We are constantly being bombarded by thousands of tools and apps that try to attract us to use them, that we are even being into dilemmas about which tool should we choose. Instead of first having a motive, then a plan about what we want to accomplish, we try to begin with a search on Google about the best tool. Even though there are some really good tools that can make your work easier, usually the type of tool is not the main culprit, but yourself, because you are trying to hide and avoid the uncomfortable work. Don’t believe me? Let’s take some examples.
George R.R. Martin wrote A Game of Thrones and still writes with a DOS word-processor that most of the people haven’t even heard about it before, including myself: WordStar. Ryan Holiday is a media strategist, a best selling author who is only at his twenties that uses a simple piece of paper for managing his tasks. Cal Newport has a full-time job as a professor at Georgetown University and he is the author of four books, and blogs regularly about productivity and expert performance and also writes six (or more) peer-reviewed academic journal papers per year, but uses Gmail to plan his week in advance.
A screenshot from WordStar
Why are they doing this? Haven’t they heard about Microsoft Word 2013, Scrivener, Evernote, Wunderlist or Todoist? I don’t think so.
Somebody asked on Quora:
How can I use my smartphone to increase my productivity?
One of the most upvoted answers was:
I have found endless productive uses for my smart phone and iPad. But the most productive was the off button.
The important lesson here is that the type of app or the tool in general is not the most important means for doing the job; it’s actually your determination and commitment associated with a plan that usually lead to great achievements. Therefore, are you trying to find the perfect tool, or are you simply sabotaging your goals and responsibilities?
