There are many benefits to self-hosting, including more control over your data and enhanced privacy. But there are ways that self-hosting can also improve your productivity.

This can sometimes be due to the services you choose to self-host, as well as the niche and feature-rich software you can access for free through self-hosting. For me, self-hosting has also enhanced my productivity by allowing me to move from bloated all-in-one apps to more focused options.

Here’s a look at the different ways self-hosting has improved my productivity, even without hosting many services and without a very complex setup at home.

Focused, full-featured task management

Different apps for different tasks

I’ve been using TickTick for most of my task management for years, but I’ve noticed that as I’ve taken on more personal tasks, the notifications and number of tasks have become overwhelming. I’ve been very burnt out due to health issues, as well as stress from medical expenses.

I needed a solution that could help me track tasks with minimal input, while not adding to the financial strain on my wallet. I had tested out other task management apps for work, but found that they often nagged me to upgrade to paid plans, or simply had too much of a learning curve.

Donetick proved to be the perfect solution for me. While the self-hosted service was meant to be temporary, it has become essential for me. It doesn’t send me unnecessary notifications or emails, and its automated rescheduling of tasks makes it convenient for me to use it for my chores. While it’s mostly aimed at chores management, you can technically use it for whichever tasks you would like.

There are other self-hosted task apps available: some will offer multiple layers for power users, while others will have more focused features, such as Donetick. The benefit of self-hosting is that you’ll find plenty of solutions catering to different audiences. For general task management, I’d recommend looking at Vikunja, which also impressed me.

More robust document management

Free services with powerful features

I previously relied mostly on Google Drive to store digital copies of certain documents, but it didn’t really motivate me to regularly update my folders.

As a result, various physical documents like receipts lay around my house, only to eventually disappear without me having a digital record. However, when I began using Paperless-ngx as my filing system, I became much more proficient at creating digital copies of these documents.

This is thanks to the useful mobile companion app I use with the service, which makes it easy to scan documents with my phone’s camera. Paperless-ngx is also able to use OCR and AI to search through my documents and assign tags to them, making them easy to sort. This is a major bonus since I get overwhelmed when faced with pages and pages of documents.

There are other apps out there that include these features, but because I self-host Paperless-ngx, I have control over my own data and privacy. I don’t have to worry about companies using my documents to train their AI models, and my server is only accessible from within my home network. I also don’t have to worry about monthly fees or storage quotas.

Custom notifications and automations that suit my needs

Building flows for an audience of one

My smart home isn’t exactly filled with devices and sensors, but I’ve still been able to find some use in self-hosting Home Assistant. The platform enables me to create custom automations that send notifications through its mobile companion app.

I had been struggling to find a weather automation that would send me a warning whenever the temperature for the next day was expected to be above a certain level. Many free apps were retiring their APIs, while other services were platform-dependent or didn’t deliver notifications consistently.

With Home Assistant, I was able to build an automation that delivers this custom notification. This helps me plan my days around the weather, which is important due to my chronic migraines that are often triggered by hot weather.

When I have more time, I also plan to build more automations and notifications that can work through the Home Assistant app and my Discord server. Instead of wasting time trying out different apps over and over, I now have a solution I can customize to my needs.

Note-taking that works for me

Self-hosting apps that don’t overwhelm me

Note-taking is another area where I’ve been struggling to find a happy medium due to my general overwhelm. When an app is very complex and has many layers, I tend to just avoid using it. There are plenty of self-hosted apps that you can use to boost your productivity, but I often found that most of the recommended solutions were for people looking for personal knowledge management platforms.

But when I covered Jotty Page (previously RwMarkable) for an article, I found that the app actually provided the perfect balance of simplicity and functionality for me. It’s a service that focuses on checklists, Kanban tasks, and notes. My checklists and notes were previously spread across Google Keep, Google Docs, and Obsidian, but I’ve started moving them over to Jotty.

If I weren’t in the self-hosting space, I would’ve never tried out this software, and I would still be chaotically recording notes across solutions that don’t work properly for me. Luckily, this gem was out there waiting.

Self-hosting might be the key to your productivity

Self-hosting is time-consuming because of the skills you need to learn and the time spent troubleshooting issues. However, it also allows you to find apps that cater to smaller audiences and suit your needs (and budget) better than mainstream solutions.

If you’re thinking about trying out self-hosting, there are containers I recommend for beginners. Though if you’re not interested in hosting on your own hardware, it’s worth checking out open-source solutions that offer hosted plans.