IM as Inbox

I recently started using IMified after its mention on Lifehacker. Basically it lets you access many different web services via IM. For example, my main use of IMified has been to add items to my (GTD-style) Inbox on Backpack. (In fact, I used IMified to capture the very idea of this blog post.) Here’s a chat transcript with the IMified bot:

[23:47] joshuamkaufman: 1
[23:47] IMified:
*** Backpack ***
1 - New Page
2 - New List Item
3 - View/Complete List Item
4 - New Note
5 - New Reminder

type ‘M’ for the main menu
[23:47] joshuamkaufman: 2
[23:47] IMified:
Enter your new list item:
[23:47] joshuamkaufman: Buy milk
[23:47] IMified:
Which page should I add this list item to:
1 - @@Projects
… [Other Backpack pages removed]

[23:47] joshuamkaufman: 1
[23:47] IMified:
New list item added to: @@Projects
http://myurl.backpackit.com/page/12345

If the IMified window is open in my IM software window the whole process only takes about 10 seconds - certainly faster than loading the same page in my browser, entering the item there and clicking “Save”, and definitely faster than emailing a todo item to the Backpack page [1]. Granted, seconds aren’t a lot of time, but I find that when you’re in the middle of an activity and something crosses your mind that you want to capture, the faster and easier it is to get it out of your head the better. Every passing second is one more opportunity for you to become distracted and lose your flow.

I’m mentioning IMified for two reasons. First, I think it’s a great alternative to accessing web services without opening the browser. I suggest you try it and let me know what you think. Secondly, though I love the quick numerical navigation of web services within IM, what I’d really love is to be able to navigate a la command line: 1 2 “Buy Milk” 1 - all in one command. I’m not familiar enough with the Backpack API to know if this is possible, but maybe someone from IMified team can shed some light on this?

[1] Users of the Mac productivity powerhouse Quicksilver might remind me that the same thing would probably only take 5 seconds in Quicksilver using triggers. And users of Mac Dashboard might remind me that there’s a Backpack widget that allows you to add todo items very quickly as well. These are both fine techniques but maybe I’m intrigued by the idea of teaching old dogs new tricks.↑

16 Feb 07
backpack, flow, instant messaging, productivity

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