M4 MacBook Air looks great at $999. But need more than 256GB storage (tough in 2025)? Upgrading the Air pushes you towards $1800.

Suddenly, the M4 Pro isn't that much further...

Ever walk into an Apple Store for one thing and get tempted by something much pricier?

You might be climbing Apple's "Pricing Ladder."

Let's break down this subtle upsell tactic.

What was I thinking? Davinci Resolve?! Who even am I?

Thanks for the support, we're in this for the long haul and the journey has just begun!

So as I navigate my new reality of becoming a father in just 4 short weeks, I'm reminding myself that there is no rush.

Business profitability, more subscribers, more videos, new tech and apps can all wait.

There is no rush for me to hop on the hamster wheel and spin it as fast as I can right now.

The channel is currently at 1.88k subscribers, 211 videos, which I think includes short form that was clipped from long form videos and podcasts.

There were times where I posted every week for months on end and there were months where I didn't post at all.

I think of this like an extra retirement plan.

I hope I am still doing this well into my 50s and 60s.

I started posting June 2023. It took 16 months to get monetized, while also working a full time job.

It often feels like there is not enough time in the day to do everything that I want to do. That is ok. This is a long game.

YouTube is a marathon, not a sprint.

Can you go viral and get monetized quickly? Yes

Is that sustainable? I have no idea because I haven't done it.

Here is my reality for YouTube:

When I browse Substack these days it just feels like a giant scam.

People shouting "Engage with me and I'll follow you!", "Do this to get more subscribers!", "If you are new to Substack engage with this post!"

I find it exhausting and hard to find anything worth reading in the notes feature.

I am far more bothered by people using dynamic mics far away from their faces than I am people holding wireless mics in their hands.

Both of these things are pointless to be bothered by.

‎Craft: Write docs, AI editing ‎Unleash your creativity and take control of your plans with Craft, a powerful app that transforms how you write, organize, and get things done. Create stunning documents, manage tasks, build dynamic collections, and structure your ideas your way — whether it’s personal journals, work projects, or da…

If anyone wants to help fund my Notes app addiction:
apps.apple.com/app/apple-s...

Craft is giving away 10 lifetime subscriptions, this gets me entered to win!

Nobody's perfect, I'm just a guy trying to be content with 4 different notes apps and resisting not to download a 5th.

For Perspective Technology Podcast · Podcast that dives into my perspective or others on topics surrounding technology, engineering, productivity and creativity

YouTube: youtu.be/pZ4cygt5NJk

Spotify: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/fo...

Apple:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/...

Is your complex productivity system actually making you less productive? 🤔

I argue for "Boring Productivity" (think Apple Notes/Reminders) over feature-packed apps in the latest For Perspective podcast.

Listen below: