Tech Productivity Issue #159 (4 Things Organized People Do Daily)

Issue #159 (4 Things Organized People Do Daily) 02/28/22

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Note-taking is always a hot topic in the productivity world. A recent Hacker News reader asked: Why the obsession with note taking?, pointing out exactly what I stated: that note-taking is a hot topic and it's kind of hard to figure out.

I think the top comment nails it:

"It isn't about note taking, it's about supporting a brain that simply isn't capable of retaining the level of information that we have to deal with. The ultimate note taking device is actually an augmented human brain that has perfect recollection and organisation."

And so that's why we're so interested in trying out new note-taking tools, reading articles on the best of such apps, and watching videos that walk through the various features of note-taking apps.

In my mind, referring to notes is similar to using a search engine. For example, when I write code, I don't expect to memorize every method or property of the language I'm using. But I know those features are a few clicks away on MDN or elsewhere. I don't make my brain memorize the features; I make my brain memorize how to find them.

I think note-taking, bookmarking, and personal wikis are based on the same need: We can't memorize everything, but we can categorize things in a way that makes them easy to find when we need them. Hence why people seem to be ever on the lookout for the perfect note-taking app or workflow.

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

Tools & Apps

Windu - Time tracking tool for teams and individuals that includes collaborative features and integrations for GitHub, GCal, and Jira.

Turbo Delete - A blazing fast alternative to the default Windows delete functionality that integrates with your context menu or command line.

Nifty - An all-in-one project management workspace to keep people, projects, and functions aligned across your organization.

Automa - Chrome extension that lets you automate various repetitive tasks in your browser via blocks in a low-code editor and scheduled workflows.

Cassette - A voice messages app intended to replace live meetings by means of asynchronous audio communication tools.

Recall - An offline-first note-taking tool that's a personal encyclopedia that includes various website integrations (IMDB, Wikipedia, etc.), news alerts, and more.

The All-in-One Modern Data Platform You Need - Get everything you need to combine, organize, and transform your data for analysis, including a Snowflake data warehouse and ETL tools. sponsored

Articles & Resources

4 Things the Most Organized People Do Every Day - Lots of anti-thoughts here that you may not have considered, based on snippets from the book Four Thousand Weeks.

When to Delegate, When to Say No - A good piece for those in management positions who feel they have too much on their plate but nobody to hand off tasks to.

Remote Working Jobs: 5 Problems We Need To Solve In 2022 - All the points here are important, including the discussion on salary, which can vary according to location, thus making remote work salaries debatable.

This Deceivingly Simple Digital Filing Method is the Time-Saver I Need - This is about the PARA method devised by Tiago Forte, and the author says it can be set up in about 30 minutes.

The 80 Best Micro Habits to Change Your Life - A lot of little one-liners, but categorized so they're not as hard to digest as the title implies.

Stop Brainstorming - Controversial view with some background on why brainstorming came to be so popular along with the science behind its lack of results.

Find, Visualize and Apply the Hidden Gems in Your Spam Inbox - Checkmate is the first tool ever built to sort, visualize and apply the deals from your spam inbox while you shop, finding hidden gems and saving early users an average of $40 per checkout. It’s completely free! Try Checkmate today! sponsored

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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