7 November, 2025
Years ago, I spent more time than I should have exploring various productivity tools. Tools like Backpack, Evernote, Remember the Milk, Simplenote, Todoist, Workflowy, Standard Notes, and many others that still exist and others which have gone away.
As I worked with those tools, and actually got things done with them (I wasn’t just idly frittering away time!), I also looked at how others — mainly productivity bloggers — used the tools that I was immersed in. On the surface, it appeared that those people had some impressive ways of working with those applications and for bending them to their various wills.
I found, though, that even if I tried to push the envelope of those tools I just never seemed to be working with them at the level of the people whose chronicl…
7 November, 2025
Years ago, I spent more time than I should have exploring various productivity tools. Tools like Backpack, Evernote, Remember the Milk, Simplenote, Todoist, Workflowy, Standard Notes, and many others that still exist and others which have gone away.
As I worked with those tools, and actually got things done with them (I wasn’t just idly frittering away time!), I also looked at how others — mainly productivity bloggers — used the tools that I was immersed in. On the surface, it appeared that those people had some impressive ways of working with those applications and for bending them to their various wills.
I found, though, that even if I tried to push the envelope of those tools I just never seemed to be working with them at the level of the people whose chronicles and tutorial I’d been reading. I began to think that I was doing something wrong or that maybe wasn’t as productive as I could or should be. And I began to feel guilty about not using those tools every day. Silly, I know.
It took a while for me to understand that I didn’t need to use my tools in the way others did. I didn’t need to do everything that they were doing, or even some of what they were doing. And I definitely didn’t need to work they way in which they did.
I only needed to use an application to the level at which I needed to. I didn’t need to do everything in one app; I could split my work across one or two. That’s why I began adopting simple tools. Tools that, for the most part, have a handful of functions and features (or less). Tools that suit the way in which I work, rather than having to shoehorn their way of working into my processes.
That’s the way to look at any software or service. Not through the lens of how others are using it, but through the lens of what you need to do now. Don’t fall for the contingency mindset. And if you outgrow a particular software or service? Move to another one that better suits your increased (or, maybe, decreased) needs.
By doing that, you’ll get what you need out of a tool. You’ll get more done. And you’ll spend less time twiddling and twerning. You’ll actually be productive.