Tech Productivity Issue #121 (Multitasking Fuels Original Thinking)

Issue #121 (Multitasking Fuels Original Thinking) 06/07/21

One of the most amazing success stories that I stumbled across this week is based on a free tool that I use multiple times per week as a Photoshop replacement: Photopea.

The tool has been around for some time now, and I've been using it for maybe a year and a half. I had no idea how successful it's been for the developer – and apparently, he does it all by himself.

Photopea (this image was edited with Photopea!)

The developer, Ivan Kutskir, did a Reddit AMA last summer and he reveals some amazing statistics from his success story:

It's used by over 7 million people (more than double since his previous AMA)
It was more or less a hobby from 2012 to 2016
As he explains in one comment, most of his profits come from ads and he made $250,000 in revenue in 2019 with minimal server costs.

Two things I didn't know about Photopea before reading the AMA and some older Hacker News posts:

It's pronounced "Photo Pea" (which was the original name when it was launched)
You can use it offline

I love success stories like these that show how years of hard work can pay off if you're doing something you enjoy and that others find useful.

Now on to this week's hand-picked productivity links!

Tools & Apps

Znote - A cross-platform native markdown-based note-taking app (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android) built to secure your files.

FigJam - An online whiteboard from the makers of Figma, for teams to brainstorm and explore ideas together.

lxi.ai - Chrome extension. A bookmarking tool that automatically organizes your bookmarks using machine learning.

CloudMounter - Connect to Dropbox and other cloud services with ease. Map all popular cloud services as regular drives and save space on your hard drive.

Traqq - Time tracking software. Monitor team productivity and performance via automated tools: take screenshots and screen recordings, log team activity levels, monitor app and web use, and more.

Learn How Remote Pair Programming Can Increase Your Team's Efficiency - Suddenly, the future of work materialized, and when your entire team is working from home, pair programming is not only possible but extremely valuable. Preparing yourself and your team for remote pairing will help prepare you for the future of work. sponsored

Articles & Resources

The Twisted Psychology Of Browser Tabs—and Why We Can't Get Rid of Them - The 30+ tabs I currently have open make me feel personally attacked by this article.

Manage Your Entire Life on One Whiteboard - Stephen Guise explains his new whiteboard based system for getting his life and work in order.

How Multitasking Fuels Original Thinking - Contrary to the many articles that attack multitasking, this piece argues that busy periods of juggling tasks can fuel your creativity.

How to Prevent Burnout While Working as a Web Developer - Some personal suggestions and analysis on the topic of burnout from the team at Creative Tim (who pump out a lot of stuff, so they know this topic well!).

The To-do List Trap - Interesting argument put forth here that basically says that if we keep checking off small things on our list, we don't get to the big more meaningful things.

Suggestions?

Have a suggestion for a productivity-related tool, article, or other resource? Send me a direct message via X (@LouisLazaris) and I’ll consider including it in a future issue.

Stay productive!

Louis
techproductivity.co
@LouisLazaris

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