Why I stopped chasing productivity apps

At my peak, I was using three different apps to manage my tasks, two to take notes, one to track habits, and a fourth app whose sole purpose was to help me decide which of the other apps to open first.

I was very organized. I was also getting almost nothing done.

The setup trap

Every new productivity tool comes with a promise: this time, everything will be in one place. And for a week or two, it works. Setting up a new system feels productive. You import your tasks, create tags and folders, design the perfect dashboard.

Then real life arrives, the system gets messy, and the cycle starts again with a new app.

I eventually realized I was spending more time maintaining my systems than doing the work they were meant to support.

What I use now

These days, my setup is almost embarrassingly simple:

• A paper notebook for daily tasks. Each morning I write a short list. Anything unfinished gets rewritten tomorrow, or crossed out if it no longer matters.
• A single plain text file for longer notes and ideas.
• A calendar for anything with a date attached.

That’s it. No tags, no integrations, no streaks.

The best system is the one you’ll still be using in six months.

Why paper works for me

Writing a task by hand takes effort, and that friction turns out to be a feature. When I have to rewrite an unfinished task every day, I notice very quickly which things I’m avoiding, and whether they’re worth doing at all.

Paper also doesn’t send notifications. It doesn’t suggest new features. It just sits on my desk, waiting.

The real lesson

None of this is an argument against software. Plenty of people get enormous value from carefully designed digital systems, and that’s great. The point isn’t which tool you use. It’s noticing when the tool has become the work.

If you’ve switched apps more than twice this year, it might be worth trying the opposite approach. Pick the simplest thing that could possibly work, and give it three months.