We treat productivity apps with some kind of a magical tool and if we just find the right one,new ones will finally become the hyper efficient versions of ourselves we have always imagined. But for many of us, instead of becoming some kind of magic, these productivity tools have become "productivity tax”. Here is the actually truth behind calling productivity apps as time wasters:
The Cult Of Meta Work: Suppose we are spending two hours building a "Project Dashboard” with custom icons and automated triggers. This project could have been halfway finished in the time it took to just “organise” it. These productivity apps does nothing but provide us with a hit of dopamine every time we check a box or find us moving a card, all these things trick our brain into feeling accomplished without us ever producing a single accomplished result.
The Price Of “Tool Sprawl”: Modern work style often requires you to jump between different tools such as Slack, Trello, Notion, Google Calendar, and Email. This process is called “Content Switching”. Research studies have revealed that a person can take up to 30 minutes to fully regain their focus back to work from distraction. When you find yourself leaving your work to “just quickly check” your task manager, you are not just losing your precious 30 seconds, but in reality, you are fracturing your flow state.
The Obsession With Aesthetics: Apps such as Notion, Obsidian, etc. offers you infinite customisation, while this seems to be powerful yet it becomes a kind of a trap for people who are perfectionists. We find the young people, especially, are often found tweaking between fonts, hunting for the perfect widget or rearranging the layouts. This is not what the term productivity defines; it actually refers to the digital interior decoration.
Distracting Notifications: These notifications are distracting in the way that it keeps reminding you to “stay focused” using various forms of tactics which are very much distracting. When you see a “Red Bell” for a task that you have missed three days ago, it triggers a rush of cortisol hormones which spikes stress in your body.
Life As Data Points: When we track the basic things of our daily routine, we start viewing our life as a series of data points. When every activity of ours becomes a “side project” to be optimised, we lose the ability to rest and focus becomes a forgotten chapter. These productivity apps treat rest as something for which no time should be given, but it is the most important factor in everybody's life, if someone needs to have accomplished tasks with full focus.
How Do You Break Free From The Trap Without Losing Your Mind?
The “One in, One Out” Rule: Never add a new app to your workflow without deleting the other one.
Paper Rule: Try planning your day on a piece of paper, if your planning does not fit on a 3×5 card, you are trying to do too much.
The 80/20 Rule Of Tools: Manage to use 20% of the features to get 80% of the work done as a proof of productivity. Trying to avoid the “advanced settings” rabbit hole. Keep in mind that real work often happens in the silence between pings.
Final Thoughts:
The most productive people found in the pages of history didn't have synchronised cloud based task managers. Only things that mattered to their goal achievement were: focus, a clear aim and a place to note down things. The tools that you wish to download must be helping you achieve your aims, and not stop you from achieving them!
