Escaping the Productivity Apps Rat Race — Issue #24
A smarter approach to building your digital toolbox.
Pattern: Restlessly searching for the perfect, all-in-one productivity app.
Mindset shift: Use different productivity apps that best fit the tasks.
I used to have this issue with note-taking apps. I tried and fiddled around with all sorts of apps: Evernote, Apple Notes, Notion, Bear, Obsidian, you name it. I’ve even explored with plain markdown files, stored in a GitHub repository. I was never fully satisfied.
But this isn’t only about note-taking apps. Replace note-taking with tasks manager and it’s the same pattern. Don’t even get me started on calendar apps.
In the end, an app is a tool, an extension of yourself, to help you become more productive at a given task in a given situation.
Think of a carpenter workshop. There you’ll find different kinds of saws, screwdrivers, drills, hammers, and many other tools you don’t know what they are used for. That’s similar to the apps you have on your computer. However, the carpenter knows that she will use a handsaw, and not a circular saw when she needs precision. The same stands true for all the drills of different sizes and different-headed screwdrivers, each serving a different purpose.
Like the carpenter, you could simply start using different productivity apps to best fit your particular situations. That will save you the energy and time put into looking for the perfect app, and have more to put into your work.
In my case, I settled on using the Apple Notes app as my main note-taking app. Then I have Obsidian as my place where I download all my highlights from books and articles. At work we use Confluence. And I’m considering using Notion as a way to share resources on this publication.
Oh, and that doesn’t mean that you have to stop trying out or experimenting with new apps. I still like to do it, however, I’m not looking for the perfect, all-in-one app anymore. It’s because I might find a better tool for a specific job.
Best regards,
Alex from The Craftsman Mindset
Yep, guilty 🙋♀️ I tend to like researching apps as a form of procrastination. Luckily, I have overcome this and have settled into a process. However, with technology constantly changing and new apps/advancing tools it can be easy to get sucked back in. Thank you for this reminder.
Good point - interestingly people want so badly to believe that ChatGPT is gonna be this catch-all app.
But applied usage and the metrics tells us it is not the case. A focused app still outperforms a super general app.
Nice work.