Sophisticated Tools
January 8, 2021•185 words
599
I know a few "productivity gurus". People who use fancy software, hardware, "life-hacking" to make their lives more productive, more effective.
Following these people and their "techniques" turned out incredibly exhausting for me. Managing and just acknowledging their existence was taking a toll. What promised to be a solution to a better life turned out to be an obstacle.
I still see there's great benefit from giving just even a little thought to working smarter: the most traditional ways of working are, in some ways, dumb.
It took me a while to find a balance. I use powerful tools, but only if they are simple. I work on a single screen. Have one window open at a time. All notifications turned off. All communication apps on one desktop, the rest on a second one. Always fullscreen.
And I often use paper; for planning, for thinking, for creating. I also have a whiteboard right next to my desk for quick "dumping".
That's all, no fancy scripts, Zapier-connected-monstros, calendars tracking every minute of my life.
Use the fruits of technology, but don't get buried by it.