When it comes to productivity and getting things done, there is no shortage of apps out there. Task Managers, Notes apps, calendars, all-in-one apps, project managers. There are literally hundreds of options available and the list seems to be growing by the day. In the middle of all of this I want to present to you a very simple idea:
If the app works – Use it!
Chris Wood, Effective Faith
Shiny new app syndrome is a real danger with a growing market of new tools being produced. Developers are obviously creating apps to make the most of new technology and to solve problems that in their minds are big issues that are not addressed by the current stock of applications. So, with each new app that is released, we think that now, finally, the perfect tool has come along and it allows us to do so much more than we ever even knew we needed. What’s more, apps often find themselves with advocates – bloggers, youtubers and other content creators who swear by them. As we watch and read it can be very easy to become convinced that because xyz person is successful and they are able to be so effective through their use of Notion or Sunsama or Obsidian or Roam Research then I must be missing out by not using those apps. I’ve also noted that there seems to be a drive to ever increasing complexity with what apps can do, offering more features and branching out into other areas of productivity (e.g. Evernote now offering task management functions). The mindset can be that more is… well… more and an app with more features and complexity is better.
But, against this backdrop, I want to urge caution and say again, if an app works for you then use it and don’t worry about all the rest.
Shiny new app syndrome can be really bad
There is definitely a place for trying new apps and seeing if they will work better for you but, our approach to doing so needs to be restrained with some caution. The danger is that we equate new with better and that our amazement overrides our sensibilities. I quote Ian Malcom from the movie The Lost World “yeah…oooh…aaaah, that’s how this always starts. But then there’s running and screaming.”
Given the current proliferation of new apps across the board in the calendar market, the task & project management market, the note taking market and the all-in-one market there is going to be a steady stream of shiny new apps coming at you and constantly being wowed and switching is going to be an absolute killer for your productivity. Here’s 4 reasons why:
- There’s the time it will take you to switch and migrate to the new app, let alone the time it takes to figure out exactly how to use the app.
- You will be a novice in using the app. Whether it’s learning keyboard shortcuts, working out how all the new features work, working out how to set things up for you (e.g. labels, filters, notebooks, templates, structure etc) or simply just the interface being unfamiliar, all of the things will take time to learn, time you won’t be doing your normal work and whilst you are still a novice, you will be slower and less effective in the work you do.
- You won’t be comfortable using the app. Whilst this will give that shiny new rush, your lack of familiarity, alongside lack of expertise, will make the process of using it more arduous. And you will not feel secure that you have things organised as they should be and you know what everything does.
- Eventually the honeymoon will be over. The app will no longer be ‘new’ and the frustrations and difficulties and weaknesses of the app will become clearer. But then, there’ll be a shiny new app for you to try…..
The idea that if xyz uses it then it must be great is really unhelpful
The reviews and recommendations of others are a good thing and we should never ignore them. But remember that xyz is not you. The work they are doing will be different. The way they work and think will be different. Their aesthetic preferences will be different and the relative importance that they place on these things will be different too.
So, Notion may work really well for Thomas Frank and Danny Hatcher may have an Obsidian set up that makes life work for him but all of this needs to be weighed with some caution. The app and the set up might not work for you at all. It’s worth a try, but if you can’t get it to work and if you can’t achieve their success, that doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong. It just means that their manner of working and yours are different.
Something I have noted recently, a lot of people who make videos and post content about Notion or Obsidian or some of the other more complex all in one apps, their job is literally to make videos and courses about these apps and coach people in how to use them. In a sense, learning and using the app IS their work. They aren’t using the apps to do something entirely unrelated. Worth bearing that in mind!
Complexity is not always better
When I look at some of the apps coming out on the market I am led to ask the question, do these features actually make us more productive. Obsidian and Roam Research are notes apps that utilise a graph view. Now, I’m sure that zooming in on sections makes it easy to see links between things that you wouldn’t otherwise spot, but does it really make you more productive? Especially if you view the whole graph??
Being able to have everything together, in one place, all linked up with complex relationships between tasks, projects, goals, values and core vision can be overkill. Yes, I can trace the route to see exactly how taking the bins out feeds into my life’s purpose….but is this complexity really needed to be productive? Personally, I think it far more likely that a lot of complexity in the apps that you use can actually make you less productive overall.
Greater complexity requires greater management. It requires greater knowledge and expertise and experience of the app in order to become comfortable and for using it to feel effortless. The more complex the app, and the more complex the system that you design in it, the more time it will take to keep the app and the system up to date. The more time it will take process and organise new input (be that notes or tasks) and the more time it will take to plan what you are actually doing when. More complexity means more functions to learn how to use, more keyboard shortcuts to learn and use (seriously, some apps have so many keyboard shortcuts that in order for them all to be different it feels like you are playing Twister on your keyboard!) and a greater chance that you will end up using the app in a way that is clunky and not as in intended.
It will be a lot longer before you feel comfortable and before using the app becomes effortless. Here’s the point and the conclusion:
Apps make wonderful servants and they make terrible masters.
So, if an app works for you – then use it. Both in the sense that it works for you as an individual but also in the sense that it works for you rather than you for it.
Some of the most productive people I know in some complex industries have systems based around Apple Notes and ToDoist, two of the most simple apps out there. If apple notes and reminders works well for you, don’t be ashamed that you aren’t using Notion or Obsidian. If using Outlook and OneNote is where you are at then don’t apologise for that. If you have used Evernote since it’s launch, that great great-great grandaddy of them all, and it works, that’s fantastic.
So, if you like an app, if it works, if it is serving you well. Use it!
