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My Podcast

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Table of Contents

1. Preface

2. Main Article

3. Popular Video

Preface

I once couldn’t imagine a day without my traditional office - a desk with a computer, a pile of books, handwritten notes, and an array of accessories.

The problem?

1️⃣ Outside the Office Syndrome:
I stepped outside, and poof! Access to my work world vanished.

2️⃣The Packing Ritual:
If I wanted to work remotely, it was like packing for the airport - transferring files, stuffing books and notebooks into my bag, and always missing something.

3️⃣Time-Drain:
Shuffling stuff around is a complete waste of time.

Doctors and scientists, you know how it is!

⚫️You spend so much time outside the office.

⚫️You must write down insights on the fly and access your knowledge base.

⚫️And you don’t have time to waste.

So today, I will share the magic of my mobile office.

I’ve been doing it for 5 years now, and there’s no way I will ever go back to being tied to an office.

Number 69, here we go.

Main Article

First, what is a mobile office?

Think of a mobile office as your genie in a bottle. Sit down, snap your fingers, and start working.

Public library, under a tree in a forest, or at your kitchen table. Anywhere.

To set up your mobile office, you need 3 things:

1. Equipment

2. Software

3. Habits

🔵 Equipment

Your laptop should be your main computer.

Let me repeat that: Your LAPTOP should be your MAIN computer.

Scientists, I’m looking at you. I know how you love desktop computers. But it’s like having chains tying you down.

I’ve been doing science on a laptop for 5 years, and I’m not looking back.

Which laptop? It depends on your needs, and I wrote an entire newsletter on this subject. You can read it by clicking here.

What about accessories, you ask?

Think small and light.

I use a compact mouse, a foldable keyboard, and a laptop stand.

Set up time: 30 seconds!

🔵 Software

Most doctors and scientists use Microsoft Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Most store their files on institutional computers and hard drives.

I don’t like it.

These systems are limiting my creativity and are wasting my time. I still use them, but at a later stage in the process.

I never use them during creative thinking, studying, and writing manuscripts.

So what does a perfect software do?:

⚫️ Reachable from any device.

⚫️ Searchable.

⚫️ Never loses your files.

⚫️ Never crashes.

Microsoft is very bad in all of these

What do I use instead?

I use Dropbox and Notion

Dropbox:

It syncs my files across devices, and stores them on my hard drive too. Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive are unreliable. iCloud? It's pretty good, but I prefer to avoid being tethered to Apple.

You can download Dropbox here.

Notion:

This is my “second brain” and I use it for my entire workflow: studying, reviewing manuscripts, writing manuscripts, writing my newsletter, and documenting everything I learn.

You can download Notion here.

Dropbox and Notion have NEVER failed me.

I've been using Dropbox for 15 years and Notion for 4.

🔵 Habits

To trust your mobile office, you need good habits.

Here are my do’s 👍 and don’ts 👎:

Do:

• Every new file I get is stored IMMEDIATELY on my Dropbox. I take a minute to rename it and save it in the proper folder.

• When I learn something new, I write it down IMMEDIATELY in my Notion.

• I read electronic books. I love studying for surgeries with a physical book, but most of the time, it’s not feasible.

• I back up my pictures on a DAILY basis. It’s done automatically! I backup my Canon pictures on my Dropbox and my phone’s pictures on my iCloud.

• I backup my files on 2 separate hard drives. If you have Dropbox installed on two computers, everything is automatically backed up.

Don’t:

• I don't trust my email as a place to store and find information.

• I don't use flash drives (disk-on-key) to store files.

• I don't trust Windows or Mac search function. Instead, I rename files and categorize them in folders.

There you have it - my mobile office.

I’ve kept it straight and simple.

If you want to dive deeper into my mobile office, listen to my Podcast.

There I explore how I use iPads, headphones, microphones, research software, and a phone for ultimate mobility.

Popular Video

This is how I use Notion for research.

Feel free to comment on YouTube with any questions or ideas.

Hit the like button if you like it, or the unlike button if you don’t.

Epilogue

That’s it for this issue.

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Hope for better times.

Shay