Being productive has been a craze for me since high school. As I recall, I was constantly experimenting with various frameworks and tools to fail fast and find out the one that worked for me. But I often felt dissatisfied, I realized I was getting distracted by all these fancy productivity tools, and they just didn’t work for me. I used to find myself caring more about the aesthetics and features of templates, tools, frameworks. Distracting myself with long threads on productivity. It was like overthinking.
One observation was, I keep returning to basic tools like Google Keep, Obsidian, or even good old pen and paper. These simple methods help me focus on my thoughts and goals without distractions. No fancy templates or distractions, it’s just you and your thoughts/intentions/goals with plain blank space to work on.
Journaling and reflecting in these simple apps has proven to be more effective for tracking my habits and progress than using complicated habit trackers or to-do lists. This way, I’m not just marking off tasks or keeping track of my progress mindlessly, I’m also reflecting on my journey. Saves a lot of time and energy.
Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments :)